AC Comics and FemForce: A Brief Introduction

Now some of you will not have heard of FemForce or the long, strange trip that has been the AC Comics story. But for lovers of tease, "good girl" art, and unabashed t&a comics, they're a must.

Essentially, back in 1969, a gent by the name of Bill Black - a talented artist and a lover of the Golden Age of comics - started his own comics publishing company called Paragon Publications. His initial offerings were composed of reprints of public domain comics from the '40s and '50s featuring long forgotten superhero and Western characters, along with his own original stories using these old characters.

But Bill had a unique way of presenting the sexy, formerly chaste heroines of yesteryear.

Phantom Lady (before she was bought up by DC and Black had to alter her into Blue Bulleteer and, eventually, Nightveil) in Fem Fantastique #1

Black Cat, also before legal problems caused Black to recreate her as She-Cat

Phantom Lady and Black Cat work out their differences in Bizarre Thrills #1

Ms. Victory, soon to be a founding member of FemForce, defeating her archnemesis Lady Luger in Bizarre Thrills #1

Issuing more titles as well as mail-order portfolios of his good girl treatment of superheroines, his little company grew. In 1982 they were, briefly, known as AmeriComics before settling on AC Comics in 1985.

The title that really made their name, however, was FemForce which began publication in 1985. It was the first all-female supergroup and its members have included Ms. Victory (a genuine golden age heroine not created by Black), She-Cat (the aforementioned reworking of Black Cat), Nightveil (ditto the former Phantom Lady), Tara (a jungle girl created by Black based on the golden age models of Rima, Sheena, and Nyoka), Synn (a psychedelic superchick originated by Black), and others over the years.

Relevant to our interests, however, is the long history of tantalizing art involving the heroines of AC Comics. For sheer nudity and kinkiness, though, your best bet is to find those early 1970s issues of Fem Fantastique, StarFemmes and the single issue of Bizarre Thrills. In those days, I think Black was working under the radar and enjoying himself more. Later, as his company grew in profile, he scaled back such overt sexuality and FemForce remains a fun superhero book with occasional sexy poses and underwear/bikini shots.

Over the years, AC Comics has given us a lot of material to - "ahem" - work with and I will do follow-ups from time to time to focus on their characters. Until then, I highly recommend a trip to their site. Pick up a few back issues while you're at it!

AC Comics