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Femforce 26

FEMFORCE #26

COVER: Will Meugniot (new block style in upper left corner)

MILESTONES: 1st stage of the Shroud battle begins, as a quartet of heroes face the villain on Jungle Island

1st Story: Stardust Memories (8 pps)

Credits:
The Count, story / layouts; Mark Heike, finishes; Bill Black, edits

Synopsis:
Seeking the solitude that can only be found in space, Stardust flies to the Moon to perform the sacred Rurian birth ritual. Although this ceremony is supposed to be solemn and somber, her experiences on Earth with her friends have given her life a joyous emotional context that makes it difficult for her to concentrate and restrain herself. As she recalls the events that brought her to Earth, she longs for her friends and teammates and takes a long look across the gulf of space toward her adopted home.

Heroes / Heroines

Last App

Next App

Stardust (Mara)

GGAQ 1 (1)

FF 28 (1)

Villains / Opponents

None

Supporting Characters

None


Others

None

Geography

The Moon; Earth orbit (F)

Sites

The Sea of Tranquility (site of astronaut landing )

Time

Recent past (Stardust's origin); present (Stardust's birthday)

Magic & Technology

Rurian starship (F); stellar energy device (F)

Notes:
Stardust treads lightly on the Moon's soil so as not to disturb the historic footprints left there.... Stardust's intimate contact with the soil is in keeping with the Rurian method of procreation from the earth.


2nd Story: The Devil Below (15 pgs)

Credits:
Rik Levins, writer; The Count, pencils; John Dell, inks; Janine Lee, letters; Bill Black, editor

Synopsis:
Paragon, Tara, Nightveil, and Dr. Weir follow the mystic beckoning of the Purple Claw to Jungle Island, which Weir believes is the nexus of the Black Shroud's power. To Tara's dismay, her tropical paradise has become a festering, corrupted playground for the Shroud's evil. A gaping, stench laden sinkhole looms before the quartet, and they descend into a subterranean cave leading into four tunnels which they begin to explore individually. Isolated from one another, each hero and heroine "experiences" ghastly death through terrifying mind games inflicted by the Shroud. Once again aware of reality, the foursome find themselves assembled before the Shroud himself, who tells them of his origins as leader of an ancient cult of sorcerers known as the Faceless Ones. Long ago, the sorcerer known as Chen Lo did mystic battle with the cult. Though killed in the struggle, he managed to seal off the Well of Souls, the dimensional gateway through which the Faceless Ones sacrificed human victims to the realm of the Elder Gods. The Shroud, combining his magic with the science learned from inhabiting Richard Latimer's body, plans to reopen the well, creating a gateway large enough to sacrifice the entire Earth to the Elder Gods and thus become one himself. Gloating over his impending victory, the Shroud explains how he is now inhabiting Kuromoko's body and how he orchestrated the entire Earth / Vardax war to limit the powers of Paragon, the one man who might have defeated him. Seizing Weir's Purple Claw, the Shroud has Paragon at his mercy, planning to make him the first sacrifice into the Well of Souls.

Heroes / Heroines

Last App

Next App

Nightveil (Laura Wright)

GGAQ 1 (1)

FF 27 (1)

Paragon (Charles Starrett)

FF 23 (1)

FF 27 (1)

Tara (Tara Fremont)

GGAQ 1 (1)

FF 27 (1)

Dr. Jonathan Weir

AC Ann 1 (2)

FF 27 (1)

Villains / Opponents

Black Shroud (Zara Khan)

FF 22

FF 27 (1)

Duke Cartee

Shade Spe 1 (4)

last to date

Kuromoko (C)(F)

NV 7 (2)

FF 31 (2)

Stella Stargaze

AC Ann 1 (1)

FF 30 (2)

Supporting Characters

Azagoth

U O FF 1

FF 28 (3) (C)

Cap

AC Ann 1 (2)

FF 29 (1)

TC Fremont

FF 24

FF 36 (1)

Richard Latimer (C)(F)

Arm Fact 1

FF 31 (2)

Chen Lo (F)(D)

Shade Spe 1 (2)

FF 36 (1)


Others

Zombie-like versions of the Vault heroes

Geography

Jungle Island; Old West town; Upstate New York; Winter Park,FL

Sites

Well of Souls; saloon; Weir asylum; Fremont home; Vietnamese temple

Time

Present (one-day period) following first battle with Shape shifters

Magic & Technology

Purple Claw; Latigo Kid's six-shooters; Shroud's mysto-mechanical device to open Well of Souls

Notes:
A crucially important story in understanding the Shroud's pervasive influence on the major events in the AC Universe to this point. The list of previous AC titles that could be connected to this story is endless (see the Introduction to this installment).... In Nightveil's weakened state, she is unable to sense the mystic forces that the Purple Claw can detect.... In the Shroud's mind games played on the four heroes, they meet their "deaths" at the hands of old friends and enemies: Azagoth destroys Nightveil; Paragon (as Latigo) is killed by Duke Cartee; Dr. Weir is menaced by zombie-like Vault heroes and knifed by Cap; and Tara and her father fall victim to a vampiric Stella Stargaze. The Elder Gods count among their number the goat god Capricorn, who figures prominently in the later Capricorn Chronicles (FF 55-57) and the Fearforce storyline (FF 74-76).... The Shroud's immortality stems from the ability of his astral form to inhabit successive human hosts through history.... Until this point, no currently active heroes except Paragon, Stardust, Rad (through her dream in FF 22), and Dragonfly (not revealed until FF 31 (2)) have come face to face with the Shroud.... Costumes: Tara forgoes her usual jungle outfit for more practical khakis; on the cover, Laura's leotards have skulls on the ankles, the only place this is seen.


3rd Story: Untitled (Rio Rita story) (8 pgs)

Notes:
Golden Age Rio Rita reprint not detailed in this index .

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Based on The Official Guide to The AC Universe by Ken Kerouac
Entire contents Copyright (C) 1995 - 2015 AC Comics - Used by permission of AC Comics..

 


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