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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.
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Heroes / Heroines
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Last App
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Next App
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Stardust (Mara)
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GGAQ 1 (1)
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FF 28 (1)
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Villains / Opponents
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None
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Supporting Characters
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None
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Others
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None
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Geography
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The Moon; Earth orbit (F)
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Sites
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The Sea of Tranquility (site of astronaut landing )
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Time
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Recent past (Stardust's origin); present (Stardust's
birthday)
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Magic & Technology
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Rurian starship (F); stellar energy device (F)
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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.
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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.
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Others
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Zombie-like versions of the Vault heroes
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Geography
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Jungle Island; Old West town; Upstate New York; Winter
Park,FL
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Sites
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Well of Souls; saloon; Weir asylum; Fremont home;
Vietnamese temple
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Time
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Present (one-day period) following first battle with
Shape shifters
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Magic & Technology
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Purple Claw; Latigo Kid's six-shooters; Shroud's
mysto-mechanical device to open Well of Souls
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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 |
