Femforce Fan Jim Johnston speaks out in support of the Femforce

I'd like to talk about FemForce Comics.

There will be a new FemForce 3-issue mini-series coming out early in the new year. This means that there will be some new product for new readers to check out. So I thought now would be a good time to talk about FemForce and perhaps start a discussion.

I understand that the general impression among many comic fans is that FemForce (FF) is simply a "bimbo" comic. It is often seen as a mere excuse to look at drawings of well-endowed women in skimpy costumes. For a long time that's what I thought, but I have learned that this isn't the whole story.

Now it is true that well done drawings of attractive women are an integral part of FF comics. But this isn't the only thing FF is about. There's much more to it than just that.

The editorial staff, writers and artists, understand that there are readers who want more than just pictures of well-endowed women in skimpy costumes. They also care about the whole enterprise (as much as an admittedly hardcore fan, like myself). In any FF comic the art and story come together to consistently produce a comic that contains great art, imaginative layout, and stories that feature intelligent plots and well thought out story lines.

The characters, both major and minor, are drawn as individuals rather than stereotypes. The writers give them individual character and fully developed personalities that grow and change over time. They all have human feelings, frailties, and problems which are all realistically portrayed.

The artists are able to convey these subtlties and nuances onto the page via some truly excellent artwork. Not only are the artists great at doing fight scenes, action sequences and "big pictures", they can also portray complex human feelings and emotions, as well as utilize various literary devices like tension and foreshadowing, by the way they do the more intimate work - like posture, facial expressions, gestures, body language, etc.

But it isn't all introspection and personal growth. FF comics features lots of the two-fisted, slam-bang comic book action that many of us enjoy. Significantly, however, the FemForcer's do not simply rely on brute strength, limitless violence, and a high body count to resolve a conflict. While all the FF team members have physical strength, and each has some form of "meta-human" super power, they will most often rely on their intelligence, perseverance, strength of character and ability to "think on their feet" to deal with the situation.

I did want to specifically mention the writers and the stories they give us. They do not rely on teenage angst, insouciance, and bad attitude. From them we get things like ongoing character development, plausible motivations and realistic (within the context of the comic) plots. We constantly learn more about the characters and why they do what they do. More significantly, we don't keep getting the same stories (with minor changes) over and over again. It's always something fresh and new and unexpected. Most importantly they give us stories where the heroes behave as heroes all the time, not just when it's convenient.

The stories themselves are solidly entertaining and while they have lots of action, conflict, interaction and all the other stuff I mentioned earlier, they avoid being dark, depressing and "faux gritty". The writers take the time to work small fun bits into the storyline. For instance, little amusing vignettes going on in the background or brief "cameo" appearances of movie or TV characters.

I would also like to mention the layout. THIS was one of the first things that impressed me about FF comics. Their use of layout is always clever, imaginitive and well thought out. It really helps the art to move the story along. It successfully conveys the impression of movement, as though you are looking at a sequence of movie stills rather than a series of static drawings. Moreover, the layouts are never so intricate or overly complicated that they get in the way of the story. They just combine with all the other features I have mentioned to produce a truly excellent and over-looked comic.

Finally, in addition to the relaunch of the Femforce title in February, I would like to mention that there is a new AC publication called Synn Watch which is already on the stands. It features an excellent 8-page FF story that contains most of the elements I talked about here. Synn Watch magazine also has a lot of well written, well researched and entertaining articles and interviews about comics and comic related subjects. It has been solicited in Previews. Check it out and you'll be able to see what I'm talking about.