Issue 19
Review by Robert K.S. Croy, Sr.
Title - The Dark Return
Writer - Bill Black
Penciller - Greg Horn
Inker - John Dell, III
Grey Tones - Rebekah Black
Letterer - Bill Black in his Walter Paisley persona
Cover Artists - Greg Horn & John Dell, III
Published - 1989
SYNOPSIS
STORY
On the balcony, the girl reveals herself to be Pat Dale (not Pat "Carson," which is her real name), a scientist-detective/costumed adventuress from the 1950s, whose code name is Jet Girl. She relates to Tara that she, her partner "Tech" Carson, a.k.a. Rocketman, and many other costumed adventurers, super-powered or otherwise, were approached by renowned psychic investigator, Dr. Jonathan Weir, with a bizarre proposition. Weir proposed that he use his magical holy talisman, the Purple Claw, to put them all into a mystically-induced state of suspended animation. Because World War II was over there was no longer any great need for the world to have so many heroes. Secreted away, magically asleep in his mansion, they could wait for decades, never aging, remaining forever at their peak, until such time when they would be awakened to combat a great peril. Many went along with Weir's proposed plan and to the world it appeared as if dozens of heroes and adventurers had suddenly simply disappeared.
Jet Girl goes on to say that earlier that evening Weir had awakened her, ending her thirty-five year sleep. Weir, who, although not asleep, had been affected by the power of the Purple Claw and also had not aged. Pat asked him if he'd revived her partner, the Rocketman. Weir told her that "Tech" was the first of the sleepers he'd attempted to revive, but he'd been unsuccessful. Looking past Weir to where "Tech" Carson lay deathly still on his cot, Pat became hysterical. Overwhelmed, Pat accused Weir of being insane and of allowing her partner to die and strove to flee. Crashing through a window and nearly falling to her death on the rocks below, Pat narrowly escaped by activating her jets. In her disorientation and confusion, she flew and flew until her fuel ran out and she plummeted from the sky.
At the Weir Asylum, Weir and his hulking assistant watch a news report on the television covering Jet Girl's dramatic return. Weir resolves to retrieve her by waking more sleepers and sending them to Femforce HeadQuarters in Orlando, where she has been taken for protection.
After Jet Girl tells her story to the other members of the Femforce, the HeadQuarters is suddenly attacked by the recently-revived Catman, Captain Flash, the Green Lama and the Avenger. All are heroes who have been absent from the world for over thirty years. A general brawl ensues. Catman attacks She-Cat while the magically-empowered Green Lama attempts to take out Nightveil. Colt and the Avenger engage in target practice with each other as their targets. Captain Flash, who was revived to counter the power of the absent Ms. Victory, is merely annoyed by the acrobatic antics of Tara, whose kicks and blows have no effect on him. She retreats from him to a treetop and his angry answer is to merely uproot the entire tree.
Across town, Thunderfox and Stardust, walking home from a social night out, spy evidence of the altercation between Nightveil and the Green Lama when they look up and see a mystical "light show" spreading across the sky from the direction of Femforce HeadQuarters. They quickly don their uniforms and take to the sky.
A short time later, back at FFHQ, everyone is suddenly blinded by a burst of stellar energy from Stardust and all fighting stops. Stardust emerges from the HeadQuarters followed by Jet Girl, Weir and a now fully-recovered/revived Rocketman. Explanations follow. As Rocketman had flown Dr. Weir to FFHQ, they'd encountered Stardust and explained that a great evil was once more at large in the world. Stardust pledged the assistance of the Femforce and the Sentinels Of Justice to aid in combating it. Reentering FFHQ, Weir dons the mystical Purple Claw and calls on its powers to reveal an image of the great evil. He states that evil from all corners of the world are being focused on one place, creating a power nexus to be used by the entity to crush the spirit of humankind. In the air an image forms of Tara's Jungle Island, showing itself to be the newly-forming nexus of evil power. At the Green Lama's and Tara's urging, Weir causes the visage of the entity to also be revealed. It is the Black Shroud. He, who Stardust had believed she'd killed years ago.
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EXTRA COMMENT FROM PAUL:
Greg Horn who did the pencils in this issue and who worked on several books for AC has a new comic book coming out from Image. It's called J.U.D.G.E. (I think) and the art is a combination of hand-drawn and computer rendered. I've seen samples of the art and it's a very interesting effect. I believe it's probably worth a look.
The Official Femforce Index Page for this Issue at Joe Ace's Site