Issue 22

Title - Nightmare

Story - The Count

Penciller - The Count

Embellishments - Mark Propst and Bill Black

Published 1989

Synopsis

• The original Rad, Joan Wayne, has a nightmarish sleep and goes from one horror to another as members of the AC Universe, including her former Femforce teammates, have her running for her life. In the backup story, She-Cat recounts her dream in issue 20 about the slaughter of the Femforce. Finally, a Cave Girl story in which the Cave Girl gets a protector.

Story

• The cover story opens with a sleeping Rad being attacked by a monster wanting to snack on her "softmorsels." She awakes from the nightmare only to be wrapped in writhing tentacles morphing out of her brass bed frame. The tentacles wrap around mummifying her as the bed turns into a volcanic pit into which she is dumped with a terrified scream. However, the lava turns out to be mud which begins to harden as she climbs out of the slop trapping her inside a hard, dirt shell. To her surprise she finds herself in New York City, circa 1937, where she has the misfortune of running into a Sekhmet-controlled She-Cat whose claws rip through her clothes and skin sending her running through a door and right into the Old West. There, in one of her early Ms. Victory costumes, she finds herself as a sheriff on the losing side of a shootout with Colt, the Weapons Mistress. She flees on horseback after being shot, but the sun-baked desert takes its toll and, parched, she can only dream of water, which comes in the form of a gigantic wave crashing over her. Struggling to get to the surface, and now clothed in the Ms. Victory costume familiar from the first issue, she manages to draw in oxygen and enlists the aid of Tara who is floating on a raft nearby. Rather than help, Tara pushes her away and points out that they are in shark-infested waters. Terrified, she watches a shark rise up behind her but it morphs into Paragon and the image of two newlyweds on their honeymoon. Paragon and Joan start to make love, but a shocked Joan sees the Shroud instead of Paragon's features and begins to choke the malevolent villain until the visage changes into that of Nightveil. A relieved Joan is thankful it's all just been a dream, but Nightveil informs her that she's wrong, it's a nightmare and sends her crashing through a dimensional portal where three incarnations of Ms. Victory pound on her naked body. Forced to see herself as an old, decaying, Joan Wayne and petrified at the thought that it's time for Joan Wayne to dry up and blow away, Rad awakes screaming.
• I really liked -
  1. A lot of the transitions from one peril to another. In particular, the volcanic pit to the hardening mud; the door to the old west; and, the shark to the lovers' embrace with Paragon.
  2. Bad Rad finds herself as the victim with, for the most part, the "good guys" doing her in.
  3. The progression through Joan Wayne's life as Ms. Victory with the subtext suggesting a battle within Rad's soul between good and evil.
  4. Colt gunning down the Sheriff (1940's era, Ms. Victory) in the old West
  5. The visual metaphor of the naked Rad being punished by Ms. Victorys questioning who she is suggests the insecurity that results when you leave behind your morality
  6. Reminds me of the old "Fright Night" or "Twilight Zone" or "Tales from the Darkside" TV show or an old Eerie or Weird Tales comic book
• I didn't like -
  1. The dialogue, while mostly screams and grunts which is to be expected because of the nature of the tale, occasionally says too much by describing what the art shows to be happening.

Art

• Cover - Don't know who did the cover art, although I suspect it was the Count. The thin waist and breasts as large as her head are reminiscent of the proportions in Balent's Catwoman or some of the bad girl comics of today.
• Splash Page - Rad sleeping in a satin teddy
• Generally - A variety of different costumes and clothing styles gave the artist a workout on the character drawing and the female form looked pretty darn good. The backgrounds and scenes were drawn with good detail and a nice use of lighting effects.
• I really liked -
  1. Some good panels showing the sweat-inducing, wide-eyed fright caused by the nightmarish visions.
  2. The depiction of 1930's and 1940's era clothing, costuming, and hairstyle.
  3. The payoff of the many action scenes, such as being turned into a mud statue and later being blasted out the saloon doors
• I didn't like -
  1. Some of the facial proportions seemed different from page to page
  2. There was no panel visually transitioning from battling the three Ms. Victorys to seeing the decaying Joan Wayne and the transition didn't occur on the turn of a page. This one's nitpicky because there was no confusion that a transition had occurred and story-wise it made great sense.

The Official Femforce Index Page for this Issue at Joe Ace's Site

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