Issue 38

Title - Ms. Victory; Rad; Blue Bulleteer

Story - The Count; Mark Heike

Penciller - John Nadeau; Bill Marimon; C. Brad Gorby

Inker - John Robinson; Chad Hunt

Published 1991

Synopsis

• Three stories. The first, features Jennifer Burke as Ms. Victory who discovers that Rad has tried to frame her during the theft of the Time Triangle. The Black Commando appears as an assassin hired by the government to eliminate Rad. In the second story, Rad tries to double the money she was paid for stealing the Time Triangle by gambling in Atlantic City. She loses the cash and is in a foul mood when she is later confronted by government agents and visited by a mysterious old woman with a German accent. The final story features a young Laura Wright. Despondent over the loss of her beloved Dan Barton, she takes up crimefighting as the Blue Bulleteer and, while at a social function, comes face to face with, the Black Commando? and Lady Luger.

Story

• The Ms. Victory story explores the dynamic between Jennifer Burke, her new Femforce teammates, and General Gordon. The Rad story highlights the change in Joan's personality which has made her greedy and violent. The Blue Bulleteer story is the most developed. Laura Wright is mourning the "death" of her betrothed, Dan Barton, when she decides to follow through on their plan for her to fight crime together by donning the guise of the Blue Bulleteer. Meanwhile, Lady Luger finds out that the Black Commando is "dead," even though the U.S. government is trying to keep it a secret, and she comes up with a plan to discredit the Black Commando and destroy the American public's morale (Of course, the real secret, which will not become known to any of the principals in this story for decades, is that the Black Commando is still alive). That evening, at a charity fund raiser being attended by Laura Wright, Lady Luger appears with a fake Black Commando to rob the event. Changing into her Blue Bulleteer costume, Laura Wright confronts the robbers, but her confusion over whether the "Black Commando" is really her beloved Dan, makes her hesitate and the fake Black Commando begins to throttle her into unconsciousness. Lady Luger comes over to explain to the "Black Commando" that he should just shoot the Blue Bulleteer in the head, but he prefers choking her. He doesn't get to finish the job, however, because police sirens begin to wail and Lady Luger forces him to let her go so that they can get away.
• I really liked -
  1. In the Ms. Victory story, General Gordon is depicted as a real slimeball and Ms. Victory can't stand him, but She-Cat is convinced that Jennifer is kissing up to him.
  2. Rad losing her ill gotten gains in Atlantic City and blaming it on the casino being rigged.
  3. Laura Wright's hesitation when she confronts "The Black Commando."
• I didn't like -
  1. The first two stories, while necessary to begin tieing together plotlines developed in earlier issues, read in a patchwork manner.
  2. The General has ordered Ms. Victory taken to the stockade when the Captain (Tom Kelly) tells her she has nothing to worry about because the evidence shows it was Rad who stole the Time Triangle. General Gordon then drops the issue. I found it out of character for General Gordon to defer so easily to Captain Kelly.

Art

• Cover - Brad Gorby's Blue Bulleteer image from this cover is plastered all over the Femfans site. That should give you some idea of how much I love this cover. One of my favorites of all time.
• Splash Page - The Rad splash with her greedily clutching her money is good, and the Ms. Victory splash with her getting used to the Flight Disk is okay, but the Blue Bulleteer splash of the "Black Commando" lifting the Blue Bulleteer off the ground by her throat as her guns go off is great! Very dynamic!
• Generally - The art in the first two stories is pretty good, particularly in the Rad story. The facial expressions are very well done and help set the mood for the stories, but the Blue Bulleteer art blew the other two stories away. This may have been the first work Brad Gorby did on a Femforce title. The facial expressions were awesome; the humans were proportioned; the women were unbelievably sexy; the clothes, including satin negligees, garters, and evening dresses were detailed, even the newspaper headlines in the background showed something extra.
• I really liked -
  1. The Blue Bulleteer's struggle with the fake Black Commando.
  2. Laura Wright in her sequined evening gown.
  3. Laura Wright's sorrow over losing Dan Barton
  4. Rad at the gaming tables in Atlantic City
• I didn't like -
  1. No complaints except to say that the first two stories suffered in comparison to the third.

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

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