Issue 70
"BEWARE...SHINDUU THE SORCERER!"
Review by R. Paulk
Synopsis: Nightveil relates the story, to Tara and the Girls of Wildside, of how Taragonia became host to so many prehistoric and mythological creatures.
Story: Tara, having told Nightveil of the oddities surrounding Taragonia, allows Nightveil to carry her to the island. As she feared, Nightveil recognized the island and while allowing that atomic energy might explain the strange vegetation and discolored atmosphere, the Beastmen, amphibians and other creatures could not be explained away so easily.
After being joined by Cave Girl, Princess Pantha, Tygra, and Nyoka, a dinosaur attacks the girls. While Tara distracts the Beast, Nightveil casts a spell enveloping the dinosaur in a Mordivian Lunge Rat Trap.
Then Nightveil tells the secret of the island.
Dr. Shinduu was a Master of the Dark Arts. He was able to pass through gateways to strange worlds and dimensions and collected female concubines as he did so. Through genetic breeding he hoped to create a population of sorceresses. After succeeding he used his arcane powers to create the ultimate witch, to be his bride. Her name was Varushka. While Shinduu and Varushka concentrated on influencing the outside world, his brood of witches began fighting amongst themselves, each wishing to be the most powerful. Varushka tried to stop the fighting but only succeeded in turning them on her. Unable to fight them all, Varushka was about to recieve a killing blow when an enraged Shinduu intervened. The sorceress's turned the full might of their mystic powers against the pair. The combined arcane energy proved too much for the fabric of time and space to contain. A black hole opened sucking every sorcerer, sorceress and witch into the dimensional tear.
Decades later, nuclear testing tore many dimensional rifts in the already weakened fabric of space and time allowing all manner of creatures to cross over from time to time.
The girls all decide to look for any anomalies to support the story. Nightveil finds a dimensional wormhole and comes upon Varushka who explains that she is no threat. Should she cross the dimensional barrier back to Taragonia she would be trapped. She explains that Shinduu tried and she witnessed his destruction as he entered the discolored atmoshere. Any of the witches she sent to test the barrier met with the same fate.
So, Nightveil leaves her to her fate, explains the situation to the others and then bids them farewell.
The thing I liked most about this issue: The story possibilities this story opened are countless. Using this plot device the Femforce, or anyone in the AC Universe, could go anywhere or face anything. It could even be used for inter-company cross-overs (hint!).
The thing I liked least about this issue: Tara and the Girls of Wildside were way underused. If there was ever a series at AC that deserves a second (more serious) chance it's the Wildside series.
There is a back-up story with Darkfire being trained by Doctor Macabre using Cat-Man and Kitten robots.