Issue 76

Review by Jim Johnston

Story - Bill Black

Pencils - Brad Gorby

Inks - Mark Heike

Colour - Rebekah Black

Lettering - Walter Paisley

Cover - Brad Gorby from Mark Heike (painted)

Synopsis

• At the Colorado Complex, Tara, Paragon and Commando D press their attack against Ms. Victory (who appears to be Rad). Ms. Victory is eventually brought down after a long hard fight that leaves only Paragon standing. He is immediately taken down by Rad (who appears to be Ms. Victory). Rad is joined by the Traveller who has just come from Dark Dhagor where he defeated Azagoth and stole the Staff of Stragnon. The Traveller and Rad work together to create the mystical bridge that will allow the Traveller's physical form to enter our dimension.
• The Fear Force is summoned to the Colorado Complex. They leave Gorgana behind to guard the captive FemForcers. The heroines escape and follow the villans to the Colorado Complex. There they are confronted by the giant form of the Goat God, Capricorn. The FemForcers attack him and are ultimately successful, thanks in part to Rad switching sides and the timely arrival of Nightveil.

Story

• The action continues from right where it left off at the end of Issue 75. The assembled heroes and heroines - Tara, Paragon, and Commando D - press their attack against Ms. Victory who appears to them to be Rad. She takes a harsh pumelling from all three, all the while protesting her innocence. During the course of the combat, she discovers that they see her as Rad and deduces that someone is using Magic Lantern's hologram projector against her just as she used it in Femforce Issue 75. She locates and destroys the projector even as her friends continue their attack. Her appearance changes back to that of Ms. Victory as Paragon takes another shot at her. She does not counter-attack. Instead, she pleads with her friends to realize that she is not Rad.
• Meanwhile, back on Dark Dhagor, Azagoth is concerned that Nightveil has not immediately returned as she promised. He fears that something has happened to her. Suddenly he comes under attack from the Traveller. Without Nightveil to aid him, he is overwhelmed and beaten. The Traveller steals the Staff of Stragnon and brings it over to our dimension where it magically duplicates itself.
• Back at the Colorado Complex, Ms. Victory decides to fight back against her friends who remain convinced she is really Rad regardless of her appearance. She fights long and hard but after defeating everyone else she is brought down by Paragon. The exhausted Paragon is then confronted by the real Rad, who appears to him to be Ms. Victory. Before he can react, she clobbers him with one of the Staffs of Stragnon knocking him out cold. The Traveller appears and applauds her efforts. He also explains the nature of the staff's duplication. He then directs Rad to plant her staff at the center of the Colorado Complex.
• The story segues back to the the new Femforce Headquarters where the Fear Force confronts the captive Femforcers. Stardust and Synn are kept in a state of gas induced unconsciousness because their powers would otherwise enable them to escape their restraints. She-Cat and General Strock are conscious because their captors believe the Rurian metal clamps and cuffs will be enough to hold them. The Traveller appears and orders the Fear Force to the Colorado Complex. They depart to finish securing the complex leaving Gorgana behind to guard the prisoners. Gorgana is unhappy with the assignment thinking her teammates have left her behind because she is ugly. The ghoul reasons that she should be as beautiful as Nightveil because she now has Nightveil's mystic cloak which she kept as a trophy of Nightveil's defeat back in Issue 75. So, Gorgana creates a duplicate of herself to guard the prisoners and she goes off to her room to make herself beautiful. With Gorgana gone, General Strock devises an ingenious and daring escape plan. Elsewhere, DarkFire confronts General Gordon. The reader learns that she is really working for him as a covert agent.
• At the Colorado Complex, Rad plants the staff in the center of the complex. The Traveller plants the duplicate staff at his end and the bridge between his dimension and ours is complete allowing the Traveller to physically cross over into our dimension. When he does, he is revealed to be the Goat God, Capricorn. Proxima and Rad are appalled at what they have done, realizing that Capricorn could well devour the souls of everyone on both their worlds. Proxima attempts to take charge of the situation, calling on Rad to join her in retreat and find the others so they can form a plan. Capricorn, who appears as a giant, easily scoops Proxima and Rad up in both hands before they can make an escape and he reminds Proxima that she was quick to join him when he ofered to make her Queen of Rur. He also reveals to Rad that much earlier he had planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in her mind which would obligate her to obey his commands.  He tells her that her personal and professional difficulties made her easy to manipulate. Once he had her under his mental control, he had caused her to become Rad. Both Proxima and Rad are told that their only chance to avoid the fate of everyone else on the planet is to stay loyal to Capricorn.
• As Capricorn is bridging the dimensional gap, General Strock is putting her escape plan into action back at Femforce Headquarters. She-Cat is impressed by the General's idea to draw the Gorgana duplicate's attention to She-Cat's exotic Sekhmet suppressing ring. In short order, the Femforcers are free with a revived Synn having been the lynch-pin for the plan's success. Not only the duplicate Gorgana but the original Gorgana are incapacitated and the team heads for the Colorado Complex. Only Nightveil remains out of action, tumbling helplessly through the endless starfield of her own Cloak of Darkness until she is suddenly pulled by a giant tongue into a huge, gaping mouth.
• Everything comes to a head at the Colorado Complex. Proxima and Rad, still helpless in Capricorn's grip, agree to side with him (at least until they can find a way to defeat him). The appearance of Stardust, She-Cat and Synn means trouble for Capricorn as the Femforcers attack him. Proxima, attempts to defend the monster, but a disgusted She-Cat takes out the renegade Rurian general with a single punch. Synn, buoyed by General Strock's praise for her actions during their escape, attempts to distract Capricorn in order to gain time. Her gambit works just long enough for Nightveil to appear and destroy the Staff of Stragnon. The giant tongue was Azagoth rescuing his pupil from the starfield! The destruction of the Staff depletes Capricorn's power and he shrinks to normal size. Rad, sensing her opportunity, decks the Goat God with a devastating blow before making a quick exit. Nightveil retrieves her cloak as General Strock compliments her and calls the team together.
• I really liked -
  1. Bill Black kept the multiple storylines all going on at once, switching from one to another to keep building the tension and then bringing all the strands together in a big climax. The switches all happened naturally and didn't interrupt the flow of the story.
  2. Characterization and insight into the characters were worked into the story, for example: In the opening fight scene, Ms. Victory only fights back against her friends as a last resort making it clear that she doesn't want to hurt her friends; and, in the escape sequence, General Strock is shown as a focused and decisive leader who comes up with a plan that trusts in the various Femforcers to react in immediate and specific ways to a changing situation.
  3. In the escape sequence, all the Femforcers acted quickly and easily worked together as a team. In this part of the story, Bill Black shows the reader that the Fem Force is much more than just super powered bimbos. The ladies are all brave, strong, smart and capable. They are not self-centered superheroes who think they are self-sufficient. They know they need each other and they understand the value of cooperation and working together. In a difficult situation, they use their brains as much as their strength and powers to escape.
• I didn't like -
  1. The issue seemed to be too short. Especially, the ending. With the excellent build-up in Femforce 74 and all the action in Femforce 75, the resolution seems a little too quick and easy. Capricorn is defeated in two pages, all crammed with relatively small images. Another splash page depicting the combat between the giant Capricorn and the Femforcers would have been nice.
  2. Nightveil's escape from the void and sudden return is explained in a single sentence after the fact.
  3. Gorgana duplicating herself and then going off to duplicate Nightveil's beauty is hardly dealt with at all.
  4. The unresolved issues and sequences that seemed to be cut short would have provided material for one more issue in the arc.

Art

• Generally - As in Femforce Issue 74, this issue features prime Gorby/Heike artwork. Everything I said in the previous review is valid here. If anything, the art and layout are even better in this issue.
• Cover - A slightly bloodied She-Cat kneels down to check out an unconscious and postrate Ms. Victory. She is unaware that an angry Rad is hovering behind her brandishing the two Staffs of Stragnon, each staff crackling with green mystical energy.
• Splash Page - Paragon slugs Ms. Victory, who he sees as Rad, sending her reeling painfully backwards as Tara and Commando D look on. This page is also noteworthy because it is done on the horizontal rather than the vertical axis. You have to turn the comic on it's side to get the full wide-screen effect. It's very impressive.
• Splash Page II (page 16-7) - A huge picture shows the Traveller emerging into our world as the Goat God Capricorn, a giant, red-eyed, horned, slavering, fully armored, goat-footed demon. Rad and Proxima look up in awe and dismay as they realize they have helped bring about this terrible event.
• I really liked -
  1. The layouts are great. They really help tell the story and move the action along and no two are the same.
  2. Page 23 - top panel - Synn struggles to get She-Cat's Sekhmet suppressing ring back on She-Cat's finger while keeping the cat-demon pinned down. Synn's expression of tongue-biting concentration is priceless and contrasts nicely with Sekhmet who is all fur, fangs, claws, and murderous rage.
  3. Page 21 - Nightveil drifts aimlessly through the endless, timeless void that is the starfield within her Cloak of Darkness. The fractured and irregular panel illustrates what a stark, confusing and disorienting place it must be. The middle panel is especially noteworthy. Nightveil is startled by the sight of another inhabitant of the void who has been driven mad with endless fear. Nightveil's expression is one of startled terror. This panel is noteworthy because Nightveil is usually all-powerful and seemingly beyond human emotions. So, if this situation can get that kind of reaction, we know she is in a really tight spot. Plus, the scene reminds us that in spite of her almost unlimited power, Nightveil is still capable of human feelings and emotions.
  4. Page 19 - The entire page depicts how Capricorn previously implanted the post-hypnotic suggestion in Jennifer Burke before he was defeated. The best image is in the bottom right-hand corner and shows Jennifer Burke as Ms. Victory, utterly devastated by the way her life has gone. Her son is dead, her husband has betrayed her, her mother has replaced her as leader of the Femforce. She is sitting on a bed, her face buried in her hands, while overhead in the darkness the Traveller, depicted as a pair of narrow, malevolent eyes gazing down on her, watches her. The demon knows that she is at her most vulnerable and now is the time to strike. The image is very good because it convincingly shows us a character at the absolute end of her rope. She has lost everything and is alone. It is an emotionally powerful piece of work and I believe only a truly superior artist like Gorby could give us something like this.
  5. Page 2 - Ms. Victory takes a pounding from Commando D, discovers why the others see her as Rad, and has the presence of mind to do something about it.  The interesting thing on this page art-wise is the multiple images of Commando D hammering Ms. Victory. The art effectively demonstrates Commando D's ability as a dimensional man to strike his adversary many times at the same time. The multiple images cascade down the page from top right to bottom left and create an impressive effect. Once again, on this page, layout and art combine flawlessly with the story to illustrate the action, advance the plot and provide insight and background into the characters all in one page.
• I didn't like -
  1. I couldn't find anything about the art I disliked in this issue.

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