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Nightveil

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Nightveil

Laura Wright, a.k.a., Nightveil, first began fighting crime in 1942. Back then she was known as the Blue Bulleteer and she battled crime and the Nazis with only her natural agility and her twin .45’s.

Her initial career as the Blue Bulleteer came to an abrupt, and almost final, end in the early 1960’s but she was saved from certain death by Azagoth, a sorceror from another dimension looking for an apprentice, who taught her the mystic arts. Returning to earth as Nightveil, she is now so powerful that even her old friends in the Femforce sometimes feel uncomfortable in her presence.

Information from “Knockouts and Powerhouses” the Superbabes Role Playing Game Supplement, copyright 1994 by Selex, Inc.

Laura Wright, the daughter of Senator Thomas Wright of Florida, was born in Washington, D.C., to a household accustomed to the trappings of power. As a 21-year old debutante, she began a romantic relationship with Dan Barton, a government operative during World War II who fought a covert battle against the Nazi’s as “The Black Commando.” Dan was teaching Laura the tricks of his trade in order that she could be his professional, as well as personal, partner when Laura received word that Dan had been killed in a mission. Resolving herself to carry on in his stead, Laura continued to train and donned the crimefighting persona of the Blue Bulleteer. Her agility and expertise with the nickel-plated .45’s on her hips made her a thorn in the side of the Nazi’s for the remainder of the war and led to her becoming a founding member of the Femforce.

After the war, Laura continued to fight crime as the Blue Bulleteer but over time her prowess faded and eventually she found herself with her back to the wall, her bullets spent, as the kind of thugs she had spent a career defeating closed in for the kill. It was then that Azagoth, a powerful sorceror from another dimension, intervened and saved her life. Azagoth offered to teach her the intricacies of spellcasting and a gratified Laura Wright agreed to become his pupil. She spent years in a pocket dimension of Limbo learning the mental discipline required to manipulate magical energies and, when her training was nearly complete, Azagoth gave her the mystic Cloak of Darkness, a legendary power source, as a gift. Armed with her new powers of sorcery, Laura returned to this world and began her crusade against the wrongs of the world anew as Nightveil. Rejoining her former compatriots in the Femforce, Nightveil is most likely the most powerful entity on this planet. However, her great power has come at a cost to her humanity.

Blue Bulleteer:

Laura trained night and day to wage war against America’s enemies in Dan Barton’s place. To the world at large she was a flashy socialite, but unknown to the populace she was in reality a masked avenger, grimly meting out justice to criminals and Nazi spies alike. Not long after she entered the war effort, she had her first encounter with Lady Luger and the villainous Nazi’s Fifth Columnist thugs. Lady Luger would prove to be the Blue Bulleteer’s main foe during World War II and their clashes have been represented in several AC stories. Below is the opening splash page of the first story ever penciled by Mark Heike for what would become AC Comics.

After the war ended, the Blue Bulleteer continued to fight crime and evil in the world around her. In 1956, she foiled a plot to kidnap her father, Senator Wright. In the aftermath, she found what would have been the ransom note directed to her as the Blue Bulleteer. Curious she followed the instructions, only to find that it was a trap set by the wizard Rocksorr in order that the greatest enemy of his pupil, a young child named Lenore Gault, might be eliminated.

The Blue Bulleteer was able to escape the grisly fate Rocksorr and the young Lenore had in store for her with the help of an unseen benefactor. However, she escaped never understanding how she could be the greatest enemy of the young child she had never met. She also couldn’t suspect that in a few short years her crimefighting career as the Blue Bulleteer would end.

Azagoth:

By 1960, Laura Wright had been fighting crime as the Blue Bulleteer almost 18 years, but time had taken a toll and, at age 40, she wasn’t as young as she used to be. She’d lost a step most others never had, but despite her years of experience, she was no longer at the top of her game…and the stakes were high. The difference between life and death can be a thin line when you’re facing off against the bad guys and losing that extra step can be fatal! So it was that one night the Blue Bulleteer found herself with her back against the wall and all her bullets spent as a group of armed thugs closed in to make their infamous reputations.

Nightveil:

After returning to Earth as Nightveil, Laura felt that her awesome power was slowly draining away her sense of humanity. So, she placed a spell on herself which temporarily stopped her from being able to use all her powers and she attempted to resume her role as the Blue Bulleteer. However, unused to not being able to rely on her sorcery, her return to life as the Blue Bulleteer was short-lived and she reluctantly donned the guise of Nightveil once again. Still, her desire to remain human persisted and her enemies, like Alizarin Crimson, used her innermost fears against her.

Nightveil’s fears concerning her possible corruption by the great power which she wields are not unfounded. When she appears to succumb to the dark side, the threat she poses can be frightening for even the most powerful of superheroines.

Nevertheless, it is the villains who have the most to fear from the Sorceress Supreme…and fear her they do. Her awesome might has earned her many enemies and, out of respect for her power, plans for world domination must start with a means to eliminate her as a threat. Her foes usually attack through her fears or desires and are only successful when they can catch the unsuspecting Mystic Maiden with her guard down.

However, even when she has seemingly been defeated, Nightveil’s innate courage and dogged resolve have always served her well, allowing her not only to survive situations such as being lost in the starfield of her mystic Cloak of Darkness but to eventually prevail.

Rogues Gallery:

Lady Luger battled the Blue Bulleteer during World War II and she has battled Nightveil in the present. During the Yesterday Syndrome, the Nazi fiend was even successful in sending murderous volts of electricity through Laura’s body with some help from the Shroud.

Umbra is a Voodoo Priestess who was hired by the crooked trustee of the Wright estate to eliminate Nightveil when the Sorceress returned from her studies in Limbo and reestablished her claim to the Wright property holdings. Umbra’s black magic struck the mystic maiden down but, with the help of the Shade, Nightveil was able to defeat the voodoo queen and save her own life, earning Umbra’s everlasting enmity.

For Gorgana, possession of Nightveil’s Mystic Cloak of Darkness means unlimited power, even the power to make her ghoulish form beautiful, and that makes the monstrous witch a persistent enemy.

In 1956, a young witch named Lenore Gault and her mentor, a wizard named Rocksorr, tried to kill the Blue Bulleteer. What Laura didn’t know at the time was that she would one day become Nightveil and the little girl would become the evil sorceress, Alizarin Crimson. The malevolent witch’s efforts to destroy Laura and become the dominant sorceress on Earth have reached through time and space and Alizarin Crimson is unquestionably Nightveil’s arch-rival.

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Original Art by by Ken Hunt available for purchase

Ken Hunt, artist in Femforce Issues 138 and 139 is selling the original pencils for the 6 -page “Shadowhunt” story which introduces the new Blue Bulleteer, as well as the finished pages for a 6-page story from issue #139, as yet unreleased.

He is also selling a Femforce team pin-up, and a Nightveil pin-up both of which can be seen at  his Deviantart page. Ken may also be willing to sell his original cover pencils for the cover to Femforce Issue 138 if he receives a good offer. Finally, Ken likes drawing the lovely ladies of the Femforce and is accepting commissions. He can be contacted by e-mail.

Large collection of Femforce available inexpensively on EBay

Femfan, Wyatt, is selling off a large collection of Femforce and related AC Universe books on ebay and wants other fans to be aware of the auction. Click here to go to the auction page.