Bill Black started what would lead to FemForce #200 back in 1969. In 1969 Paragon Illustrated debuted with a print run of 350 copies, an early start to one of the longest-running independent comics. In 1981 the All Girl Squad launched in Femzine #1, as the forerunner to the FemForce. Three years later FemForce appeared in a Special that launched the FemForce Dynasty.
In Paragon Illustrated, we see Synesthesia, the Girl From L.S.D. for the first time. In issue two we see the origin story for Silvia Synn and the first member of FemForce comes to life. In 1981 we see Femzine #1 with the All Girl Squad and Femme Force One, featuring members Miss Victory, Synn, Tara, Phantom Lady, and the Blond Bomber.
First Comics News: When you started all of this it was mail order, one at a time. How long did it take to produce that first issue of Paragon Illustrated?
Bill Black: Hmmm. PARAGON GOLDEN AGE GREATS was printed in April 1969. And PARAGON 1 is dated Fall, 1969 so it looks like about 5 months. The STARMASTERS art was lettered by Bill Newberry who was the son-in-law of the man who was my boss at the Orlando film production company employing me at the time. Reb had a job in South Orlando and we went in nights to use the IBM typewriter. Stu Smith did the page 20 art back when we were at FSU. The back cover art, which I really like, was drawn by Teri Lulos who isn’t credited. She was a neighbor in Winter Park and a former girlfriend, a beautiful girl, with a great family, so that was done before 1968. I had just started buying Golden Age comics in 1969 and CAPTAIN MARVEL was one of the first characters that I started to collect. I wanted to do a continuing series spotlighting GA characters and the films of Roger Corman.
1st: How did you decide how many copies to print?
Bill Black: I believe I started out printing 500 copies. But I didn’t print the whole book at one time. I figured out the signatures and had one sheet (4 pages) or maybe two sheets printed at one time. When all signatures were printed I would collate, fold, stitch, and trim. This technique often resulted in single issues composed of different paper stock, sometimes using colored paper.
1st: Back in 1969 when you started this FemForce Universe, what was your expectation of the best-case scenario for your universe of characters?
Bill: Having just discovered “fanzines” this opened the possibility of creating and publishing my own characters. This was a grand idea but I had no idea where it would lead.
1st: You had a mix of Golden Age heroes and your own creations. Why mix them instead of something all original?
Bill: That was part of re-living my childhood. Most of those old characters no longer existed, like CAPTAIN MARVEL. I wanted to see more comics featuring them even if I had to write and draw them myself. But I’ve always preferred working on my own creations rather than working (inking) existing newsstand characters.
1st: Over time Phantom Lady became Nightveil, what necessitated that transformation?
Bill: PHANTOM LADY was published by Fox Features (defunct in 1969) but I knew her from the IW reprint comics and was hooked. I did buy the Ajax Comics version new off the stands. She was the sexiest female comic book character ever drawn and I Ioved doing her adventures. That was fine with Paragon but when I went full color pro with AC Comics, DC objected. They claimed to own the name having obtained the rights to Quality Comics characters (PLASTIC MAN, BLACKHAWK). Since Quality did not own PHANTOM LADY, DC could not have a legitimate claim. She was a product of Iger studios who took PHANTOM LADY with them when they stopped producing work for Quality. That’s how Fox Features got her (and later Ajax). Ajax published PHANTOM LADY in 1955 so Quality could not possibly have owned her in 1956 when they went out of business and sold BLACKHAWK and GI COMBAT, etc. to DC. But being a little fish just starting to swim, I stopped PHANTOM LADY and transformed her into NIGHTVEIL. So actually Dick Giordano did me a big favor as NIGHTVEIL is the name of my business and one of my most popular creations. She is far more interesting than PHANTOM LADY.
1st: Likewise, Miss Victory transformed into Ms. Victory. What is the difference between the two characters?
Bill: The Holyoke MISS VICTORY character was very two-dimensional. She was a secretary who put on a costume and punched crooks. I gave MS. VICTORY one of the most detailed and complicated backstories in comics history at that time. She has become “real” to her readers over the decades.
1st: How did the Harvey comics Black Cat become She-Cat?
Bill: Working with Jimmy Sanders we were hired by an Indy company to draw BLACK CAT by a publisher who claimed that he owned the Harvey character. He did not. And he stiffed Jimmy and me by never paying us for our art. The BLACK CAT was to be in the second issue of the title we were working on and I had done the artwork when we quit. So a few years later when Mark Heike and I put stories together to create the FEMFORCE SPECIAL, I reworked the character into SHE-CAT. Again with a far more complicated backstory than the Harvey character who was a movie star who put on a costume to fight crime. Beautiful art by Lee Elias, BLACK CAT was a boyhood favorite.
1st: What was the inspiration for Stardust?
Bill: Another lucky happenstance it would seem. She was part of the CAPTAIN PARAGON origin. You probably know that I did a revival of the Golden Age CAPTAIN MARVEL for PARAGON GOLDEN-AGE GREATS No. 1 (1969), a book that was never released. I reworked the character into CAPTAIN PARAGON. That story had a MISS MARVEL character (before Marvel Comics did) who became STARDUST when the Paragon story was re-told for AC Comics. Again she had a convoluted back story and one I really liked. She came from the planet Rur populated only by women. How Rur gets “re-populated” was finally explained in the story “Time And Time Again” which I wrote for the 2012 trade paperback BIZARRE THRILLS: THE PARAGON PUBLICATIONS story. I won’t go into that cosmic explanation here and BIZARRE THRILLS is long out of print. But the story was reprinted in one of the 80-page issues of FEMFORCE when AC was stuck with having 20 or so pages to fill.
1st: Paragon Publications became AC Comics at the birth of the direct market, was this a better business model to give up a percentage to the distributor and retailer in exchange for the larger distribution?
Bill: “Business model?” Vas is dis business model? The film production company that employed me was suddenly kaput. I had 2 weeks to come up with another livelihood so I took the big leap into publishing. Losing that great job was a shock but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. If I was still working for a film company you wouldn’t be reading this now. The whole story of that part of my life is explained in Drew Mack’s documentary: STRANGE LUCK- A TALE OF BILL BLACK.
1st: How did AC Comics make it through the distribution implosion when many of the smaller distributors when out of business and didn’t pay for the comics?
Bill: Mark Heike and I were too stupid to quit. I loved being my own boss and dreaded the thought of ever being employed again. To drive that point home for a few months I became an “indentured servant.” The market crash meant I could not pay my printer’s bill so I worked off the debt cow-towing to a really despicable man.
1st: What do you think it is that has allowed FemForce to endure for almost 40 years?
Bill: Again they are “real” to the readers. The FEMFORCE are like my own daughters. I can’t live without them which is why I’m back in harness after years of retirement.
1st: Synn has been around for 54 years, she is Paragon/AC Comics longest-lived original character, what makes her connect with readers?
Bill: You could probably answer that one. She’s my favorite. NIGHTVEIL is the most powerful character in the AC Universe but SYNN could be… if she put her mind to it. It’s because she doesn’t that endures her readers. Her accidental creation bestowed her with immense mental powers, more than a human brain could withstand. So she pushes it to the back of her mind and instead exudes a bubbly personality. She seems lovable but flighty yet when the situation calls for it that brain power comes into play and saves the day. Most of the FEMFORCE team have problems to struggle with in their personal lives. SYNN provides a lightness that is a respite from all the drama.
1st: After guiding FemForce from the beginning in 2005 with issue 132 you stepped away from FemForce. Why did you leave?
Bill: Sheesh! 56 issues. Of course,, I did manage a little inking and writing along the way. Well, from December 1982 until April 2005 I was a prisoner of the “30-Day Doom.” We had to get a book out every 30 days. In the early years,, AC published not just one but a few books each month. It just wore me down. I probably would have had a breakdown if I didn’t stop. Monthly deadlines meant no vacations. No breaks. It was constant. So I turned it over to Mark Heike who was doing most of FEMFORCE anyway. He and his wife Steph have worked miracles to keep AC Comics going. Now that AC has gone to color circulation is actually picking up. That’s fantastic.
1st: What brought you back?
Bill: Doing an 80-page FEMFORCE along with 120-140 page reprint books is a hell of a lot of work. What brought me back was the AC’s decision to do a manageable-sized color product. That and the fact that AC was closing in on FEMFORCE 200, is quite a milestone. The FEMFORCE had become diluted by the necessity (in an 80-page comic) to have many different artists and writers fill the pages. Realizing that going to color would attract new readers, No. 188 had to start an adventure that would initiate new fans into the fold by recapping the nearly 40-year history. I did this by having villain ALIZARIN CRIMSON attack each team member in a way that revealed their individual powers, abilities, and a bit of their back story.
1st: What is the Tunnel of 200 Terrors?
Bill: Central Florida, where FEMFORCE is located, is well known for its theme parks. A new attraction spotlighting the world’s first female super team is created. It’s called FEMFORCE FOREVER and its greatest thrill ride is through THE TUNNEL OF 200 TERRORS. Before the attraction opens to the public, the team is asked to test drive the ride. What could possibly go wrong?
1st: Which characters are featured in FemForce #200?
Bill: Since FF 188 I have brought back many of the characters I created that have not been used recently. Most of them are on board for the two-part adventure running in FF 199 – 200. They include ALIZARIN CRIMSON, NIKKI, and RICHARD LATIMER, VERDEN FELL, BLACK COMMANDO, MADAM BOA, SINGAPORE SAL, FRIGHTENSTEIN, and many other villains as well as cameos by former FEMFORCE TEAM members. They will be kept a secret until FF 200 is printed. The two issues together make up a 40-page adventure. I always work with pencil artist Eric Coile on these stories.
1st: What’s it like to have a character you created a half-century ago, endure, and thrive for generations of readers?
Bill: Very satisfying to be certain. Hopefully, they will continue long after I’ve departed this mortal coil.
1st: The solicitation says “Under the malevolent guidance of Alizarin Crimson and The Shimmerer all their enemies past and present have thrust the team into a cosmic death arena from which there is absolutely no escape.” Is that real, is it the end of FemForce or are they just hyperbolic?
Bill: That would be telling. No fun in that.
1st: What’s the plan for FemForce beyond 200?
Bill: FEMFORCE 201 features STORMY TEMPEST which will continue into 202. After that, you’ll have to ask THE SHIMMERER.
1st: For anyone who may not have read FemForce but may want to pick up issue 200. How do you get a copy? When is the order cut off? How do you make sure your local comic shop has a copy for you?
Bill: FEMFORCE must be ordered in advance from your local comic shop. There is still time to get in orders for FEMFORCE 200 but don’t wait. The books are solicited 4 months before they are published. I don’t think AC Comics will be able to supply back issues so ordering ahead of time is a necessity.
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