FEMFORCE #184 from AC Comics presages a new phase in the companies’ long-running history. First off, the book itself reaches the landmark 184th chapter in the FEMFORCE team’s four-decade (so far) saga, beginning with the latest piece of the puzzle that IS the villainous BLITZFRAU. Exactly WHO is this time-tossed horrific human dynamo, and WHY does she HATE the FEMFORCE so much? We may not reveal ALL in this story, but after this issue, cagy readers should begin to unravel the mystery in a gripping tale by Mark and Stephanie Heike, illustrated by Javier Lugo.
That is just the beginning, as the snarling SHE-CAT stumbles upon a disguised training facility set up by the shadowy threat known as… The STRONG HAND in “In Plain Site”.
Fan-favorite YANKEE GIRL foils a prison breakout attempt by the plant-controlling Dr. ANAIS in “The Big Breakthrough”.
STARDUST faces alien warriors who are halves of the same entity. One was hidden on Earth until the other pursued it, and DUSTY must combine them into one being to forestall calamity in “I, Them”.
Ms. VICTORY is sent to help evacuate an area where an experimental time machine has exploded, with the explosion frozen in time by the machine as it detonated, and the “time lock” on it will only last one more hour before the blast wipes out several blocks, in “Now Was Then”.
TARA singlehandedly takes on a number of giant sea monsters that have manifested on the East Coast. After she stops them from attacking the public, she learns they had actually come to enlist her involvement in a bizarre enterprise in “Under The Waves”.
IF there is still ROOM in the back after all THAT action, we may squeeze in another chapter of the new ongoing NYOKA serial. All stories crafted by AC’s usual gang of creative cohorts, scripts by Bill Black, Andrew Hawnt, Stephanie and Mark Heike and Mark Holmes, with art by the aforementioned Javier Lugo, Dave Matsuoka, Florentino Cuevas, Dan Gorman, Gianlice Cerritelli, Francesco Savi, Jeff Austin, Chris Dreier and others- eighty full black and white story pages (no ads) inside Javier Lugo’s first COLOR FEMFORCE cover. Standard comic book size, and saddle-stitched, for $9.95.
If all THAT was not enough, their’s more. As a special promotion in conjunction with this book, AC will be offering retailers who order THREE copies of FEMFORCE #184 something special: one FREE promotional copy of AC’s new upcoming FULL COLOR ongoing series SUPERBABES #0!! That’s right, after almost TWO DECADES of doing black and white books exclusively, AC is putting a toe into the waters of COLOR COMIC BOOKS once again, with a new companion book to FEMFORCE that will be titled SUPERBABES.
As an ongoing quarterly color series, SUPERBABES won’t be debuting until sometime in the first half of 2019 (with an actual #1 issue); but qualifying retailers can get one copy of #0 FREE with every THREE copies of FF #184 that they purchase. SUPERBABES will be a FULL COLOR, high-quality standard-sized comic book on glossy stock, and this special #0 edition will be the same. (Regular issues of SUPERBABES will run 32 pages in length, while this special #0 will be 24 pages.)
Each issue of SUPERBABES will focus on the great heroines of AC Comics, starting with a FEMFORCE lead story, plus one or more backups starring individual FF members in solo action, and/or other (non-FEMFORCE member) AC heroines like STORMY TEMPEST, NYOKA, YANKEE GIRL, BLACK PHANTOM, MISS MASQUE and other guest-stars. This unique #0 edition leads off with “Headhunter’s Wake”, an all-new, never-before-seen FEMFORCE adventure written by Andrew Hawnt and drawn by Javier Lugo; which brings the FF in conflict with mysterious visitors from outer space. This ongoing plotline will continue in SUPERBABES #1, picking up where the #0 cliffhanger leads off. (Please note: the story and art in SUPERBABES #0 will NOT be reprinted in SUPERBABES #1. There is at this time NO plan to reissue the contents of SUPERBABES #0 anywhere in any format. #1 will be 100% all-new material, picking up from where #0 left off.)
The regular SUPERBABES ongoing series will not affect the regular, 80-page black and white FEMFORCE ongoing quarterly, but be an additional FF- related titled added to the AC schedule. Although all stories in both books will be occurring (basically) in the same universe and timeline, there is no plan afoot to cross over stories from one title to the other.
Promoting SUPERBABES with this #0 issue will give retailers the chance to see the quality and production values that will be going into this new series, and allow them a sample product to interest customers in trying out this new title. We suggest that any retailer interested in increasing his comics sales do just that. AC’s 35-year record of on-time releases shows the companies’ rock-solid reliability makes the effort to turn customers on to this new title a worthwhile long-term investment for any shrewd comic shop owner.
Obviously, we at AC Comics NEED the support of comic book retailers to make this new venture a success. That is why we’ve structured this promotion to be most beneficial to store owners, to give them something new to sell, to test-market a fresh product, at no cost to them. Long-time AC/Femforce readers (especially completists) need to work WITH their local comic book retailers on this SUPERBABES #0 promotion to make it work, on multiple levels. First, fans and consumers must convince their retail outlet to be CERTAIN to order at least three copies of Femforce #184 to make sure they have an opportunity to acquire the promo copy from their store. That gives the fan a chance to add that book to their own collection. Secondarily, that interest in the #0 issue can spur your retailer on to ordering the ongoing series once it appears in 2019, knowing he has a customer for it. If SUPERBABES can be a successful ongoing book for AC, that can (and will) lead to MORE full-color, standard-sized AC Comics spinning off from there.
Be sure to tell your retailer to order THREE copies of FEMFORCE #184 from the August 2018 issue of Previews, listing products for shipment in October 2018, and see if you can’t make a deal with him to get the FREE promo copy of the FULL COLOR SUPERBABES #) that he’ll get WITH them. That’s FEMFORCE #184, $9.95 coming from AC Comics in October.
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