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Wayne Markley
by Wayne Markley
In the long history of comic books, they have always been dominated by superheroes in America. There have been times when superheroes faded a little, such as in the late 1940s and to a lesser extent in the late 80s with the Indy boom, but for the most part since the introduction of Superman in 1939, superheroes have been the bestselling genre. When it comes to superheroes, the market has been dominated by both marvel and DC in their various incarnations. over the years both marvel and DC have had name changes and are today who they are through various mergers and buy-outs. There have always been some smaller companies offering alternatives and there have been some major publishing houses over the years – such as Dell, Fawcett, and Archie – offering non-superhero fare. There have also been some smaller companies along the way that do not publish a lot, often only a few books, but they continue to chug along on a shoestring budget with a loyal, but alas small, fanbase keeping them afloat.
Femforce
One of those companies, and the one I am going to talk about, is AC Comics. They were originally named Paragon publications and renamed AC Comics in 1982. AC was founded in 1969 by bill Black and has published continually since then. They have published hundreds and hundreds of comics over 40 years and I am willing to bet the vast majority of readers have no idea who AC Comics are or what they publish, even though a great deal of the material they print has its roots in the superhero world. AC’s flagship title is an all-female superhero group called Femforce which they have published continually since 1985. Femforce is a straight-out fun superhero book that has a devoted following. They have often been accused of just being a “good girl art” publisher and depending on T&A. This is not fair or even true. While depending on who is drawing the book, and there have been a large number of artists over the years, the book has never relied on nudity or outright erotica to sell the books or the characters. What they have always relied on is telling solid and fun superhero stories (DC should take note). due to the demands of the modern distribution market AC currently do one or two books a month with a huge page count (80-120 pages per book) at a higher price point. but when it comes to the entertainment value for your dollar, Femforce pays off. The stories over the years have run from spy sagas to giant women (a popular sub-genre apparently to the Femforce fandom) to straight out good guys vs. bad guys.
Best of the West
AC Comics also publishes a few other titles focusing on different genres; namely westerns, horror and classic superheroes. None of these genres have ever had huge followings (with exceptions in the 50s). The titles AC publishes are a great look back into a time when comics were self contained stories. It is an era that very few of us know much about (1940s and 1950s) and in addition they feature artists who at the time may not have been that well known, but over time have become considered masters. among the western titles they have published, and practically all of these are reprints of classic stories from small publishers in the 1940s and 1950, feature such icons as Roy Rogers, John Wayne, gene Autry and many others. one of the longest running westerns they do is called the best of the West. As the title suggests, this is an anthology of western stories from a number of different places. among the artists found here are such luminaries as Bob Powell, Dick Ayers, Joe Kubert and many others. practically of all of these are standard eight page stories, but they are all well told and fun.
Crypt of Horror
Horror comics are another area in which AC Comics has done a number of collections of classic stories. In the 1950s there was a big boom of horror comics (and the rise of the EC Comics) and AC has been able to collect a broad spectrum of artists and types of horror stores, ranging from the classic mad killer to ghost stories to outright horror. some of the titles in this genre that they have published so far include Nightveil’s Cauldron of Horror, Crypt of Horror, and others. the most recent issue of the Crypt of horror was a special featuring the art of Joe Kubert and Wally Wood.
Men of Mystery
One of the most popular lines of reprints that AC does is the men of mystery line of comics. There are reprints of classic superhero stories from the past. These stories range from Daredevil (the original 1940s DD, not the modern Daredevil), Ghost Rider (the original western character), Phantom Lady, fighting Yank, Human Bomb, Frankenstein and many more. even better is the list of artists that these books reprint, including, but not limited to, such greats as will Eisner, Bernie Kringstein, Al Williamson, Steve Ditko, Joe Orlando, Joe Kubert, Nick Cardy and many, many others. I think a lot of the time we forget the past of our passions and these reprint collections show us the roots of the superhero world. one of the things all of these stories do though is tell a story with a beginning, middle and an end, often all in less than ten pages.
Femforce #151
I wanted to spotlight AC Comics this time out because they are an example of a publisher that is filling a niche that while small, is profitable. These books are often on the higher end of comic book pricing, but that is more due to the dynamics of modern distribution than a desire on AC’s part. AC is keeping alive the diverse history of comics that is often forgotten and very few fans outside of the hardcore geeks know about. practically all of their books are black and white but the production is very nice and the art is very clean and sharp and does not look like scanned comics like some recent collections from other publishers have. all of AC Comics’ new releases are available through Westfield Comics, but they would need to be pre-ordered as very few, if any, retailers order AC comics to have on the shelf. If you really want to see the rich history of AC Comics and the comic world in general, you can always check out the AC Comics website, www.accomics.com.
In conclusion I would like to say a quick word about DC’s new 52. having read all 52 books now, I can honestly say it is a mixed bag. There are some very good books, such as Superman, Flash, All-Star Western, and others. There are some books I have no idea how they ever got green lighted in the first place. overall I found most of them to be very dark and violent and none (with the possible exception of Resurrection Man) tell a self-contained story. You can look at practically any of the AC titles I discussed above and see how a story can be told with-in 10-20 pages. A complete story. I have read that the idea for DC was to start fresh and try and get back the younger reader, the 20 somethings, but I do not see how these books are going to do that. I can see that these are an attempt to appeal to the video game mentality with the quick paced storytelling and the violence, but it seems to me the first and only goal should be to tell a good story. and with comics being $2.99 at the lowest end of pricing, I for one would not be very tempted to come back for a second issue at this price point when the story is not completed and it takes ten minutes to read. I can buy a video game for $50 and get hours and hours of entertainment, so it seems to me that DC should not be trying to get that 20 something audience, but to find a new audience that appreciates the art of the comic book. As always these are only my opinions and do not reflect the views of the Westfield company or their employees.
Thank You.
