Femforce #162- Special AC Comics 30Th Anniversary COLOR edition
UPC: 64924191994016211(standard edition); 64924191994016221(Alternate Cover “A” Eric Coile version); 64924191994016231 (Alternate Cover “B” Eduardo Barreto version);
Retail Price: $12.95
Format: Standard comic book size, saddle-stitched
Page Count: 52 pages
Color: FULL COLOR and black and white interiors
Intended Audience: All ages
Ship Date: January 23, 2013

Writers: Bill Black, Erik Matthews, Mark Holmes, Eric Coile and Mark G. Heike
Artists: Eric Coile, Scott Shriver, Andre St. Amour, Rock Baker and Jeff Austin
Cover Artist: Eric Coile (on standard edition; Eduardo Barreto and Eric Coile on each of the alternate editions)

Synopsis: 30Th Anniversary of AC Comics Special! 16-PAGE INTERIOR COLOR SECTION!! FEMFORCE creator BILL BLACK returns to script Here Come The Commandos! RAD learns her “true origin”, SHE-CAT fights solo in the Middle East, the FF face social unrest in 1970 and TEAM PARAGON defeats The IRON CLAW!! Guest-stars galore!!

Special Notes: As part of our big 30Th Anniversary of AC Comics celebration with FEMFORCE #162, we are offering TWO very special alternate covers as retailer incentives . For every retailer who orders at least 5 copies of the regular-cover edition of FEMFORCE #162 (UPC code # 64924191994016211), he can purchase a sixth copy of the FEMFORCE #162 special Eric Coile Pin-Up Style design cover alternate A (UPC code # 64924191994016221), at the standard retailers’ discount price, and for every retailer who orders at least 10 copies of Femforce #162, he can purchase an eleventh copy of Femforce #162 with the special Eduardo Barreto “Stardust” artwork “remarked” cover design alternate B (UPC code # 64924191994016231), at the standard retailers’ discount price. This “remarked” version will not ONLY feature an exclusive full-color illustration ( penciled by the late Eduardo Barreto, inked by Mark Heike and colored by Stephanie Heike) printed on the front cover, but each “remarked” copy will ALSO have an original, individual, hand-drawn pencil sketch of an AC Comics FEMFORCE character drawn on the back cover by AC Associate Editor and Femforce artist Mark G. Heike!

So each “remarked” version will not only contain the full, spectacular interiors of this historic issue (including the full-color section), the exclusive Eduardo Barreto cover art (not available on the standard or alternate #1 cover versions), but also be a unique, individual, one-of-a-kind piece of artwork featuring actual original artwork created by Heike, whose involvement with the FEMFORCE goes back to having penciled both the historic FEMFORCE Special #1 in 1984, and the first issue of the FEMFORCE ongoing title in 1985!! All this for NO MORE COST than the standard retailer’s discounted price of the regular edition.

Thirty years is a long stretch of time no matter how you slice it; in the world of comic books, it might as well be an eternity. Among American publishers, barely a half-dozen companies in all of comic book history have managed to stay around that long, but in January of 2013, you can add AC Comics to that list. It was January of 1983 when Fun Comics #4, THE FIRST comic book to bear the AC Comics logo, hit the comic book store shelves. That makes this January the companies’ official anniversary of first publication month, and we here at AC have decided to make FEMFORCE #162 a very special issue to commemorate that, with a LONG list of special features.

First off, AC head honcho, boss and Creator Of All things Bill Black himself is scripting the lead story, The Commandos Are Coming. It will feature the whole team in a fighting frenzy, dealing with the return of Laura (NIGHTVEIL)Wright’s once-deranged love interest, The BLACK COMMANDO, and one of the great villainesses of the past, ALIZARIN CRIMSON!! The only thing that could make THAT story more exciting is if it was in color- and IT WILL BE!!

That’s right; although the FF have NOT been seen in print IN COLOR since FF #87, way back in 1995, every copy of THIS historic 162nd issue of the book will be printed with fully 1/3 of the pages in full, glistening, modern digital COLOR!! Over the years, many readers have asked for it- this issue you get it. (Please note that IF sales response to this issue warrants, there MAY be more color appearances of the FEMFORCE in future!) Art on this chromatic classic will be handled by the team of penciler Eric Coile and inker Scott Shriver, so you know it’ll shine. While the rest of the team is off dealing with these menaces (and back in the standard black and white part of the book ), events from last issue take an interesting turn as RAD and PARAGON are actually the first to learn of Jennifer Wayne-Burke’s “test-tube” origins, and you can imagine how well THAT will go over, coming on the heels of having her house leveled by the battle with the FF in #161.

Golden Years is written by Mark Heike, with art by Rock Baker and Jeff Austin. Then, we take the FF to a few places we don’t normally go.

One is back to the year 1970, as writer Erik Matthews completes the Welcome The Femforce epic he started last issue. Pulled out of combat action in IndoChina by a senseless and tragic event in Ohio, how will The FEMFORCE of that era deal with social unrest on the homefront? Then, it’s back to the present, as SHE-CAT (on a solo mission) must take down a pair of new supervillainesses in war-torn Afganistan, of all places; in “Nosey”, scripted by new writing sensation Mark Holmes, and drawn in a breezy, animation-style by new (to us) artistic sensation, Andre St. Amour.

Then, triple-threat creator Eric Coile returns to conclude his “elseworlds” exploration of Paragon Publications’ versions of popular AC/FEMFORCE characters as he wraps up TEAM PARAGON in their struggle to best The IRON CLAW. Five great stories, with the lead IN FULL COLOR- that’s what will be inside every copy of FF #162. Mind you, the cover (or rather “covers”) is where the rest of the AC 30Th Birthday fun will be centered, as we will be offering not one but TWO special alternate cover versions to add to the festivities. The standard cover is a superb, all-new Eric Coile design featuring featuring the FF in a moody, nightime urban setting, ready for action, and worth the price of admission, as they say. FF #162 Alternate Cover Edition “A” comes with a dramatically different, all-new Eric Coile design featuring four members of FF in glamorous pin-up style. But wait- there’s more, as they say in the infomercials- we will also be offering the special; “remarked” Alternate Cover Edition “B”of FF #162. Not ONLY will this alternate sport a THIRD different cover design, this one showcasing the FF’s spacefaring siren, STARDUST, as rendered by the late, great Eduardo Barreto, but EVERY copy of this Barreto-drawn “remarked” edition will feature an original, one-of-a-kind hand-drawn pencil sketch of a FEMFORCE character executed by Mark Heike (who also inked the Barreto cover art), AC Comics Associate Editor, artist and writer, on the back cover!!

So not ONLY will all copies of the special; “remarked” Alternate Cover Edition “B” FF #162 have the legendary Barreto front-cover art printed in color, AND the spectacular color-and-black and white interior stories as well, BUT each copy of THIS variant will be a stand-alone piece of artwork itself, with it’s unique Mark Heike FEMFORCE pencil sketch on the back!! Interested fans and readers should prep their local retailers now, and look for the listing for FEMFORCE #162 in the NOVEMBER, 2012 issue of Diamond Previews, listing items for shipping in January, 2013; and be SURE to let your retailer know you want those alternate cover versions as well as the standard edition!

Please note that neither of the alternate covers for #162 will EVER be available directly from AC Comics or through any other outlet- they are a Diamond Distribution exclusive, and if you want either (or both) you must work with your retailer to make sure that he orders the book so that he can get you the alternate(s) you want. If you wait until all retailer ordering is closed, you’ll be out of luck