Femforce Index

The Official Guide to the AC Universe
***Femforce Index***

CHRONOLOGY / CROSSOVER GUIDE PART 4

WAR! From the military assault on Garganta to the epic Shroud War, from stories set against the backdrop of WW II to the desperate battle for She-Cat's soul, warfare pervades issues 31-40 of Femforce. "Under the Shadow of the Shroud," the trilogy in FF 34-36 that concludes a Storyline eight years in the telling, is a major milestone in the history of the AC Universe. Readers may notice that the synopses in this installment of the index get a bit lengthy, but hey - there's a lot happening here, and we don't want to leave anything out.

As we end this ten-issue run, Garganta is still living peacefully beneath the sea, the Shroud has been decisively defeated, She-Cat has warded off Sehkmet once more by bonding with Stardust, and the Vault heroes are making a new life for themselves in the 90's. Troubles lie ahead, however. The Black Commando is still on the loose, and Lady Luger is about to write finis to Joan Wayne's life as Rad.....

CHRONOLOGY & CROSSOVERS

There are no other titles crossing over with Femforce in this 10-issue run, but some of the stories within Femforce 31 -40 need to be placed in their proper time setting.

"The Return of Garganta" (FF 32)
This story, like the original Garganta story in FF 30, must take place between Good Girl Art Quarterly 4, when the FF wrap up their battle with the Shapeshifters, and FF 29, which sees the opening of the Vault and the beginning of the Shroud Wars in earnest. Events from FF 29 take place too quickly for the Garganta storyline to fit within them. Further evidence is Dragonfly's presence in the Garganta storyline, which would be inconsistent with her departure for the Weir Asylum with Nightveil at the end of FF 30 (1). The exception in FF 32 is the chapter in which the Shroud gathers his evil forces. Iron Jaw's presence among the horde of villains indicates that this particular chapter must take place after Iron Jaw is freed from the Weir Asylum in FF 31 (1).

"Alliances" (FF 31)
As stated in the beginning of this story, this is a retro-continuity tale taking place prior to Nightveil, Paragon, Tara, and Dr. Weir confronting the Shroud on Jungle Island in FF 26.

Femforce 33
For the same reasons discussed for the Garganta stories above, each of the four chapters in this issue takes place prior to FF 29. The only Vault heroes seen here are those that were released prior to the general release of all the heroes. Weir's conversation with the Green Lama about the Purple Claw's detection of the Shroud leads to the investigation by the quartet of heroes in FF 26 and 27. Colt's consultation with Dr. Renner follows her dismissal from the Femforce and most likely precedes her hooking up with Rad in FF 29.

Because Femforce stories from the World War II period are relatively few and far between, the continuity of the Femforce's early history isn't always as readily apparent as the stories set in the modern era. The two-part battle in Femforce 38 and 39 between Lady Luger and the Blue Bulleteer (who is joined by She-Cat in the concluding episode) is put here in the context of the Femforce's early history as depicted in other titles.

The key to making the continuity work is to be aware of the gap between the Femforce's first adventure together and the official formation of the team. Having the Lady Luger battle fall within this gap explains how She-Cat and the Blue Bulleteer already know each other. It also makes sense of Laura's lament that she has no one to work with regularly. Having worked once with a team, she realizes the obvious benefit of teamwork and hopes to make it happen again in the future. This time gap between the battle with Fungi and the government establishment of the team may have taken several months while the decisions were being reached, and FF 38 and 39 take place within that period of uncertainty. In the meantime, the heroines pursued their solo interests.