Description
When strange costumed characters with superpowers start appearing, what else can the Femforce do but assume they are some threat?Who could imagine that they are really heroes and heroines from a bygone era, kept inert in stasis in a government facility. The place is called the Vault Of Heroes, and it’s keeper is Dr. Jonathan Weir, owner of The Purple Claw. Though the heroes mean no harm, there appearance does signal a threat- they have been revived (an eventuality hinted at in the previous year’s Femforce: Out Of The Asylum special ) to help in a coming battle royal with the greatest villain of all time- The Black Shroud. Brought back for this titanic conflict (and seen here in action for the first time in any AC book) are actual Golden Age heroes from defunct G. A. publishers, including The Catman and Kitten, from Holyoke; Captain Flash, of Sterling Publications, The Green Lama, from Spark pubs, Rocketman and Jetgirl, of Harry “A” Chesler, and more. Over the years, these Vault Heroes would become a prominent and popular part of AC and Femforce contiuity. It all started here, in “The Dark Return”, written by Bill Black, drawn by Greg(Espers)Horn, and inked by John(Mystic)Dell.Guest starring T. C. Fremont. The back-up also ties in with the lead , as “Nightveil Meets The Avenger” The Mystic Miss(Laura Wright, in her civilian I. D.) comes face to face with the revived Magazine Enterprises hero, (whose real identity is Roger Wright) and learns that he is her long-lost older brother- and that he carries a terrible, fatal secret. Story and inks by Bill Black, Pencils by Jim Royal, with the Avenger origin flashback a reworking of Dick Ayers’ original art from M. E.’s Avenger Comics #1.