Colt, the Weapons Mistress

Emerging from AC Comics' scrappy, female-forward corner of the Bronze Age, Colt, the Weapons Mistress made her debut in Black Diamond #5 in 1984, the creation of Paul Daly and Don Secrease. Her name alone announces her identity with swagger, and she's gone on to carve out a place in the pages of FemForce — AC's celebrated ensemble title — sharing adventures with a formidable roster that includes Nightveil, She-Cat, and Valencia Kirk. With a key issue already to her name and appearances stretching toward the close of the decade, she's a genuine artifact of an era when independent publishers were doing bold, unapologetic things with women in comics — and for collectors who love that scrappy AC universe, Colt is absolutely worth tracking down.