The Shade Special #1
The Shade Special #1 (Fall 1984) is a key artifact in AC Comics' pivotal transition from its full-color Americomics phase to the black-and-white one-shot format that would sustain the company through a turbulent period in the independent direct-market. It spotlights The Shade — Bill Black's own original creation, a character he had been developing since his Paragon Publications fanzine days of the early 1970s — giving that character a dedicated showcase just as the Femforce universe was being assembled around him. The issue's roster of characters, many of whom also populate the contemporaneous Femforce Special #1, places it at the very ground floor of the interconnected AC superhero universe that would anchor the publisher for decades. As one of the few 1984 AC one-shots to focus on a male lead while drawing on the same creative talent building Femforce, it documents the full breadth of Black and Levins' shared world at its formative moment.
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The Shade as a character predates AC Comics itself: Bill Black created him for his Paragon Publications 'ground level' periodicals beginning in 1969, and the character received his first commercial color outing in Americomics #1 in 1983, written and drawn by Black. By late 1984, with a glut of hastily-produced independent comics having destabilized the direct-sales market and forced AC to rethink its color line, Black assembled The Shade Special #1 as a black-and-white anthology showcasing The Shade across four stories — 'Beginnings,' 'Voodoo Night,' 'Project Psion,' and 'Eyes of the Hypnotist' — with writing and art by both Rik Levins and Bill Black. The issue appeared in the same Fall 1984 window as Femforce Special #1, situating it squarely within AC's concentrated push to establish its universe through a series of affordable one-shots during that transitional period.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Written and drawn by Rik Levins and Bill Black, published by AC Comics, Fall 1984.
- Contains four stories: 'Beginnings,' 'Voodoo Night,' 'Project Psion,' and 'Eyes of the Hypnotist.'
- Features The Shade, an original Bill Black character first developed in his pre-AC Paragon Publications fanzines beginning in 1969 and given his first color commercial appearance in Americomics #1 (1983).
- The Latigo Kid (alter ego: Charlie Starrett, later to become Captain Paragon) is specifically noted as a featured character in the issue's ComicBase index entry.
- Published during AC's strategic pivot to black-and-white one-shots in late 1984, concurrent with the landmark Femforce Special #1, as the publisher responded to a glut-driven collapse in the early independent direct-sales market.
- Shares much of its character roster with the nascent Femforce universe, including Miss Victory (Joan Wayne), She-Cat, Blue Bulleteer, Rio Rita, Tara (Tara Fremont), and Lady Luger — characters who would anchor AC's flagship ongoing series from 1985 onward.
- The Shade continued as an active supporting figure in the Femforce universe long after this special, appearing as recently as Femforce #207, demonstrating his enduring centrality to the AC shared world.
- AC Comics (then still transitioning from the Americomics imprint, formally adopting the AC name in 1984) was one of the first four independent color comics publishers to pioneer the direct-sales distribution model in the early 1980s.