Nightveil: Crisis at the Crossroads of Infinity (an AC Comics novel)

I remember back when AC started putting out some of their "good girl" comics back in the early to mid-'80s - titles like FemForce, Dragonfly, Black Diamond (based upon a movie starring Sybil Danning that never saw the light of day), She-Cat, and others. I still have the complete runs of Dragonfly and Black Diamond, as well as a title starring the mystical character, Nightveil. Nightveil was another of AC's scantily clad heroes, but instead of super powers, she was powered with the knowledge of the arcane. Originally known as the Blue Bulleteer, she changed her identity to Nightveil after the wizard Azagoth gave her mystical powers in order to save her life. Her comic only ran for seven issues, but they were well-written and enjoyable reads. She has since been a member of AC's FemForce title, so she did not simply disappear into obscurity...

Fast forward to DragonCon 2019, where I came across Bobby Nash, who was offering up a number of his works, including a novel starring none other than Nightveil!  Crisis at the Crossroads of Infinity (gotta love that title - "Crisis" from DC Comics, "Crossroads from First Comics" and "Infinity" from Marvel Comics - talk about a true crossover crisis!) is the first and only prose novel starring AC's mistress of the arcane. Nash said he had fun writing it, and the story clearly shows it - true to the character, true to the source material, and oh-so-true to the fans who have been waiting for something like this.

Interestingly enough, the story begins with Laura Wright a/k/a Nighveil fighting some unknown villain at the Crossroads of Infinity - only to be defeated, her very essence wiped from existence. Definitely not the way you would expect a book about Nightveil to start, that's for sure! And before you ask, no the story did not then go back and tell the story that led up to that point. It was indeed Nightveil that was vanquished by this all-powerful foe, just not the one we are familiar with. Just like with DC and Marvel and pretty much any comic company today, the AC comic universe is a multiverse of universes - an infinite number of universes that are constantly being created by different choices. And with those infinite universes, there are an infinite number of Laura Wrights. Some became Blue Bulleteer. Some went on to become Nightveil. Some retired from being Nightveil. And some never became Nightveil at all. Some are loved, some are despised, and some are still fighting the Nazis after all these years.  Until now, they have all lived their own separate lives on their own separate Earths, content in thinking of the singularity of their universe. Until now...

Something is threatening the very fabric of reality.  Something - or rather, someone - is messing with the Crossroads of Infinity, destroying one Nightveil after another in order to gain more power for himself or herself, intent on destroying the multiverse. And here, Laura Wright thought she was going to get a nice relaxing day on the beach. Yeah, like any super  hero ever gets a nice, relaxing day anywhere. It starts with a tiny green vortex that appears out of nowhere, wreaking havoc on the beach and ruining her day. Following the vortex to its source, Nightveil is lead to the Crossroads, where she discovers that the villain intent on wiping out all realities is none other than.... well, no, that would be telling (grin).

Needless to say, Nightveil barely escapes the fight and realizes she's going to need help. She reaches out to alternate versions of herself, asking them to aid in her plan to stop the end of everything. And like that shampoo commercial from days gone by - she told two Nightveils, and they told two Nightveils, and they told two Nightveils, and so on, and so on - until an unexpected betrayal and the final battle begins much earlier than anticipated! Are two Nightveils enough to stop not only one ultra-powerful villain, but also a raised army of undead Nighveils?

I give Nash credit - he doesn't spend a lot of time going over backstory or history. Just enough information for a new reader to know what they need to know is dropped here and there, often through dialogue among the various Nightveils, and without bogging the story down. Rather, the story moves at a quick pace, and by the time you finish with this 171 page story, you feel like you've read an epic on par with DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's also a fun ride, seeing the various incarnations of Nightveil, and how her alternate selves deal with meeting other versions of themselves.

I hope that AC will do more of these prose novels for their characters - would love to see Dragonfly, Stardust, Ms. Victory, Tara, She-Cat, and some of the others get their chance, to see how authors would bring out the best of them.

RATING:  9 squadrons of Japanese Zeroes out of 10 for a mystical battle of multiversal proportions told in just one very enjoyable novel!