The Legacy of The Jungle Heroine
As the regulations of the Comic Code start to die down in the mid-1960s, the jungle theme makes a slight return. In 1966, Black Panther makes an appearance in Fantastic Four #52 under the new direction of Marvel under Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It the first time where this genre takes on a different meaning where first the main character is now a male and the narrative having solid writing. Black Panther would start in its only feature in Jungle Action #5 in 1973. In 1972, Shanna makes a comeback under a new title Shanna the She-Devil and writer, Carole Seuling, which is also run under Marvel Comics. Shanna’s new direction aimed at the female readership, which Stan Lee stated in an interview with Roy Thomas:
...had the idea, and I think the names, for all three. He wanted to do some books that would have special appeal to girls. We were always looking for ways to expand our franchise. My idea ... was to try to get women to write them. ... I thought of my friend Carole Seuling, who had done a bit of writing for her ex-husband Phil in conjunction with his comic cons. I approached her to do the Shanna book because I knew she liked jungle comics and adventure comics. ... I put Ross Andru on as the Shanna artist [beginning with issue #2], with Vinnie Colletta inking to make Ross' Shanna look attractive. (Lee)
The initial series ran five-issue but would continue to make appearances in different Marvel works. In 1975, DC Comics started a seven-issue comic book on Rima, the fictional heroine in Hudson’s novel Green Mansion. Rima is portrayed as a South American native with piercings and tattoos; she does not speak but instead communicates in bird-like whistles. Rima has a reputation for magic earned through the display of talents such as talking to birds and befriending animals similar to her counterpart in the novel. Although in the original story Rima was burned alive, in the comics she escapes and has further adventures.
With DC and Marvel as the two dominate comic publishers today, the restriction jungle heroine once had is no more. However, the popularity within comics today is the superhero, with the ever more attention being drawn to it by the recent Marvel films. As well as with standards today, the concept of the jungle heroine would be a hard character model to write. However difficult, the genre still survives and there can be glimpses of it through new up and coming artists. As a small piece of the golden era of the comic, the jungle heroine still has a place in comics today.
Works Cited
Hudson, W. H. Rima the Jungle Girl #6, Art by Nestor Redondo. DC Comics, 1975.
Lee, Stan & Jack Kirby. Fantastic Four #52, Marvel Comics Group, 1966.
Thomas, Roy. Alter Ego #70, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2007.
Seuling, Carole. Shanna the She-Devil #1, Marvel Comics, 1972.