Effects of The Trends

One thing that the jungle comics shared is during wartime, both in World War II and the Cold War, elements of what is happening on the war front get inserted into these stories. Like the war comics during WWII, there are elements of storytelling that support the war. This also had a similar effect during the Cold War in the late 1940s as m. Keith Book states, “Cold War-related stories featuring espionage, clandestine infiltrators, and illicit trade in atomic secrets became the main fodder of comic adventure stories” (79). This turn in storytelling also had noticeable effects on the jungle heroines.

The idea of communist revolutions in Africa is how the wartime events made their way into the jungle heroine. In the 1950s, series like Lorna the Jungle Girl, Taanda White Princess of the Jungle, and Jann of the Jungle maintain the jungle narrative seen previously in the 40s. With the rising popularity of crime adventure, the jungle heroine starts to diminish. The jungle heroines here only serve the purpose of trying to attract attention with the scantily clad females. With the mixture of two genres, the narrative does not improve, and with the readership already decreasing for the jungle theme, it was only a matter of time before the mid-1950s where most of this genre disappear.   

Works Cited

Booker, M. Keith. Comics Through Time: a History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas, Vol 4. ABC-Clio, 2014.  

Eisner, Will & Jerry Iger. “Sheena Queen of the Jungle.” Jumbo Comics #3, Fiction House, 1938.

Peddy, Arthur & Don Rico. “Jann.” Jann of the Jungle #10, Atlas Comics, 1954.

Ravielli, Louis & Raymond Kinstler. “Taanda.” White Princess of the Jungle #3, Avon, 1951.

Rico, Don & Eerner Roth. “Lorna the Jungle Queen.” Lorna the Jungle Girl #9, Atlas Comic, 1953.

Winter, C. A. “Camilla.” Jungle Comics #27. Fiction House, 1940.