Battle Royal: Ranking the Jungle Queens of Comicdom

Eileen’s major literary love is comedian books, however she’s at all times on the lookout for her subsequent literary journey it doesn’t matter what kind it takes. She has a Bachelor’s in media research, a Master’s in digital communication, a smattering of revealed quick tales, and a severely cute canine. Follow her on Tumblr and Twitter.

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Tarzan ain’t the just one swinging from vines and carrying skimpy furs. In the Golden Age of Comics (the Forties, principally, with bits of the ’30s and ’50s tagged on at both finish), comics performed host to a big quantity of jungle characters, each female and male. The males tended to be referred to as “lord of the jungle” or “jungle boy,” whereas the ladies might be women, princesses, goddesses, and, of course, queens.

As you could think about, this style is rife with racism of every kind. You’ve obtained a hearty dose of the white savior trope: all of the jungle queens/women/boys/lords are white and “take care” of Black natives who’re too gullible or silly to take care of themselves. The Black characters are drawn in the stereotypical model of the day, and whereas I attempted to keep away from deciding on pictures with the worst racism, some might need slipped via.

Despite their weak factors (which weren’t thought to be weak factors again then), jungle comics have been extraordinarily well-liked, on account of each the thrilling tales and the scantily-clad ladies (not in that order). They have left a legacy in the kind of characters like Marvel’s Ka-Zar, who stick with it the proud custom of befriending large toothy animals and stabbing at anybody who invades “his” jungle.

Not being too conversant in this style, I believed it was time I discovered. And what higher method to be taught than via theoretical violence? I picked six “jungle queen” comics from Comic Book Plus, which includes a huge array of public area titles, at random. Then I put their names in a mug and pulled them out two by two to find out who could be going up towards whom. Finally, I learn every queen’s debut story to find out which one would come out victorious in a battle with the different.

So right here we go, people. Let’s discover out which queens are robust sufficient to rule all of them!

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Vs. Nyoka the Jungle Girl

Sheena leads two white male prisoners into the jungle

Sheena: Sheena first appeared in a British journal, Wags, however we’ll be her U.S. debut in Jumbo Comics #1-4, revealed by Fiction House in 1938.

Haughty and ruthless, Sheena guidelines with an iron fist. When two white males stumble into her clutches, she takes them hostage and solely lets one go to seek out out what another white persons are doing so near her “empire.” While Sheena does get to do some preventing, principally she simply factors at her enemies and has males do the preventing for her. She even must be rescued by one of the two white guys. Boo! Show some initiative!

Nyoka falls into a pit where the floor rises up toward spikes in the ceiling

Nyoka: Nyoka has the distinction of first showing on movie: Jungle Girl, in 1941. She obtained her personal comedian — first referred to as Jungle Girl, then Nyoka the Jungle Girl — revealed by Fawcett in 1942. Despite being a “jungle girl,” Nyoka’s first journey is ready in the desert. I’ve been lied to.

So Nyoka is the daughter of a lacking scholar, which makes her the goal of two completely different teams — one good, one unhealthy — who need her to translate an necessary papyrus for them. She then turns into a pawn in her personal title, continuously falling into traps or stepping into hassle that solely a giant sturdy man can save her from.

Fight!: Gotta give Sheena props for being the oldest jungle queen on the checklist and paving the approach for the others. But regardless of supposedly being “fierce in battle,” she’s the sort of queen who delegates fairly than doing a lot herself.

Against anybody else, I’d say Sheena is the loser, however Nyoka isn’t just a very pathetic heroine; she isn’t even an actual jungle lady. So Sheena wins, principally by default. All Sheena must do is order her boyfriend to beat up Nyoka’s boyfriend, and that’s the finish of that.

Rulah, Jungle Goddess Vs. Taanda, White Princess of the Jungle

Jane Dodge wakes up after crashing her plane to find the crash has destroyed her clothes. — More like “jungle cheesecake” amirite

Rulah: Debuting in Fox’s Zoot Comics #7 in 1947, Rulah is notable for being created by Matt Baker, the most outstanding Black artist of the Golden Age.

“Rulah” is actually Jane Dodge, a bored wealthy pilot who crashes her airplane in the African jungle, which ruins her garments. Baker was identified for drawing ladies in skimpy outfits, so that is an excuse for him to place Jane in a bikini.

After she prevents a warfare by exposing the scheme of another white girl (whose presence isn’t defined), the natives insist that Jane show her power by preventing a jaguar to the demise. She does, they usually declare her a goddess, which convinces her to remain without end.

Taanda and her adoptive father ride on zebras to find the men stealing animals from their traps. — I simply needed to present you this bit with them using zebras like ponies.

Taanda: Brought to you by Avon, White Princess of the Jungle ran for 5 points in 1951-52.

After her explorer dad and mom have been killed, Taanda was raised by an area chief as his personal. Now she is aware of easy methods to train knowledge and mercy in addition to do extra down-to-earth issues like wrestling gators. All of these expertise are put to make use of when she has to cease a white poacher from stealing animals that her personal tribe had trapped first.

Fight!: Rulah would undoubtedly win Miss Congeniality since she has the finest character of the jungle queens — an actual go-getter, she is. And I give White Princess credit score for drawing the Black characters to appear to be actual folks, even when it’s nonetheless fairly racist.

But that’s not what this contest is about. I feel I’ve to present it to Taanda right here. She was raised in the jungle (which has zebras in it now, I suppose), whereas Rulah remains to be a newcomer studying her approach round. Taanda’s superior information of the setting gives her with a crucial edge over Rulah’s admittedly spectacular improvisational expertise.

Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle Vs. Tegra, Jungle Empress

Fantomah appears to two poachers as a beautiful woman. When they threaten her, she turns into a skeleton and warns them to go away. — Read the proper panel first. Page layouts had a methods to go nonetheless.

Fantomah: Debuting in Fiction House’s Jungle Comics #2 in 1940, Fantomah is a mysterious spirit who, in her first look, serves as a protector of animals. Specifically, she guards the elusive elephant graveyard, guiding dying elephants there and ensuring that any poachers who defile the place die horribly.

But her biggest characteristic is her cranium face. As you possibly can see in the panels, she normally seems as an exquisite girl in a sheer gown. But when she’s indignant with somebody, she turns right into a skeleton or a disembodied, floating cranium. Absolutely superb. She does, nonetheless, lose factors for killing a pair of harmless looking canines. They didn’t ask for that!

Zegra swings through the jungle until she finds a Saturnian, dressed in silver, fighting a lion.

Tegra: Tegra, Jungle Empress #1 from 1948 is technically Tegra’s solely look. Fox modified her title to Zegra in the second problem.

If you thought floating cranium heads have been wild, Tegra spent her debut preventing males from Saturn and their paralysis ray! She has a panther for a pet, swings from timber, and guidelines over her “people” with nothing greater than a giant knife. Despite residing in the jungle, Tegra clearly has some scientific background, as she accurately identifies the radium mud on the Saturnians’ ship and makes use of it to defeat them.

Fight!: I’ve been a fan of my lady Fantomah for years, so I’m biased, however Tegra gave her a run for her cash in the “bananapants bonkers” division. Tegra is definitely extra action-oriented, whereas Fantomah simply type of sits again and watches the poachers get hoisted by their very own petard (although it’s attainable she was influencing their actions via her mystic powers).

That mentioned, Tegra is far more of your common jungle queen, whereas Fantomah is a supernatural creature. If they crossed paths, Tegra’s information of science could be no match for Fantomah’s skill to lure her to a becoming, ironic finish.

Well, I, for one, certain obtained much more selection out of these jungle queen comics than I believed I might. I undoubtedly was not anticipating males from Saturn to point out up. While the racism inherent on this style forged a pall over my enjoyment, I did come to treat some of these jungle ladies with a form of fondness. In a unique setting, I might need loved them much more.

Jane Dodge particularly presents a compelling idea: she’s impartial, fearless, and intelligent — and in the public area. What do you say, readers? Anyone need to take a stab at rehabilitating this “goddess” right into a human heroine?

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