“Yesterday’s” Comic> Jungle Comics #1

“Oh wait, I was supposed to rescue a different girl in another part of the jungle. The union’s going to be maaddd!”

Jungle Comics #1

GlenKel Publishing (January, 1940)

I want to be clear here. Even if these stories are good, I’m not going to be reviewing this series further. I’m doing this as a form of curiosity. The only Tarzan stories I really got into was the cartoons. I do like the Phantom, and I reviewed a Sheena comic as part of my look at Seduction Of The Innocent because Frederic Wertham put her on his list of comics to go after, probably not having read that one, either. Jungle hero stories are just not in my field of interest. I’m checking this out as a sample of the genre from the period by a publish I have not looked into before. So enjoy this while it’s here.

[Read along with me here]

Looks like Comic Book Plus fixed their server issues from earlier this week. I guess that means I’m going to have to finish Peacemaker next week. Ah, well. Can’t win them all.

Kaänga by Alex Boon

Our first Tarzan knockoff (collect them all) previously appeared Jungle Stories from Fiction house, but this is my introduction. He even gets his own Jane, named Ann, whose father is killed by slavers seeking their exploration party (killing dad because he’s too old) and I probably don’t want to know what they had planned for Ann. Kaanga (they don’t always get the two dots in the name and I’m not going to the character map every time) rescues her and learns English but still has to fight the slavers who aren’t giving up her or the white guy in the jungle. Dude, there are going to be plenty more in this comic before we’re done. They’d probably all kick your butt like this guy, though. It’s a decent opening story, but given all these white jungle heroes are basically the same Tarzan knockoffs with slightly different origins I’m not expecting a lot of variety here. Prove me wrong, comic. I dare you!

White Panther by Taylor Martin

Insert your own T’Challa jokes here because this is a knockoff of the Phantom, just with the power to see the future (also a fast runner but I don’t know if that’s athletics or another superpower) and wearing a cape in a jungle setting. You know I’m a big cape defender and even I think that’s a bad idea. Okay, you proved me wrong…but it’s still another “protect the expedition” story, as a scientist seeks a magic healing stone that a rival professor also wants. Throw in cannibals and alligators, and somebody’s going to be dinner tonight. It’s…okay. I’ll take the Ghost Who Walks any day.

Tabu: Wizard Of The Jungle by Henry Fletcher

Back to the Tarzans, only now with a “sixth sense” that somehow allows him to run and climb better than the animals. I’m not sure that’s how “senses” work, my man. He can even outfly an eagle and outswim a shark. He can also command the animals, which he gets to battle another bunch of slavers. We’re about to get into a rut of expeditions and slavers. He can even command the jungle itself. Dude isn’t Tarzan, he’s Swamp Thing! Then his witch doctor dad (how a white man has a black witch doctor dad I won’t ask) gives him a seventh sense to be in touch with the spirits of the jungle…which I thought he was considering he turned into a gorilla, and then a tentacle tree to torture and kill the villains. So he’s also the Spectre. I mean, if you just want to see a bunch of white slave raiders get tortured you might like this. It’s just too horror for me.

Camilla: Queen Of The Lost Empire by Caw

I don’t know. These lost empire queens are usually evil magic users who were locked away for a reason. This one is no different. Jon Dale is seeking the Lost Empire, and fate allows him to find it along with two other people who found it earlier. Camilla has a thing for Jon because he’s the hunky protagonist, but when he spurns her affections she’s sure it’s because of the girl in the other group he met just a few hours ago and not sacrificing people to Thor. Yes, we have Norse worshippers in the jungle. We also have a secret to eternal life that we’re going to destroy because it’s evil or something. I don’t know. The story runs a big too fast to make sense.

Captain Thunder & The Cargo Lancers by Art Peters

I believe this is the comic that got blamed for Captain Thunder being renamed Captain Marvel from our Shazam ashcan a few weeks ago. Didn’t even see that coming. Captain Terry Thunder, no costume or superpowers, We don’t know why his commander is unhappy to see him reenlist but we do see him and his oddballs sent to find out why a whole garrison of anti-slave traders (of course) are dead. It’s not a bad introduction to the characters.

Wambi The Jungle Boy

Fine, you win. You have variety, even in jungle locations. We leave Africa for a bit to go to India. Now we have Mowgli from The Jungle Book fighting evil by talking to animals. Sure, why not? Only his BFF is an elephant instead of a bear. And for once we don’t have any slaver or expeditions. Just gunrunners looking to sell firearms to an evil tribe. It’s an okay story. Not great, but okay.

White Hunters Of The African Safari

Well, we had to get a bit silly at some point. It’s not straight up comedy (which hasn’t had the best record in these Golden Age reviews) as three guys are bailed out of jail to go on a jungle adventure of some kind. When their “boss” starts whipping the native help, you shouldn’t be surprised they retaliate and our trio has to rescue them and win the girl…oh, she’s married. Haha? Yeah, kind of a weak one.

Simba: King Of The Beasts

Before the Lion King, there was the king of the beasts. He is challenged for leader of the lion pack, but the young challenger is attacked by lion hunters until being rescued by Simba. The young lion heals and reissues the challenge, but while Simba wins he’s had his last battle and leaves with a few loyal lionesses. The animals do not talk. Even the humans in the story are silent. It’s all narration and it works pretty well. I’m guessing this is a one-shot story because I don’t see how you make a series out of this.

Drums Of The Leopard Men by Richard Briefer

Our white heroes this time tangles with Leopard Men, natives who wear leopard skins and attack people for their white master, who this time wants the heroes’ diamond mine. I think the actual leopards objected, and they don’t use lawyers. There’s a tease for another story, but this is where our journey into this series ends.

overall

Not as casually racist as you’d expect. Natives are still drawn and written as African natives when they’re in Africa, of course there’s a lot of white heroes calling the locals “the blacks”, but for the time this is actually rather tame on the casual racism side. I’m still not coming back to this series, but I can’t say it wasn’t an positive reading experience for the most part. Just one I’m not interested in repeating.