Jungle Action

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Jungle Action is the name of two separate comic book series published by Marvel Comics and its 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics. The latter-day version is notable for featuring the first series starring the Black Panther, the first major Black superhero.

1 Atlas Comics
- 1.1 Additional Atlas jungle titles
2 Marvel Comics
3 Quotes
4 Footnotes
5 References

[edit] Atlas Comics

Don Rico and Al Hartley created Leopard Girl, pictured on the cover of Jungle Action #2 (Dec. 1954). Art by Joe Maneely.

The first series — published during a time of few superheroes, when comics featured an enormous assortment of genres — was a multi-character omnibus that ran six issues (Oct. 1954 - Aug. 1955). Each starred the blond-haired, Tarzanesque Lo-Zar, Lord of the Jungle (renamed "Tharn" in 1970s reprints, presumably to avoid confusion with Marvel's modern-day Ka-Zar); Jungle Boy, the teenaged son of a renowned hunter; Leopard Girl, created by writer Don Rico and artist Al Hartley; and, intriguingly, Man-Oo the Mighty, the jungle-protector gorilla hero of naturalistic, narrated nature dramas. The giant snake Serpo was an antagonist common to most, lending some tangential geographic continuity.

Leopard Girl — a scientist's assistant named Gwen who was never given a last name — wore a full-body leotard which, though skin-tight, was more demure than the barely-there bikini of archetype Sheena, whose sexiness had raised both parents' eyebrows and the wrath of Senators in the 1950s hearings on comic books and juvenile delinquency.

The four series' attractive art, which often transcended the rather typical tales themselves, was by Joe Maneely, John Forte, Al Hartley, and Paul Hodge, respectively.

[edit] Additional Atlas jungle titles

Brethren titles published by Atlas were the seven-issue Jungle Tales (Sept. 1954 - Sept. 1955), continuing as Jann of the Jungle from #8-17 (Nov. 1955 - June 1957); and Lorna, the Jungle Queen, renamed Lorna, the Jungle Girl with issue #6, running 26 issues total (July 1953 - Aug. 1957).

Jungle Tales is of particular note for "Waku, Prince of the Bantu" — a rare feature starring an African chieftain in Africa, with no regularly featured Caucasian characters. Art was by Ogden Whitney, succeeded by John Romita Sr. Yet while Waku himself was, like the Black Panther, African rather than African American, his feature was only one of four in each issue. It would take a decade for the first African-American series star, the Western character Lobo, to appear, and nearly two decades before the likes of the Black Panther, Luke Cage and Captain America co-star the Falcon would star in solo series.

[edit] Marvel Comics

Jungle Action #10 (July 1974). Art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia.

The company's second series of this name premiered Oct. 1972 with Atlas reprints. Some critics considered these 1950s "white savior" stories an odd choice during a time of a newly post-colonial Africa and the rise of black power consciousness. "Although as many battles were fought against white hunters as natives," wrote one, "the motivations were different: the hunters (or treasure seekers, or slave traders) were greedy and manipulative. The natives, on the other hand, were greedy and stupid, in need of a white saviour. This was the overriding social message of the jungle comics...."^[1] Another wrote, "The stories are painful to a modern eye, racist, ridiculous and old-fashioned".^[2]

This began to change with an actual African hero, the Black Panther, getting his first starring feature with issue #5, a reprint of the Panther-centric story in The Avengers #62 (March 1969). A new series followed, written by Don McGregor with art by pencilers Rich Buckler, Gil Kane, and Billy Graham, and which gave inkers Klaus Janson and Bob McLeod some of their first professional exposure. The critically acclaimed series ran in Jungle Action #6-24 (Sept. 1973 - Nov. 1976).

One now-common innovation McGregor pioneered was that of the self-contained, multi-issue story arc. The first, "Panther's Rage", ran through the first 13 issues, initially as 13- to 15-page stories, then, starting with Jungle Action #14, as 18- to 19-page stories, plus a 17-page epilogue. Writer Christopher Priest's 1998 series The Black Panther reutilized Erik Killmonger, Venomm, and other characters introduced in this arc.

Critic Jason Sacks has called the arc "Marvel's first graphic novel":

“

[T]here were real character arcs in Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four over time. But ... "Panther's Rage" is the first comic that was created from start to finish as a complete novel. Running in two years' issues of Jungle Action (#s 6 through 18), 'Panther's Rage' is a 200-page novel that journeys to the heart of the African nation of Wakanda, a nation ravaged by a revolution against its king, T'Challa, the Black Panther".^[2]

”

The second and final arc, "Panther vs. the Klan", ran as mostly 17-page stories in Jungle Action #19-24 (Jan.-Nov. 1976), except for issue #23, a reprint of the Panther's guest-starring in Daredevil #69 (Oct. 1970). The subject matter of the Ku Klux Klan was considered controversial in the Marvel offices at the time, creating difficulties for the creative team. The arc ended mid-story and Jungle Action folded, with Jack Kirby — newly returned to Marvel after having decamped to rival DC Comics for a time — immediately writing and drawing the shorter-lived and critically unacclaimed Black Panther series, starting January 1977.

[edit] Quotes

Artist Dwayne McDuffie on the 1970s "Black Panther" series: "This overlooked and underrated classic is arguably the most tightly written multi-part superhero epic ever. If you can get your hands on it (and where's that trade paperback collection, Marvel?), sit down and read the whole thing. It's damn-near flawless, every issue, every scene, a functional, necessary part of the whole. Okay, now go back and read any individual issue. You'll find seamlessly integrated words and pictures; clearly introduced characters and situations; a concise (sometimes even transparent) recap; beautifully developed character relationships; at least one cool new villain; a stunning action set piece to test our hero's skills and resolve; and a story that is always moving forward towards a definite and satisfying conclusion. That's what we should all be delivering, every single month. Don [McGregor] and company did it in only 17 story pages per issue".^[3]