| Jungle Action | |
|---|---|
Jungle Action #10 (July 1974) Art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia.]] |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | 1950s: Atlas Comics 1970s Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Number of issues | 1950: #1-6 (Oct. 1954 - Aug. 1955) 1970s: #1-24 (Oct. 1972 - Nov. 1976) |
| Main character(s) | 1950s: Lo-Zar, Jungle Boy, Leopard Girl, Man-Oo 1970s: Black Panther |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | 1950s: Don Rico, others 1970s: Don McGregor |
| Artist(s) | 1950s: Joe Maneely, John Forte, Al Hartley, Paul Hodge 1970s: Rich Buckler, Gil Kane, Billy Graham |
| Inker(s) | 1970s: Klaus Janson, P. Craig Russell |
Jungle Action is the name of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics and its 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics. The latter-day version is the first series starring the Black Panther, the first Black superhero in mainstream comics, created by the writer/artist team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966).
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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 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.[1]
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 generally transcended stories one critic called "painful to a modern eye, racist, ridiculous and old-fashioned",[2] was drawn by Joe Maneely, John Forte, Al Hartley, and Paul Hodge, respectively.[1]
Two brethren titles were published by Atlas. The seven-issue Jungle Tales (Sept. 1954 - Sept. 1955) introduced Marvel's first African hero — Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who predated the Black Panther by nearly a dozen years.[3] It was renamed and continued as Jann of the Jungle from #8-17 (Nov. 1955 - June 1957).[4]
The second title, Lorna, the Jungle Queen, renamed Lorna, the Jungle Girl with issue #6, ran 26 issues (July 1953 - Aug. 1957).[5]
The company's second series of this name premiered with an issue cover-dated October 1972 and containing reprints of the same-name Atlas Comics title, with stories of white jungle adventurers. This began to change with an actual African protagonist, the superhero the Black Panther, receiving his first starring feature with issue #5, a reprint of the Panther-centric story in the superhero-team comic The Avengers #62 (March 1969). A new series began running the following issue, 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[6] series ran in Jungle Action #6-24 (Sept. 1973 - Nov. 1976).[7]
One now-common innovation McGregor pioneered was that of the self-contained, multi-issue story arc.[2] The first, "Panther's Rage", ran through the first 13 issues, initially as 13- to 15-page stories. Starting with Jungle Action #14, they were expanded to 18- to 19-page stories; there was additionally a 17-page epilogue. Two decades later, writer Christopher Priest's 1998 series The Black Panther utilized Erik Killmonger, Venomm, and other characters introduced in this arc.
Critic Jason Sacks has called the arc "Marvel's first graphic novel", saying,
[T]here were real character arcs in Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four [comics] 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 Daredevil #69 (Oct. 1970), in which the Black Panther guest-starred.[7] 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 Black Panther series, starting January 1977.
Writer-artist Dwayne McDuffie said of the Jungle Action "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.[6]
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