The Queens of the Jungle

Picking out your weekly comics can be a challenging task. On a normal week at least twenty new comics come out, and budgeting your money to pick up your regular stash as well as a few good new funny books can be trying. However, when three new comics hit the shelves at relatively the same time and seem to be exactly the same thing, this problem becomes even greater. This just happened to me with all the Jungle Women comics that are currently on the racks.

First, came Sheena - Queen of the Jungle which, besides a few quick glances, I basically ignored. Next, Marvel released Shanna The She-Devil: Survival of the Fittest. Scratching my head with confusing, I assumed these two comics were the same and went on with my daily business. Most recently, Dynamite Entertainment released Jungle Girl, and finally all three comics had my attention.

Now, let me explain I am new to the world of Jungle Women comics, so of the three available to me I want to make sure I pick out the right one. But what in the hell is the difference??? All three protagonist seem to be exactly the same thing: scantily clad voluptuous blondes fighting dinosaurs in the jungle! Even there names are hard not to get confused. Sheena. Shanna. Jana! More still,what better evidence can I give you then a simply comparison of their covers:







You can't tell a difference can you? Well, with a bit of research I discovered a few cool individual aspects for each one. Sheena - Queen of the Jungle was originally created by S.M. Eger and Will Eisner and was the first female character ever to be given her own comic book title in 1942, even before Wonder Woman. Marvel's Shanna the She-Devil had a brief run in the seventies and ended up becoming the wife of Marvel's main Jungle Man Ka-Zar. Jungle Girl is a creation of
Liberty Meadow's Frank Cho, and is perhaps the most voluptuous of the three. Ultimately though, all three are derivative of each other, a female Tarzan if you will, that will protect us men from those hungry hungry dinosaurs.

So after careful deliberation I had to choose Frank Cho's Jungle Girl, simply because it was the most ludicrous of the three. The content is hysterical, with panel after panel of revealing butt shots for no particular reason. Any person who has ever taken a contemporary ethics class should be appalled by these ridiculous male fantasy comics. Still, I can't help thinking they're pretty darn funny...

-Jon