Ramar of The Jungle 003; in The Tyranny of Hama

Although the comic book jungle has its male heroes, such as Thun’da and Kaanga it is a realm where women are the rulers, Tarzan excepted.

In 1937, a Jungle Queen debuted in the British magazine Wags #1. Sheena, created by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger then made her U.S. appearance the next year in Jumbo Comics #1, appearing in every issue until April 1953. In 1942, she made history by becoming the first female with her own title. As can be seen from the titles beneath Sheena spawned a whole new genre, the Jungle Girl.

Amongst our fictional characters there are a few real life stars, including Dorothy Lamour the ‘Sarong Queen’. Making a brief appearance is the larger than life Frank Buck, a hunter and animal collector. He was also the author of ‘Bring ‘Em Back Alive’, an actor, director and producer. In the 1930s and 40s he starred in numerous jungle adventure movies. Another movie star, Sabu was the son of an Indian elephant driver. He had his big break, at the age of 13, in the 1937 British film Elephant Boy and other roles followed. Sabu died of a heart attack, aged just 39.