Rima the Jungle Girl #1 (1974)

Rima the Jungle Girl #1 (April-May, 1974)
"Spirit of the Woods"
"Four Tombs"
Writers - Robert Kanigher (?) & Jack Oleck
Art - Nestor Redondo & Alex Nino
Letters - Esphidy Mahilum
Edits - Joe Kubert & Alan Asherman
Cover Price: $0.20

So... what's Rima the Jungle Girl?  I'm not ashamed to say... I haven't the foggiest idea.  I couldn't tell you if this was an old licensed character, or an actual citizen of the DC Universe.  Well, I've done some (admittedly, shallow) research... and can happily report: yes... to both!

Rima would first appear in Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (1904) by William Henry Hudson... which seems like a rather odd place to find an eventual comics property, dunnit?  What's more, Green Mansions would eventually be adapted into a film (1959)... wherein, Audrey Hepburn would play Rima?  Dang!  Dude from Psycho plays the male lead... and, ho-lee smokes, does he ever not look like a complete creep?!

That's the smile of a man with a refrigerator full'a body parts.  Anyhoo, with all that having been said... the story we're about to look at apparently takes place on Earth-1!  What's more, Rima was even on the SuperFriends cartoon?!  This probably isn't all that mind-blowing to many reading this, but SuperFriends is definitely one of my DC "blind spots".  I never really watched it!  I think it might've been just a hair before my time, and I never made it a priority to seek out.

There she is chatting up Batman in SuperFriends.  Not to be confused nor conflated with Hanna Barbera's Jana of the Jungle...

So yeah... Rima, right?  This Jungle Girl has herself a pretty crazy little backstory... let's take a look at her first (to my knowledge) four-color outing!

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We open on a man frantically wandering through a Venezuelan Jungle... poisoned from a snakebite.  He thrashes about and calls for help from anyone that might hear him.  Unfortunately, he's, ya know, way deep in the woods.  Fortunately... that same blonde from the cover hangs out there.  Next thing we know, our man wakes up... safe and sound... inside the hut of an old man named Nuflo.  He wants to know what this strange white man is doing in this (literal) neck of the woods.

Our man figures, heck... the old man saved my life, the least I can do is tell him what brought me here... and so, we hop right into flashback land.  This fella's name is Abel... and he was a rebel against Venezuela's military regime during the Venezuelan Revolution.  He and his fellow rebels... well, didn't quite stack up to the military's firepower, and as such, went down like dominoes.  Abel's friends were all put before a firing squad, with Abel only getting away by virtue of being severely wounded on the battle field.  He'd flee into the jungles.

Abel would follow the shores of the Orinoco River, hoping to stumble across a mythical treasure which he felt might turn the tide in the revolution.  The days passed on, and he'd finally find his way into a small village.  Lucky for him, these were friendly folks.  They'd even teach him some of their own ways.  Their only warning to Abel was to stay out of Tabu... the Evil Place.  Which is to say, the place is called "Tabu"... or, it's, ya know, "taboo" to go there?  Whatever the case... Abel is told to stay out.

Naturally... he does not.  That night, after the village has gone to bed, Abel sneaks over to the taboo Tabu... and is overcome by the sound of a bird's song.  As he wanders deeper, he feels the presence of... someone... watching over him.

He heads back to the village, where the stink of the Evil Place is just allllll over him.  Runi, the villager, and Abel's friend calls him a fool for letting his curiosity get the best of him... and warns of a "witch" who lives deep in them thar woods.  One who can transform from human to beast, and back again.  Those villagers who dared enter before... never returned!

The villagers decide to give Abel another chance... but, again... warn him that he's kinda playing with bad juju in Tabu.  Naturally, Abel only stays put for another day.  The following morning, he's back in the green... following the strange, exotic, bird song.

He finally finds himself stood before a snarled old tree... and can really feel the magic of the area.  Then... Rima!  Rima walks out toward him... and, well, doesn't say anything.  She's almost playing "hard to get here".  Every time Abel approaches, she playfully prances away.  Our man takes this as a sign that she's "beckoning" him to follow... and so, he does.

They arrive at a thick brush, and Abel spies a poisonous snake coming dangerously close to Rima's bare leg.  Our hero lunges in to push Rima away from the snake, which only causes the wriggler to latch onto his own leg!  Ya see, the snake was protecting Rima... a fact that isn't lost on Abel.

This takes us back to the beginning... with poisoned Abel stumblin' all over the place.  Back in the present, he thanks the old man for saving his life... only to be corrected.  It wasn't Nuflo that drew the poison from Abel's wound... it was Nuflo's granddaughter: Rima!

Our back-up story features the creatively-named Space Voyagers!  They are Armando, Bartt, Melong, and Nolan... and, well... as the name might imply, they're voyaging through space.  They decide to stop on an uninhabited planet to see if they might procure some actual food (rather than their normal "food tablets").  Upon hitting the ground, they spy a set of footprints leading into a weird forest, and figure they might be worth a follow.  Yeah, what's the worst that can happen?

What they find is... the owner of those prints, an old man... who is just about to be gobbled up by a giant green insect!  The Space Voyagers attempt to blast at the thing, only to find that their weapons are powerless against it.

They decide to outsmart the thing, by making it give chase.  When this happens, the poor bug winds up impaling itself on some of the spikier parts of the forest.

The old man pulls himself back up to his feet, and beckons the gang to follow him.  Wow, two "beckonings" in one issue!  You sure got your two-dimes worth back in '74!  Anyhoo... he leads them into a weird Mausoleum... and inside, are our titular "Four Tombs"... which look to contain... them!

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Lemme tell ya... if not for this site, this is definitely not the sort of book I'd ever subject myself too... which, is another reason to be happy to have the site.  I really, really enjoyed this!

I'm not going to pretend to be some sort of Rima expert or anything, or suggest that I've read more than like a paragraph and a half of the Wikipedia synopsis of Green Mansions... so, we're just going to look at this as a comic book.  As a comic book, I found that this story had a wonderful "flow" to it.  It really felt as though I was being kinda "swept" into it.  So often, it feels like our creative teams attempt to show and tell... which makes the read feel a little bit overbearing at times.  This, was relatively light, and almost played out like a movie.  For all I know this was a direct retelling of the first bits of the 1959 film... but, for whatever it's worth, I really enjoyed the way this played out.

There were no credits in this issue... though, many of my research haunts attribute it to Robert Kanigher.  Couldn't find any concrete confirmation, but the speculation appears to be in agreement... though, Nestor Redondo is given credit in "expanding" Rima's role.  Considering this version of the Jungle Girl is only around for this seven-issue series, I'm not sure how much actual "credit" is involved.

Worth noting, that Rima was nyoinked outta the mothballs for the 2010 DC FirstWave stuff, which featured pulpy characters like Doc Savage and the like.

Art by Rags Morales

This issue also came with a back-up feature I suppose we could spend a few lines talking about.  It... was fine.  Definitely my kind of back-up, in that it didn't attempt to overwhelm the lead story... and was rather breezy to get through.  I didn't feel overwhelmed by a load of characters (I'll probably never see or think about again) dropped in my lap, and having to keep straight.  This was a pretty boilerplate space adventure, with some action, and a pretty cool twist of a cliffhanger.  Good stuff.

Overall, definitely enjoyed this more than I thought I would... and I'm really glad I finally got around to reading it.

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Kong the Untamed #1 (1975)

Kong the Untamed #1 (July, 1975)

"Kong the Untamed"

Writer - Jack Oleck

Artist - Alfredo F. Alcala

Editor - Joe Orlando

Cover Price: $0.25

One of my favorite parts of being a comic collector is discovering things I had no idea existed.  There's always that (brief) moment of shock when I come across something in a cheap-o bin, or even on the racks that I never knew of.  It doesn't happen too often, but when it does... it's pretty neat.

Even if what the "new" thing is isn't totally to my interests as a reader, I'm still pretty likely to snag it just to be sure.  Case in point, today's trip into the primitive world (which is different from Warlord's "Lost World") of Kong... the Untamed?

There isn't a whole lot written about the towheaded cave boy online, except that he's apparently a canonical DC character (I though for a moment he was a licensed deal)... he is a direct descendant of the "first boy" of the DC Universe, Anthro!

Let's see what makes him tick...

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We open as a clan of cavemen do battle with... well, a clan of beastmen.  Many of the cavefolk are fleeing, much to their leader, Trog's annoyance.  One clanmember who did not flee... though stayed behind is Attu.  She is pregnant, and prays to their god Lural that her child be born with the warrior spirit of Kong.

Following the battle, Trog and company return to their cave.  They find the deserters have already beaten them there.  What's a caveman clanleader to do?  Well, he "demotes" them from man to woman for starters... Ya see, the beastmen stole most of their gals, and now there's nobody left to do the wimmin's work.  Just as he's reading the geeks the riot act, Attu appears holding her bouncing baby Kong... offering her child as a warrior to the clan.

Trog's all, silly lady... what am I gonna do with a 10-minute old kid?  The clan shaman informs Trog that there is legend of a blonde boy who will grow to be their finest warrior and hunter... and so, Trog, bright fella that he is... decides to put that to the test.  He... raises his ax to the newborn!

Attu thankfully intervenes, only to get backhanded for her trespass (and the possibility of tainting Trog's ax with her inferior female blood).  She (and Kong) are then excommunicated from the tribe... and sprinkled with cursed he-bear teeth powder for good measure.

And so, Attu and Kong live their lives outside the clan proper.  They have been ostracized by all members out of fear of what Trog would do if he'd found out the members treated them as family.  This leads to Kong becoming a rather adept gatherer... they say necessity is the mother of digging for roots and stuff... so here we are.

Kong while a warrior-born (?) is also still just a little boy.  He yearns to be accepted by his peers... he wants to join in on their hunting games.  They, however... out of fear of Trog perhaps, will not allow him in.  In fact, they mock his blonde hair and proceed to pelt him with stones.  Wow... what jerks!  He's not blonde by choice, ya know?

As he flees, Trog tells him he should join up with the Beastmen... which made me think we were headed for one of those Twilight Zone endings where the ugly beast men were the good guys all along... Anyhoo... Kong uses this as inspiration to create his own hunting games... and comes to be quite the proficient little hunter.

Some time later, Attu and Kong watch as Trog is challenged for his leadership by a tribesman called Karas.  Trog easily slays the challenger.  Attu and Kong return to their cave, and mother tells son of the legend of the Warrior Kong.  This causes the boy to get pretty ticked off... if he's such a great warrior, then why do they live in solitude?  In freezing cold temperatures?  Eating only things dug from the ground?  Attu pretty much shrugs and tells him they're at the mercy of Trog for her trespasses.

Kong waits for his mother to fall asleep, and goes "screw it... I'm taking some of that sacred flame"... and he does!

Some more time passes, and Kong grows even more restless.  He's tired of eating roots... he wants meat, dammit!  Attu reminds him that they have no "man" to hunt for them... Kong's like "eff that..." and off he goes huntin' wabbits.  While he lies in wait for a fine bit of hossenfeffer, he is captured by a beastman!  Now, get this... the beast man ties Kong to a tree... and starts bleeding him out so he can take his skin.  Yeesh.  Guess the beasts weren't the "good guys all along"!

As luck would have it, it begins to rain.  This loosens the bindings around Kong's wrists and he is able to make his escape before losing too much blood.  The beastman gives chase!  Kong lures him to a boar pit the tribe had set up... and the baddie falls in!  As he climbs out, Kong pelts him with rocks... which only seems to amuse the hairy bastard.  Kong don't dig being the butt of a joke... so he launches throws his rabbit-hunting spear right through his furry heart!

He returns home to tell Attu... who takes him directly to Trog to see if this can get them back into the tribe's good graces.  Well, Trog knows bullcrap when he smells it... he must be a seasoned comic book reader... he's all "no body... no kill".  Kong runs off to fetch the body from the boar pit... and finds there is no body!  He is then surrounded by beastmen, and captured.

Back at the cave, Trog's still being a jerk... so Attu goes off to find her son.  She doesn't find him, but does notice a trail of footprints.  This may be an indicator on how she has grown as a tracker in her own right during her years of exile.  She follows them to a beastmen camp-out jamboree where she sees her boy all hung up on a spit by the fire.

She hops down to rescue her boy, and upon undoing his bindings catches a spear in her Achilles... ouch.  The mother and son flee as fast as their (now) three feet will take them.  When they get far enough away, Kong splits off to fetch some herbs to control his mother's bleeding.  Upon return, however, he finds her hung from a tree.  He swears vengeance on the Beastmen... and spits upon their god Lural!  Kong's ticked, and he's ready to kick some hairy butt!

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Wow, that's a lotta story for just 18 pages.  Wasn't expecting such a (relatively) dense read.

Outside of Warlord, I really never gave much of a look at the... hmm, do I call this type of book "sword and sorcery"?  I mean, there was a shaman... and the beast man did have a knife... Either way... I don't usually care for... er, cave... boy... stories?  Yeah.  Don't usually go for this kind of stuff... 

but...

... this was pretty good.  It read kind of like a fable, odd as that may sound.  Like the whole time, I was waiting for the big moment of moral clarity to overcome the thing.  Thankfully, they zigged when I was prepared for them to zag.  I enjoyed watching young Kong grow up and become more fed up with his (and his mother's) lot in life.  The old rules of the clan must seem rather alien to a boy raised outside it.  I like that we saw him raised to be fearless... he never had to take a knee to Trog, and so he never had to temper his attitude nor expectations of life.

I gotta say, I was also prepared for this to be some sort allegory to social issues, specifically feminism and racism... ol' Trog wasn't quite the progressive clan leader in the way he spoke of women... and further, I was expecting... when Kong first ran into the Beast Man Gurat, he was going to learn that the beasties weren't so bad after all.  Well, one outta two ain't bad.  We did get to watch as Attu raised her son on her own, and grew into a strong independent brave selfless (lotsa adjectives!) warrior herself.

Overall, had a good time with this one.  Not gonna rock your socks, but it's a fun diversion from the rest of the comics out there.  This series only went five issues, and I doubt Kong's ever been seen nor heard of again... though I wouldn't be surprised if he made some background appearances so a creator could give the series a wink.

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Letters Page:

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That's one scary child...

That's one scary grown-up...

These two look like they were caught in the act!