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.
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| 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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Interesting Ads:
Limited Collectors' Edition #C-36 - The Bible (June-July, 1975)
"Stories From the Bible... Book One"
Writer - Sheldon Mayer
Art - Nestor Redondo
Editor, Some Interiors & Cover - Joe Kubert
Cover Price: $1.00
Hello Gang... today, we're going to be looking at a piece that, to be completely honest, I felt kind of conflicted in even considering. It's potentially controversial... and, depending on your point of view, the subject matter might just ruffle some feathers. Today, friends, we are going to be taking a look at DC Comics' take on The Bible.
Now, before we proceed... some things I wanna put out in the open. If you're looking for an article that will a) extol the virtues of the Bible, or b) mock and dismiss the Bible... this probably isn't the post for you. As a wannabe comics historian, I am looking at this simply as a piece of comic book history, and will proceed without much in the way of editorializing. These stories will be presented as stories... I'll leave how they're received and/or believed to each individual reader.
I'm no Theologian, but I feel as though faith is a complicated concept and a very personal part of a person's life. I, personally, don't see it as being completely "black and white", but more existing on a sort of continuum. That said, I wish to present this issue respecting of all forms of belief (and non-belief). As such, the "analysis" portion of this post will be pretty sparse.
If you have any comments, please feel free to engage in the comments or at any of my socials.
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Our story begins with a brother and sister (David and Hannah) running over to their Gran'pa's little house for a visit. David repeatedly mocks Hannah and calls her "dumb", which Gran'pa suggests isn't very nice. Why is David being such a little jerk? Well, ya see... Hannah actually believes all the stories they're told in Sunday School. Taking attention-retention and short-term memory of kids into consideration, we can probably assume that today is Sunday. Gran'pa asks David how he can be so sure that those stories aren't true... to which, he hems and haws, before referring to the Bible as being full'a "fairy tales". Interestingly enough, he even pulls some Science into the debate!
Gran'pa tells David that Scientists don't have all the answers. As a student of science myself, I suppose I can agree with that. He flips the script on David and asks about how everything "came to be", and how everything "remains balanced". Rather than giving David the opportunity to rebut, Gran'pa goes right into story mode... beginning with: The Beginning! (The Creation - Genesis 1:1-2:7)
After we Let There Be Light, we go through the rest of God's busiest week. On the Second Day, he split the waters from the... waters? Third Day: Flora... Fourth Day: Day and Night Cycles... Fifth Day: Creatures... Sixth Day: Man... in this case, one we're all familiar with: Adam. On the Seventh Day, God rested.
This brings us right into The Garden of Eden - Genesis 2:8-3:24. Adam lives in Eden, surrounded by flora and fauna. Life in abundance! Among the land stands the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil... from it, grows fruit that Adam mustn't ever indulge in, otherwise he will surely die.
Adam looks around, and notes that all of the local animals have mates... and yet, he's all alone. He would eventually fall asleep... at which time, God took one of his ribs... and from it, made Adam's mate: Eve. He wakes up, and she introduces herself as his "wife". Wow, just how long was he asleep?!
Anyhoo, Adam and Eve lived in their lush and rich paradise... and everything was cool. That, however, was all about to change. Ya see, a crafty and malicious serpent is about to enter our story.
That snake lay in wait until, one day it finds Eve all by her lonesome... and proceeds to kinda mess with her head, taunting her with the fact that there's a certain nearby fruit that God's keeping her from indulging in. And so, she decides "What the heck?" and plucks a few... very odd-shaped fruits from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam is initially shocked at her brazen act... but eventually comes around to taking a bite.
This is viewed as the First Sin... and no sooner do they indulge, than the sky goes black, and they have the strange revelation that they are completely nude! Ya see, they never had "shame" before... but now, after eatin' that fruit... they do! They do what they can to cover up their nakedness... before being addressed by God himself!
God ain't pleased... I mean, he only laid down one rule, and these two broke it! He curses the serpent (who up to this point, had legs) to slithering on its belly... and exiles Adam and Eve out of Paradise forever more.
Before hopping into our next story, we get a special Bible Feature (we'll get a few more of these before we're done). This one's called "Digging into the Past", and gives us a look at some ancient artifacts.
Next stop... the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4:1-15. After their exile from Eden, Adam and Eve had to learn to live off the land. In the months and years that followed, they had a pair of very different sons. Cain exhibited strength, wile Abel was far more gentile. They grew up and took to tending to the land themselves. Abel acted as a shepherd while Cain was an absolute farming machine!
After a harvest, the young men decided to make offerings to God. Abel humbly offered a single lamb, while Cain gave of his mass bounty of produce. God only seemed pleased with Abel... giving from what little he had.
This led to Cain giving in to his jealousy... and, committing the first-ever murder! Wow, even with a world population of four we've got a killer on our hands!
Well, God ain't happy with any of this... and so, he tells Cain that he'll never give him another harvest. He furthers the punishment by declaring him a "fugitive" doomed to wander the Earth. Cain is terrified that he himself will be killed by anyone he happens across. So... I guess the world population isn't just four people? Where did they all come from?
Maybe we'll find out in our next chapter: The Generations of Adam, from Genesis 4:16-6:5. Here, Cain's wandering brings him to the Land of Nod, where he takes a wife and doth multiplied, his first son was named Enoch... as was the land he settled. As time progressed, so too did prehistoric technology... tools, instruments, yadda yadda yadda.
We learn here that Cain's father, Adam lived to be 930 years old... and in all those years, he and Eve just kept makin'da babies. When he was 130 years old, they had a son named Seth. Seth would eventually have kids... and those kids would have kids, one of whom was named... well, Enoch. Enoch lived to be 365 years old before being... "taken" by God. It's explicitly stated here that Enoch did not die.
Continuing down the bloodline, we meet Methuselah... a son of Enoch, who would live to be 969 years old, older than any man before or after.
This chapter wraps up with the revelation that nine generations have passed since Adam and Eve... at which point "cruelty and wickedness" began invading the hearts of man. God was not pleased... but, could he do anything to salvage this?
Well, yeah. Turns out he could... and it ain't gonna be pretty! Our next chapter is Noah and the Flood from Genesis 6:6-9:17. Enter Noah, a grandson of Methuselah... at this point, apparently the only fella God kinda dug. God spoke to Noah, warning that he was about to "cleanse the Earth".
I think most of us are at least passively familiar with what comes next. Noah spends the better part of the next 600 years building a great ark, and gathering animals two-by-two in preparation of the "cleansing".
And, well... when it rains, it pours! The Earth became absolutely overcome with waters, that covered even the tallest peaks. In a very sobering image, we see a family panicking atop a mountain... as the waters continue to rise! Yeesh, I wasn't expecting anything like this!
The deluge continued for forty days before the skies started to clear. After being thrashed about, the Ark eventually settled on Mount Ararat, which is actually a place that exists today in Turkey. Noah releases some birds to see if they can find any dry land.
Eventually... it does! Noah and his menagerie de-board the Ark and, with the Earth "washed clean"... set to restarting civilization from scratch.
God promises that there will never again be such a "cleansing"... and we see, perhaps the first ever rainbow?
Next up, another Bible Feature... this one's called "School Days in Bible Times", and it's basically exactly as it says on the tin.
Then... well, another Bible Feature. This one looks at the "first skyscraper", The Ziggurat.
Next... The Tower of Babel from Genesis 11:1-9. So, we had the great flood... leaving Noah to repopulate the Earth... and, he did. These earliest generations lived as nomads... not settling anywhere, and more or less living out of tents. They would eventually decide to build a city in the land of Shinar. The city would be of Brick and Mortar... and would have a great tower in the middle that would reach to the very Heavens. Guess what? God wasn't happy with none'a this.
God figured, if these nomads were to be allowed to build such a tower, then "no idea... good or bad... will be beyond their reach". And so, to halt their progress, God decided to sorta-kinda scramble up their languages... meaning, that the workers could no longer understand one another. The nomads would abandon their project, and leave in groups of those who spoke the same-language.
Then, another Bible Feature! "Soldiers in the Time of Abraham". Who's Abraham? Well, we'll meet him in a bit. This page just shows off some weapons and vehicles used back in the long ago.
Okay, with that out of the way... let's meet Abraham in: The Story of Abraham, from Genesis 11:26-13:18. Abraham (Abram) was a descendant of Shem... who, I don't think we've met... was born and raised in Ur, and lived with his father, Terah. In Ur, the people worshiped Idols... which didn't quite sit well with Abe.
And so, ten years later, Terah decided to uproot his family and head across the plains of Mesopotamia toward Canaan. They would make it as far as a place called Haran, where they would live for several years.
One night, following the passing of Terah, Abraham was visited in a dream by the voice of God. He is told to leave Haran, and that he will eventually father a great nation.
Abraham gathered up his family and belongings that very night... and they headed toward Canaan. Upon arrival, Abraham built an altar, and set up camp. Unfortunately, the land wasn't very giving... in fact, this was a land of famine.
Having no other choice, they eventually leave the barren land and head toward Egypt. They find themselves at a lake, where they stop to water the herd. Across the water... are Egyptian Soldiers, who get a good look at Abraham's wife, Sarai... and decide that she'd make a fine addition to the Pharaoh's harem.
Before we know it, Abraham and Sarai are stood before the Pharaoh himself! Sarai lies to the Pharaoh, telling him that Abraham is, not her husband... but, her brother, thus sparing his life. Ya see, the Pharaoh would've been fine making her a widow before taking her as his own.
Abraham prays for a miracle... and, whattayaknow, he gets one! The Pharaoh is struck with illness! He learns that Sarai is actually Abraham's wife... and decrees that she be returned to her husband, and even allows them to keep the gifts he'd offered in trade... just so long as they get the heck out of Egypt! And so, they do.
As the travels continue, some squabbling begins. Let's hope that doesn't escalate! Abraham decides to divide the group, allowing his nephew, Lot the choice of where he'd like to settle. He chooses the Jordan Valley near the City of Sodom. Abraham remains in Canaan... for a little while, anyway. He'd eventually move to Mamre and finally, to Hebron.
Our next, and final chapter is Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis 14:1-19:26. It's here we catch up with Abraham's nephew, Lot. He lived in Sodom, where life was pretty rough. War was constant, and destruction ruled. Upon one of the numerous raids on the city, Lot himself was taken prisoner. As luck would have it, however, a Sodom Citizen was able to escape the city and make his way to Abraham's camp in Mamre, where he explained the dire situation to the man himself.
And so, Abraham and his men secretly followed the Invaders of Sodom, and discovered their encampment... and that night, set to rescuing Lot and the Gang. They managed to take out many of the invaders, however, some were able to escape... taking the prisoners with them!
Abraham and his Herdsmen gave chase, were able to overcome the Invaders... and rescue Lot and the rest of Prisoners.
The King of Sodom was so pleased, he offered Abraham many riches for his people's safe return. Abe declines the generous overture... knowing that his rewards would come later. Much later, it would seem. Years pass, and we arrive to the point where Sarai is too old to bear him a child. And so, as custom allows... she suggests he take a second, younger wife! She offers up her handmaiden, Hagar for the job. Finally, Abraham would have an heir... who he'd name Ishmael.
One day, three strangers arrived in Mamre on their way to Sodom... and Abraham showed them kindness. In return, the Strangers inform him that Sarai will give him a son. Turns out, these strangers were Angels.
Abraham escorted the Angels toward Sodom, and parted ways with them once the city was in sight. At this point, God spoke to him... proclaiming that there is a "great wickedness" in Sodom... and, as such, he (he being God) would "destroy the place". Abraham takes exception to this, claiming that if God destroyed the entire city, he would be harming both good and bad people. The pair bargain for a bit, with God finally agreeing to spare the city if Abraham could find Ten "Godly people" living within its walls. Meanwhile the Angels had arrived... though, for some reason, it's only two of the three.
The Angels are greeted by Lot, who invites them to stay with him that night... after all, it's not safe on the streets of Sodom at night. At Lot's home, they share a meal... and more warnings of the dangerous city. Dinner is interrupted, however, by... a battering ram! The thieves and drunkards are trying to get inside in order to steal the Angels' silver!
The Angels ain't about to sweat none'a this... and so, they strike all of the roustabouts blind! They certainly don't mess around.
The Angels turn to Lot and proclaim that, if they wanna get while the getting is good... the time to leave is now! Sodom and Gomorrah are going to be destroyed. Lot b-lines it out of his home, and rushes toward the houses of his elder daughters to deliver the warning. They just laugh at him, dismissing him of having had a bad dream. The Angels tell him he has until dawn to convince them otherwise.
Dawn comes... and still, Lot's elder daughters decide to remain. The Angels tell him it's "now or never"... and so, Lot and his family run for it as the city begins to burn. The Angels warn them not to look back.
And burn, it does! Buildings topple, people burn... it's a pretty heavy scene.
This story ends with the revelation that Lot's wife did not heed the Angel's warning... and, "looked back" at the burning city. As a result, she was rendered into a Pillar of Salt!
The Treasury Edition wraps up with David and Hannah asking Gran'pa to tell them more stories... but, Gran'pa's tired, he'll share more stories some other time.
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So... this is the part of the article where I usually (over)analyze the story/stories we'd just read. I'm... not really gonna do that today, I hope you all understand. As mentioned in the pre-ramble, this issue is being presented as an artifact more than anything... a DC Comics take on the Bible can certainly be looked at as something of a curiosity... and I hope, with this piece, I've shared something new, novel, and unique with my wonderful readers.
Now, what am I comfortable talking about here? Oddly enough, it's the one thing I'm usually rather trepidatious about discussing: the art! Normally, I try not to discuss art... as it's generally the most subjective part of a comic book. Well, that might not be the case today. I found the art here, by Nestor Redondo and Joe Kubert to be... pretty wonderful. I might be projecting, but this truly feels like a passion-project. Well, maybe I'm not projecting... the inside front-cover (as included below) refers to this issue as being a "Dream Come True".
As far as the stories are concerned... my only nitpicky comics reviewer complaints are: there were several references to people we never get to meet in the issue. If we look at this through that "comics reviewer" lens, if a person is mentioned... we expect to meet them, right? So, there's something. Also, the Sodom and Gomorrah story kind of baffled me when we lost an Angel along the way. Did I miss something? Did Mayer just forget to include a explanatory caption? I dunno.
Overall though... and, again... I apologize for this "analysis" section being much leaner than usual... this was a very interesting issue to look at, and I'm happy I had the opportunity to share it here. It's not something I ever expected to come across... and, if I'm being honest, I wasn't completely sure it actually existed! I know I've seen ads for it in some Bronze Age DC Comics... but, had never seen it in real life.
I hope this was, at the very least, an interesting aside... and, again... if you have any comments, please, don't be a stranger!
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Inside Covers:
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A Page from TASCHEN's Bronze Age of DC Comics:
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Wraparound Cover (by Joe Kubert):
