Number 622
Cave Girl and the Mau Mau
The Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, Africa, between 1952-1960, was a real event and atrocities were committed both by insurgents and the British who were colonizing Kenya at the time. It led to Kenyan independence, but not before a lot of people were killed.
This Wikipedia entry has an overview of the situation.
Cave Girl (another blonde jungle girl! See the list at the bottom of this posting for other comic book jungle gals) was a character from Magazine Enterprises, drawn by Bob Powell and his assistants. This story is from Cave Girl #13, 1954. Even with all of the action going on in this story, Cave Girl manages to keep the flower in her hair. It switches sides from panel to panel, but stays in her hair.
A couple of months ago I was contacted by e-mail by Bashir Faruqui, a reader who wondered if I'd ever seen a picture of Bob Powell. Here's a picture of Powell and his assistants in the late 1940s, around the time he was doing The Shadow Comics for Street and Smith. Powell is wearing an eyeshade and glasses.
I scanned the photo from the book, Six Men of Evil and The Devil Monsters, two Shadow pulp novels reprinted by Nostalgia Ventures in 2007. The picture of the Powell shop is from the chapter by Anthony Tollin on Shadow Comics.Note: Chuck Wells' Comic Book Catacombs showed us a Cave Girl story here.
Also, Hairy Green Eyeball posted four of Powell's horror stories from Harvey Comics (including one provided by yours truly) here.
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Submitted by Zu-Go 9/16/09
Here is my list of female jungle characters along with the main titles that they appeared in. No doubt the list is incomplete. But it is a pretty good start for anyone who is interested.
Alani (aka South Sea Girl) -- Seven Seas Comics and others
Ann (the mate of Ka'a'nga) -- Jungle Comics, Ka'a'nga Jungle King, and others
Blanda -- Miracle Comics
Camilla -- Jungle Comics and others
Cave Girl -- Thun'da, Cave Girl, and others
Dorothy Lamour -- Dorothy Lamour Jungle Princess
Fana -- Fana the Jungle Girl
Fantomah -- Jungle Comics and Ka'a'nga Jungle King
Gwenna -- Jo-Jo
Jana -- Jungle Girl
Jann -- Jann of the Jungle
Jessie -- Ka'a'nga Jungle King
Juanda -- Jo-Jo
Judy -- Exciting Comics and others
Jun-Gal -- Blazing Comics
Jungle Lil -- Jungle Lil and others
Kara -- Exciting Comics and Fighting Yank
Kazanda -- Rangers Comics
Leopard Girl -- Jungle Action
Lorn -- Tragg and the Sky Gods
Lorna -- Lorna the Jungle Queen, Lorna the Jungle Girl, and others
Lura (mate of Jungle Jo) -- Jungle Jo and others
Marga -- Science Comics and Weird Comics
Nimba -- Safari Cary in Dagar Desert Hawk comics from Fox
Numa -- Rulah Jungle Goddess
Nyoka -- Jungle Girl, Master Comics, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, and others
Pha -- Thun'da and others
Phara -- Zegra Jungle Empress
Princess Pantha -- Thrilling Comics
Raa -- Ki-gorr the Killer
Ranee -- Jungle Jim
Rima -- Rima the Jungle Girl
Rulah -- All Top Comics, Rulah Jungle Goddess, Zoot Comic, and others
Saari -- Saari
Safari Cary -- Dagar Desert Hawk
Shanna -- various Ka-Zar titles, Shanna the She-Devil, and others
Sheena -- Jumbo Comics, Sheena Queen of the Jungle, and others
Shirl -- Jungle Girls
Taanda (aka Tarinda) -- White Princess of the Jungle and others
Taj -- Jungle Comics
Tanee (mate of Jo-Jo) -- All Top Comics, Jo-Jo, and others
Tangi -- Dagar Desert Hawk and others
Tara -- Tara of the Dark Continent, Jungle Girls, FemForce, and others
Taranga -- Jungle Adventures
Tegra (later called Zegra) -- Tegra
Tiger Girl -- Fight Comics, Jungle Comics, and others
Tiger Woman -- Tiger Woman
Tigra -- Tigra
Tygra -- Startling Comics
Wana -- Zago
Zara -- Mystic Comics
Zegra (originally called Tegra) -- Zegra and others
Zenta (mate of Bantor) -- Terrors of the Jungle
Pappy here. Once again, thanks for the list! If anyone can add to it please do.
You gotta love the way the writer tosses in anti-communist sentiment ("some of their leaders even went to Moscow....") into a story that apparently wasn't sensational enough with just a sexy scantily clad woman, a terrorist insurrection, head "chopping," a pile of wild animals, and an undercurrent of racism.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Powell's art is beautiful and the inclusion of most of the above mentioned elements shows just how talented the fella was -- not to mention the little caption panel, for which I admittedly have some sort of fetish.
Thanks, Pappy
Neat story, Pappy.
ReplyDeleteI've got several other Cave Girl stories in the queu, so I'll have to check and make sure that I don't repost any of these.
Thanks, Chuck...I probably should have contacted you about what you have planned. I won't be showing any more Cave Girl for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteHello, Pappy. Wonderful blog you have here. You're performing a great service for all of the people who think the magic long ago left comics
ReplyDeletePappy: What a terrific and brutal story. I think I first saw Bob Powell's work here at your blog. His drawing has such a refined and polished quality. I really enjoy it. -- Mykal
ReplyDeleteEgads! I'm cancelling my trip to the jungle!
ReplyDeleteBoy oh boy, Powell really could draw anything. Great stuff as always Paps!
ReplyDeleteMan, that was some really nice art work... and a good story, too.
ReplyDeleteActually I gotta say, I think this old "funny book" is more honest about Mau Mau Marxism than most "establishment" treatments today, including the wiki article.
I had an English professor in college who grew up in Kenya as a diplomat's son and attended a boarding school run by missionaries. He had vivid memories of native fathers who were forced to watch helplessly as their babies were hacked in half-- by their own Mau Mau countrymen-- because they would not denounce capitalism and the evil religion of a Jew named Jesus Christ. This crap really happened...
Anyway your blog is amazing! Thanks for provided all of this great escapism for me and my kids.
Keep up the good work!
don't forget about Vooda from Ajax-Farrell Comics
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, the amount of ignorance here is despicable, how unfortunate. The Mau Mau were not communists or socialists or capitalists. They were the native Africans fighting against the oppression, torture and abuses of the British colonial empire. Also, Kenya is not a jungle, it consists mostly of savanna grasslands...c'mon even such basic grade school knowledge is missing here.
ReplyDeleteSad!!