We've covered several jungle girls on this blog...
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| Art by Joe Maneely |
...but this is the first (and only) one we've seen in a costume and secret identity (complete with "Clark Kent" glasses)!
BTW, you'll note the cover image above from Jungle Action #1 doesn't feature the leopard head/cowl the interior story shows.
It was probably done before the costume was finalized.
Leopard Girl's premiere tale in Atlas' Jungle Action #1 (1954) was scripted by Don Rico and illustrated by Al Hartley.
Her series ran thru the entire eight-issue run of Jungle Action and was lost to both Silver Age and modern-day fans until it was finally reprinted in the recently-released Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Jungle Adventures #2 & #3!
Don Rico was both a writer and artist in comics of of the 1940s and 50s.
He also co-created both Jann of the Jungle and Lorna the Jungle Girl for Atlas.
Don's wildest work was in the horror genre, as shown HERE.
Though he left the comics field to become a succesful paperback novel writer in the 1960s, Rico stayed involved by teaching a course on comics at UCLA and Cal State Northridge, co-founding the Comic Art Professional Society, and doing an occasional cover or story.
Al Hartley was one of Atlas' good-girl experts, drawing Patsy & Hedy, Millie the Model, and various romance stories.
Al drew one Thor story (in Journey into Mystery #90)...
...and scripted an Iron Man one-shot in Tales of Suspense #68 (1965) the final Giant-Man storie in Tales to Astonish #69 (1965), plus several Western tales before moving to Archie, where he worked steadily until his retirement.
Don Rico was both a writer and artist in comics of of the 1940s and 50s.
He also co-created both Jann of the Jungle and Lorna the Jungle Girl for Atlas.
Don's wildest work was in the horror genre, as shown HERE.
Though he left the comics field to become a succesful paperback novel writer in the 1960s, Rico stayed involved by teaching a course on comics at UCLA and Cal State Northridge, co-founding the Comic Art Professional Society, and doing an occasional cover or story.
Al Hartley was one of Atlas' good-girl experts, drawing Patsy & Hedy, Millie the Model, and various romance stories.
Al drew one Thor story (in Journey into Mystery #90)...
Note: There was a different Leopard Girl appearing in her own strip in Gold Key's Tarzan comics in the late 1960s, written by Gaylord Du Bois and drawn by Tom Massey...
(The only example I could find was from a Spanish-language reprint.
But convention season is under way, so I'll probably be able to find some inexpensive copies over the next month or so.)
Be here next week, when we present another tale of classic comic grrrl power!
