''Jungle Action'' is the name of two

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

series published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

and its 1950s precursor,

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitud ...

. The Marvel version contained the first series starring the

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been ...

, the first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

in mainstream comics, created by the writer/artist team of

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

in ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first s ...

'' #52 (July 1966).

Atlas Comics

Publication history

The first series – published during a time of few superheroes, when comics featured an enormous assortment of genres – was a multi-character omnibus that ran six issues (Oct. 1954 – Aug. 1955). Each starred the blond-haired, Tarzanesque Lo-Zar, Lord of the Jungle (renamed "Tharn the Magnificent" in 1970s reprints, presumably to avoid confusion with Marvel's modern-day Ka-Zar); Jungle Boy, the teenaged son of a renowned hunter; Leopard Girl, created by writer Don Rico and artist

Al Hartley Henry Allan Hartley (October 25, 1921 – May 27, 2003)Henry A. Hartley
at the United States

Those stories were drawn by Joe Maneely,

John Forte John Robert Forte, Jr. (October 6, 1918 – May 2, 1966) was an American comic-book artist, active from the early 1940s on, best known as one of the primary pencilers of DC Comics' early Legion of Super-Heroes stories. Forte additionally drew f ...

Al Hartley Henry Allan Hartley (October 25, 1921 – May 27, 2003)Henry A. Hartley
at the United States

Jungle Tales ''Jungle Tales'' (later called ''Jann of the Jungle'') was an American comic book title published by Atlas Comics, the 1950s predecessor to Marvel Comics. It was an anthology title of stories set in an African jungle. Publication history Jungle ...

'' (Sept. 1954 – Sept. 1955) introduced Marvel's first African hero – Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who predated the Black Panther by nearly a dozen years. It was renamed and continued as ''

Jann of the Jungle ''Jungle Tales'' (later called ''Jann of the Jungle'') was an American comic book title published by Atlas Comics, the 1950s predecessor to Marvel Comics. It was an anthology title of stories set in an African jungle. Publication history Jungle ...

'' from #8–17 (Nov. 1955 – June 1957). The second title, ''

Lorna, the Jungle Queen Lorna the Jungle Girl, initially called Lorna the Jungle Queen, is a comic book jungle girl protagonist created by writer Don Rico and artist Werner Roth. She debuted in ''Lorna the Jungle Queen'' #1 (July 1953), published by Marvel Comics' 1950s ...

'', renamed ''Lorna, the Jungle Girl'' with issue #6, ran 26 issues (July 1953 – August 1957).

Marvel Comics

Publication history

The company's second series of this name premiered with an issue

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d October 1972 and containing reprints of the same-name

title, with stories of white jungle adventurers. There was little market for these types of stories at the time, and the new ''Jungle Action'' was one of a wave of low-cost series that Marvel pushed out in the 1970s in a bid to capture shelf space from competing comics publishers.

Don McGregor Donald Francis McGregor (born June 15, 1945) is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics; he is the author of one of the first graphic novels. Early life Don McGregor was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he ...

, who was then proofreading all of Marvel's publications, noted to the editorial staff that the series' preponderance of white protagonists in African settings was culturally outdated to the point of being incongruous. Marvel responded by assigning McGregor to write original material for ''Jungle Action'', with the only creative restriction being that the stories must be set in Africa. Thus an actual African protagonist, the superhero the

, took over the starring feature with issue #5, a reprint of the Panther-centric story in the superhero-team comic '' The Avengers'' #62 (March 1969). A new series began running the following issue, written by McGregor, with art by pencilers

Rich Buckler Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated comm ...

, Gil Kane, and

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

, and which gave inkers

Klaus Janson Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952) is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a pen ...

and Bob McLeod some of their first professional exposure. Comics historian

Les Daniels Leslie Noel Daniels III, better known as Les Daniels (October 27, 1943 – November 5, 2011), was an American writer. Background Daniels attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on ''Frankenstei ...

observed that "the scripts by Don McGregor emphasized the character's innate dignity". The critically well-received series ran in ''Jungle Action'' #6–24 (Sept. 1973– Nov. 1976). One now-common innovation McGregor pioneered was that of the self-contained, multi-issue story arc. The first, "Panther's Rage", ran through the first 13 issues, initially as 13- to 15-page stories. Starting with ''Jungle Action'' #14, they were expanded to 18- to 19-page stories; there was additionally a 17-page epilogue. The length of the story arc coupled with the series' bimonthly schedule made it difficult for readers to keep characters and subplots fresh in their memories, but ''Jungle Action'' nonetheless maintained passable if modest sales and was popular with the desirable college-student demographic. Two decades later, writer Christopher Priest's 1998 series ''The Black Panther'' utilized Erik Killmonger, Venomm, and other characters introduced in this arc. Critic Jason Sacks has called the arc "Marvel's first

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

", saying: The second and final arc, "Panther vs. the Klan", ran as mostly 17-page stories in ''Jungle Action'' #19–24 (Jan.–Nov. 1976), except for issue #23, a reprint of ''

Daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superhero ...

'' #69 (Oct. 1970), in which the Black Panther guest-starred. The subject matter of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

was considered controversial in the Marvel offices at the time, creating difficulties for the creative team. Writer

Dwayne McDuffie Dwayne Glenn McDuffie (February 20, 1962February 21, 2011) was an American writer of comic books and television, known for producing and writing the animated series '' Static Shock'', '' Damage Control'', ''Justice League Unlimited'' and '' Ben ...

said of the ''Jungle Action'' "Black Panther" series: Due to low sales and deadline problems, ''Jungle Action'' was cancelled with issue #24. "Panther vs. the Klan" was abandoned mid-story and Marvel relaunched the Black Panther in a self-titled series, with

– newly returned to Marvel after having decamped to rival

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

for a time – as writer, artist, and editor starting with cover-date January 1977. Marvel reasoned that though ''Jungle Action'' was not selling well, the starring character might still be successful if given a new approach. "Panther vs. the Klan" was later picked up as a subplot in ''Black Panther'' #14–15 (March–May 1979), the final two issues of that series before finally being concluded in '' Marvel Premiere'' #51–53 (Dec. 1979 – April 1980). However, these later chapters were written not by McGregor, but by

Ed Hannigan Ed Hannigan (born August 6, 1951) is an American comics artist, writer, and editor for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Career Ed Hannigan's first credited comics story was published in Marvel Comics' licensed '' Planet of the Apes'' #5 (F ...

. The original conclusion to "Panther vs. the Klan" was never completed, though work had started on what would have been ''Jungle Action'' #25, and in a 2008 interview McGregor said that he still has Rich Buckler's layouts for the issue. In 2010,

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During thi ...

ranked McGregor's run on ''Jungle Action'' third on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".

Collected editions

* ''

Marvel Masterworks ''Marvel Masterworks'' is an American collection of hardcover and trade paperback comic book reprints published by Marvel Comics, with the main goal of republishing classic ''Marvel Comics'' storylines in a hardcover, premium edition, often with ...

: Atlas Era Jungle Adventure'': ** ''Volume 1'' collects ''Lorna, the Jungle Queen'' #1–5 and ''Lorna, the Jungle Girl'' #6–9, 248 pages, January 2010, ** ''Volume 2'' collects ''Jungle Action'' #1–3, ''Jungle Tales'' #1–4 and ''Lorna, the Jungle Girl'' #10–12, 272 pages, June 2011, ** ''Volume 3'' collects ''Jungle Action'' #4–6, ''Jungle Tales'' #5–7 and ''Lorna, the Jungle Girl'' #13–16, 280 pages, February 2013, * ''Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther'' collects ''Jungle Action'' (vol. 2) #6–22 and 24, 352 pages, July 2010, * '' Essential Black Panther'' collects ''Jungle Action'' (vol. 2) #6–22 and 24 and ''Black Panther'' #1–10, 528 pages, May 2012, * ''

The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection ''The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection'' (also referred to as ''The Ultimate Graphic Novels Collection'') is a fortnightly partwork magazine published by Hachette Partworks. The series is a collection of special edition hardback graphic ...

'' #116 collects the "Panther's Rage" storyline from ''Jungle Action'' (vol. 2) #6–18, May 2016, * ''Black Panther

Epic Collection ''Marvel Ultimate Collections''/''Complete Collections'', ''Complete Epics'' and ''Epic Collections'' are large, full-color Trade paperback (comics), trade paperback collections of previously published Marvel Comics, Marvel comics, typically cont ...

: Panther's Rage'' collects ''Fantastic Four'' #52–53 and ''Jungle Action'' (vol. 2) #6–22 and 24 with the cover of #23, 400 pages, October 2016,

References

External links

''Jungle Action''
at Atlas Tales *

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators {{Black Panther, state=collapsed 1954 comics debuts 1955 comics endings 1972 comics debuts 1976 comics endings Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Comics magazines published in the United States Atlas Comics titles Comics by Don McGregor Defunct American comics Fantasy comics Jungle (genre) comics Magazines disestablished in 1955 Magazines disestablished in 1976 Magazines established in 1954 Magazines established in 1972 Marvel Comics titles