Halloween Heroines FANTOMAH "Mystery Woman of the Jungle"

Jungle Heroine or Spirit of Vengeance?

Can you tell which one she is, dear reader?

I certainly can't!

As rendered by the...unique...Fletcher Hanks, Fantomah was the first comic book superheroine (as in heroine with super-powers instead of a costumed "normal" woman), predating Wonder Woman by a year!

This particular story, from Fiction House's Jungle Comics #2 (1940), was her premiere appearance, and reads like a drug-induced nightmare!

Hanks handled the character from her premiere in #2 to #15, with the stories becoming even more surreal every issue!

When new creatives took over with #16, the character was immediately "toned-down", eliminating the skull-face look, and limiting her almost-limitless powers.

As of #27, she was rebooted as "Daughter of the Pharaohs", queen of a lost civilization made up of descendants of an ancient Egyptian expedition stranded in central Africa centuries earlier.

Her series ended in #51 (1944).

Trivia: Despite being popular enough to run for several years in Jungle Comics, Fantomah never made the cover!

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Asian Avengers TAJ OF THE ELEPHANTS

Probably the first Desi heroine in American comic books...

...this one-shot character (and princess, to boot) appeared in Fiction House's Jungle Comics #57 (1944)

For a "frail girl", she kicks serious a$$!

It's a shame she never got another appearance.

Sadly, both the writer and artist are unknown.

(The records for long-defunct publisher Fiction House are lost to history.)
Note: India is a subcontinent of Asia, so she qualifies as Asian even if she doesn't look stereotypically "Oriental"!

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Darna

TIGER GIRL I and the Twice AND Thrice-Told Tale!

Here's another example of a story that was presented twice...

...with some major changes when it was reprinted several years later!

As you can see, this Matt Baker-illustrated story from Fiction House's Fight Comics #36 (1945) features the death of one of Tiger Girl's pet tigers.

When it was re-presented in a shorter version in Fiction House's Jungle Comics #152 (1952), the outcome was quite different!

Besides eliminating three pages, the re-written version actually keeps the tiger alive!

Matt Baker had left the Iger Studio (who "packaged" the strip for Fiction House) several years earlier, so it's unknown who reworked the art for this version, which was also reprinted in IW Publishing's Jungle Adventures #15 in 1964, making this both a twice and (sorta) thrice-told tale!

Tiger Girl I was Princess Vishnu, a woman of Irish/Indian descent who ended up in Africa with a Sikh bodyguard and a pair of Bengal tigers.

(Yeah, it's a rather unusual origin, we'll bring it to you in the near future.)

She had a healthy run in both Fight and Jungle Comics in the 1940s and '50s, making a number of cover appearances along the way.

FANTOMAH "and the Super-Gorillas"

With Halloween around the corner, let's look at some weird  heroines...

...beginning with the weirdest of all...the "Mystery Woman of the Jungle"...Fantomah!

As rendered by the...unique...Fletcher Hanks, Fantomah was the first comic book superheroine (as in heroine with super-powers instead of a costumed "normal" woman), predating Wonder Woman by a year, and the non-powered Woman in Red by a month!
This particular story, from Jungle Comics #4 (1940), was her third appearance, and one of the first really wild tales that read like drug-induced nightmares.
Hanks handled the character from her premiere in #2 to #15.
When a new writer and artist took over with #16, the character was immedately "toned-down", eliminating the skull-face look, and limiting her powers.
As of #27, she was rebooted as "Daughter of the Pharaohs", the queen of a lost civilization made up of descendants of an ancient Egyptian expedition stranded in central Africa centuries earlier.
Her series ended in #51 (1944).
Trivia: Despite being popular enough to run for several years in Jungle Comics, Fantomah never made the cover!

Be here next week, when we present another tale of classic comic grrrl power!

Support Heroines!

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All!

Complete Works of Fletcher Hanks

(which includes all his Fantomah tales and so much more!)

Paid Link