''Jungle Tales'' (later called ''Jann of the Jungle'') was an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

title published by

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...

, the 1950s predecessor to

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, 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 Co ...

. It was an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

title of stories set in an

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

Publication history

Jungle Tales ran seven issues, cover-dated September 1954 to September 1955.''Jungle Tales'' #1 (Sept. 1954)
at the Grand Comics Database It was renamed and continued as ''Jann of the Jungle'' from #8-17 (Nov. 1955 - June 1957), starring the

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

jungle girl.''Jungle Tales''
at the Grand Comics Database.

Marvel's first series star of color

One regular feature in ''Jungle Tales'', "Waku, Prince of the Bantu", starred an African chieftain in

, with no regularly featured

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

characters. Marvel Comics' first Black feature star, he was created by writer

Don Rico Donato Francisco Rico II (September 26, 1912 – March 27, 1985) was an American paperback novelist, screenwriter, wood engraver and comic book writer-artist, who co-created the Marvel Comics characters the Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) with plot ...

and artist

Ogden Whitney John Ogden Whitney (May 1, 1919 – August 13, 1975) was an American comic-book artist and sometime writer active from the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comics through the 1960s Silver Age. He is best known as co-creator of the aviator hero Skym ...

, succeeded by artist

John Romita Sr. John V. Romita (; born January 24, 1930) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and for co-creating characters including the Punisher and Wolverine (character), Wolverine. He was indu ...

Waku, who predated mainstream comics' first Black superhero, Marvel's

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 d ...

, by nearly a dozen years, headlined one of four regular features in each issue. It would take a decade for the first African-American series star, the Western character

Lobo Lobo may refer to: Places *Lobo, Batangas, a municipality in the Philippines *Lobo, Texas, a ghost town *Lobo, Indonesia *Lobo, Cameroon, a town in Cameroon *Lobo Hill, near Belchite, Aragon, Spain * Lobo, Ontario, near London, Ontario, Canada Pe ...

, to appear, and nearly two decades before the likes of the Black Panther,

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...

, and the

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

would star in solo series. The other features were "Jann of the Jungle", created by writer Rico and penciler

Art Peddy Arthur F. Peddy
at the L ...

; "Cliff Mason" a.k.a. "Cliff Mason, White Hunter", created by

Paul S. Newman Paul S. Newman (April 29, 1924 – May 30, 1999) was an American writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s. Credited in the '' Guinness Book of World Records'' as the most prolific comic-book wr ...

and penciler Sid Greene; and "The Unknown Jungle", featuring stories of African animals and nature in conflict.

Collected editions

Additional Atlas jungle titles

Two brethren titles were published by Atlas. The six-issue '' Jungle Action'' (Oct. 1954 - Aug. 1955) featured "Lo-Zar, Lord of the Jungle"; "Jungle Boy"; "Leopard Girl"; and "Man-Oo the Mighty". 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 - Aug. 1957).''Lorna, the Jungle Queen''
an
''Lorna, the Jungle Queen''
at the Grand Comics Database.

References

External links

* Atlas Comics titles Jungle (genre) comics Fantasy comics {{Marvel-Comics-stub