Rima, also known as Rima the Jungle Girl, is the fictional heroine of W. H. Hudson's 1904 novel '' Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest''. In it, Rima, a primitive girl of the shrinking rain forest of South America, meets Abel, a political fugitive. A film adaptation of '' Green Mansions'' was made in 1959 starring Audrey Hepburn. In 1974, the character was adapted into the

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 ...

''Rima the Jungle Girl'', published by

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 thei ...

. Though ''Rima the Jungle Girl'' ceased publication in 1975, the comic book version of Rima appeared in several episodes of Hanna-Barbera's popular Saturday morning cartoon series, ''

The All-New Super Friends Hour ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 10, 1977, to September 2, 1978, on ABC. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice Lea ...

'', between 1977 and 1980. Charcoal and chalk drawing of Audrey Hepburn

Novel

Like her literary cousins

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

and Mowgli, Rima sprang from an Edwardian adventure novel; in her case, '' Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest'', by W. H. Hudson, published in 1904. Hudson was an Argentine-British naturalist who wrote many classic books about the ecology of South America. Hudson based Rima on a South American legend about a lost tribe of white people who lived in the mountains. The book has a religious tone and Rima's speech is poetic. It is a romantic adventure set in the South American jungle in which a political fugitive named Abel meets Rima, a girl living in the forest. The girl speaks in a bird-like language. Its theme is the loss of wilderness and the return-to-nature dream, and how unpleasant it would be for a savage to meet modern man (the reverse case is not considered).

Movie

Actor and director

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ''Scaramouche'', '' Lili'' and ''Knights of the Roun ...

adapted '' Green Mansions'' into a 1959 film for

MGM Studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, with Audrey Hepburn as Rima. The adaptation deviated far from the novel.

Comic books

Rima starred in a seven-issue

series,

' ''Rima the Jungle Girl'' (May 1974 – May 1975), adapted by DC writer-editor

Robert Kanigher Robert "Bob" Kanigher (; June 18, 1915 – May 7, 2002)Social Security Death Index, social security #116-07-5117. was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for ...

with artwork by penciler- inker

Nestor Redondo Nestor P. Redondo (May 4, 1928 – December 30, 1995)Nestor P. Redondo
at the

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Polish-born American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. He is also kno ...

. A variation of the character debuted in a six-issue DC Comics limited series '' First Wave'' (May 2010-March 2011), written by Eisner Award–winning writer Brian Azzarello. Rima is here portrayed as a South American native with piercings and tattoos; she does not speak, but instead communicates in bird-like whistles. Although the DC character is a fully grown and powerful woman with ash blonde hair, the novel's Rima was 17, small (4′ 6″), demure, and dark-haired. Natives avoided her forest, calling her "the Daughter of the Didi" (an evil spirit). Rima's only defense was a reputation for magic earned through the display of strange talents such as talking to birds, befriending animals, and plucking poison darts from the air. Although in the original book Rima was burned alive by Indian savages, in the comics she escaped the fire to have further adventures.

Comic book titles

These

titles feature the Rima character:

''Classics Illustrated'' #90: ''Green Mansions''

Classics Illustrated ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as ''Les Misérables'', '' Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...

published a short adaptation from the novel, with direct quotes. In this adaptation Rima is blond. It was published by Gilberton Company in December 1951, adapted by George Lipscomb, with cover and interior art by

Alex Blum Alexander Anthony Blum (February 7, 1889 – September 1969) was a Hungarian-American comic book artist best remembered for his contributions in the 1940s and 1950s to the long-running comic book series ''Classics Illustrated''. Biography Born ...

''Rima the Jungle Girl''

From 1974-1975, Rima starred in a self-titled series which ran for seven issues. This version of the character guest starred in the DC Comics Saturday morning cartoon ''

''.

''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen''

Rima is mentioned, but not seen, in

America's Best Comics America's Best Comics (ABC) is a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History ''America's Best ...

' ''

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a comic book series (inspired by the 1960 British film ''The League of Gentlemen'') co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four vol ...

'' vol. 2, #3 (2003), by writer

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

and artists Kevin O'Neill and Ben Dimagmaliw: "...it is near here that the world-famous 'bird girl' Riolama or Rima was discovered..."

''First Wave''

Rima is re-imagined in DC's 2010 title '' First Wave''.

Cartoons

Rima the Jungle Girl appeared in three episodes of Hanna-Barbera's ''

'' during the 1977–78 season, alongside such mainstays as

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in '' More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially a ...

, Batman, and

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

. She first appears in "Fire" (October 1, 1977). Batman, Robin, and Rima the Jungle Girl contend with a spreading forest fire, and have to search for a pair of escaped prisoners who have stolen a forestry truck filled with dynamite. Rima's main contribution is to call upon a nearby bear to push down some trees for an emergency bridge across a wide gap. Her next appearance is in "River of Doom" (November 4, 1977):

and Rima the Jungle Girl search for archaeologists who have accidentally stumbled onto a burial ground of angry natives. The archaeologists are captured and sentenced to death on the River of Doom. The superheroes find the would-be victims by using indigenous animals to scout them out at Rima's command. They later rescue the scientists. Rima's main contribution is summoning crocodiles to attack their pursuers' canoes. Finally, she is featured in "Return of Atlantis", from October 25, 1980. Aquaman is captured by Queen Ocina when the lost city of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

rises from the sea. Ocina plans to conquer the world with her female warriors, but Wonder Woman and Rima gather the Amazons of Paradise Island to stop her. Note: In breach of both DC Comics' and the ''Super Friends'' TV show's continuities, this "Atlantis" is not the kingdom over which

reigns.

Other appearances

Rima was mentioned in

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

's 1950 short story, " The Veldt". Rima was also mentioned in "Watcher in the Shadows" by Geoffrey Household (1960; reissued 2010) and also in "Vane Pursuit" by Charlotte MacLeod (1989).

Dornford Yates Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some thrillers (the ''Chandos'' books), were be ...

mentioned her in Chapter I of his 1931 comic-detective novel ''Adele and Co.'', in connection with the Hudson Memorial.

Statue

The Hudson Memorial in London's Hyde Park, created in 1925, has a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of Rima the Bird Girl as part of The Hudson Memorial Bird Sanctuary, sculpted by

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

.http://londonist.com/2013/09/the-day-peter-pan-was-tarred-and-feathered.php Image of statue with history of praise and criticism

References

External links

* *
Fantastic Victoriana: R
by

Jess Nevins Jess Nevins (born 1966) is an American author. Nevins is the author of the ''Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana'' and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction. He is employed as a reference librarian at Lone Star College-Tomball. Comic boo ...

Full Text of the Novel: ''Green Mansions''
{{Superfriends series DC Comics female superheroes Female characters in film Female characters in literature Fictional activists Jungle girls Jungle superheroes Literary characters introduced in 1904 Orphan characters in literature