Manic Monday Bonus--Where Do You Think Sheena Got All Of Those Leopard-Skin Outfits?

The problem with writing jungle based comics--particularly if you've never been to the jungle, and have no knowledge beyond what cliches Hollywood and the pulps and other comics have filled your head with--is sooner or later, you've gotta run out of ways to tell your stories.

Take, for example, Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle #17 (1952). The first Sheena story in the issue starts thusly:

Ouch!!

Fair enough. But the very next story--in the same comic book--starts like this...

OK. Well, sure, there are probably tons of leopard attacks.

The third Sheena story in that same comic begins:

Oh, come on, now!! Three separate stories, that each start off exactly the same--with Sheena saving someone from a leopard attack by stabbing the big cat with her knife?!?

Was there no other way to start 3 consecutive stories? Were there no other animals who could attack? Was there no other way to dispatch them? 

For what it's worth, there were an awful lot of Sheena stories over the years, and yeah, while she killed a lot of leopards, she had plenty of other ways to open a tale, and lots of other jungle denizens to spar with. Why this issue was where the storytelling devolved to all-leopard, all the time, I couldn't tell you. Maybe Sheena needed to stock up on new leopard skin outfits?

The author is unknown for these stories. The artist for all three was Robert Webb. The editor doubtless went into hiding after this.

 Meanwhile: leopards!

That was from Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle #3 (1943)...

Maybe my next project after Kid Eternity will be to document all the leopards Sheena killed over the years...

Manic Monday Bonus--Sheena The Mascot!!

What did every high school kid in the 1940s want?

Wait...what the what now?

Cambot, let's blow that letter up:

OK, let's get past some date confusion...the letter is dated January 1945 but refers to the graduating class of 1947. Well, they surely could be picking class mascots ahead of time, right? Or, it could just be a typo. Then again, their graduation is in February?!?! Talk about your long summer vacations!

More importantly--a senior class is going to pick Sheena as their mascot?? I mean, she is Queen Of The Jungle and all that, and although I don't think that the term "blackboard jungle" had been coined yet, it was Philadelphia, man...

For the record, John Bartram High School is a real high school, and yes, that's the real address. The school's mascot is The Braves, but it's not uncommon for classes to pick their own "mascots." Still, Sheena? There are about a dozen or so Golden Age heroes I personally would want as a class mascot ahead of Sheena (no disrespect, your highness).

Of more interest is that fact that Fiction House apparently signed off on this--or why else run the letter, right? One can imagine the graduating class of 2018 from Slay Monstrobot High wanting to make Batman their mascot, use Batman pictures and buttons, and even asking DC to provide the drawing. How long do you think it would take for the "cease and desist" letters to start flying? Maybe that's why they chose Sheena--smaller character from a smaller company, so more likely to be approved...?

From Movie Comics #1 (1946)

Sheena And The Flame God Of Trader Joe's!!

The Flame People and their god Moloch are terrorizing the local tribes.

But Sheena (Queen Of The Jungle) doesn't believe this god talk:

But...

A flaming man, riding a zebra, packing a flame thrower?!?! Sounds like a god to me!!

Well, after he kills Sheena [SPOILER ALERT--nope] , it's up to Bob (Boyfriend of The Jungle) to stop this Moloch:

Fortunately for Bob...

Woo hoo!!

Time for our Scooby Doo moment...

Trader Joe?!?! Maybe you should think twice before you shop there!!!

And of course, Freddy and Velma Bob and Sheena give us the necessary exposition:

Wires AND tubes?!?! No wonder it worked!!

But the most important takeaway from this story:

When I win the lottery, you can damn well bet that I'm buying a zebra and riding him while wearing a flame suit and brandishing a flame thrower.

But I probably wouldn't pretend to be a god. That's rude!!

From Sheena #11 (1951)