Rulah, Jungle Goddess

Rulah, Jungle Goddess is a fictional character, a jungle girl, in comic books published by Fox Feature Syndicate. She first appeared in Zoot Comics #7 (June 1947).[1] The artist generally credited with creating Rulah is Matt Baker, although Jack Kamen and Graham Ingels were also associated with her.

Rulah, Jungle Goddess
Rulah on the cover of Zoot #7, June 1947. Art by Jack Kamen.
Publication information
PublisherFox Feature Syndicate
First appearanceZoot Comics #7 (June 1947)
Created byMatt Baker (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego(originally) Jane Dodge
(after Rulah, Jungle Goddess" #20) Joan Grayson
SpeciesHuman
AbilitiesNormal human strength

Rulah was created as part of a boom in jungle girl comics in the late 1940s, headed by Fiction House's Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.[2]

Character background

Rulah's real name was given variously as either Jane Dodge[3] or Joan Grayson.[4] In the latter version, Rulah is a young aviator on a solo flight over Africa when her plane loses control and crashes. She replaces her clothes (which were destroyed in the crash) with a bikini made from the skin of a dead giraffe. Soon afterwards, Rulah saves a local tribe from an evil woman; the grateful tribespeople declare her queen. Rulah decides to remain in the jungle as its protector. Rulah is often accompanied by her pet panther Saber. Her boyfriend, Tim Pointer, is introduced in issue #20.

According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "She tackles ordinary enemies, like wild animals, wicked natives, and wicked whites, and extraordinary enemies, like the Harpies from Hades, the Panther Queen, the Thirsty Tyrant of Tii, the Jungle Napoleon, the Ice Vikings of Valhalla, and the Ape Women of Antilla."[5]

Publication history

Rulah appeared in each issue of Zoot Comics after issue #7. By issue #17, Zoot was retitled Rulah, Jungle Goddess[6]. Rulah also appeared in All Top Comics, alongside Dagar, the Desert Hawk, and the Blue Beetle. Rulah's last appearance in her own title was issue #27 (June 1949); the comic became a romance title and was renamed I Loved. All Top was canceled in July 1949.

After the demise of Fox Feature Syndicate, some of Rulah's adventures were reprinted without permission by Star Comics (no relation to the Marvel Comics imprint), and I. W. Publications, under the Super Comics and Skywald Comics lines.

The last original story featuring Rulah is "Clash of Gods", written by Enrico Teodorani and drawn by Antonio Conversano, published in 2004 by AC Comics in Femforce # 129.

In 2011, the character was ranked 79th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.[7]

References
  1. Markstein, Don. "Rulah, Jungle Goddess". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. Booker, M. Keith, ed. (2010). Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels. Greenwood. pp. 331-332. ISBN 978-0-313-35746-6. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  3. Zoot #7 (June 1947)
  4. Rulah, Jungle Goddess #20 (Nov 1948)
  5. Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  6. http://comicbookplus.com/?cid=1399
  7. Frankenhoff, Brent (2011). Comics Buyer's Guide Presents: 100 Sexiest Women in Comics. Krause Publications. p. 51. ISBN 1-4402-2988-0.
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