Amusing athleticism with Cave Girl, from issues #4 and #6 of THUN'DA.
a DIACHRONIC study of the IMAGE of the POWERFUL FEMALE in POPULAR (and maybe other) CULTURES
Saturday, January 30, 2021
FF #29: MARLA
While looking for my next "C" entry I found this amusing sight in THUN'DA #5, where the titular jungle man-- weakened by secret doping-- gets tossed around by a hefty Amazon, so I decided to toss it in for the hell of it.
FF #28 BERTHA
The Archie Comics feature KATY KEENE wasn't a hotbed of femme formidability, but here's an odd piece I found buried in an issue of LAUGH, with bulky support-character BERTHA clobbering a supposed burglar.
Sunday, January 24, 2021
FF #27: ANGEL O'DAY
In this scene from ANGEL AND THE APE #1, the titular Angel does a little punchin' while her pongid partner gets the worst of the deal from a mob of mayhem-happy maidens.
FF #26: ZEGRA
Zegra was one of many blonde jungle goddesses of the forties, no better or worse than most, as seen in this rather ordinary adventure:
However, one odd adventure puts her in conflict with a lady wrestler named Tugga, who has an odd talent in that she can hypnotize her opponents into submission. Tugga can't beat the blonde goddess with either hypnosis or wrestling-skill, so Tugga mesmerizes an ape-man to attack the blonde goddess-- who still wins out nevertheless.
Monday, January 18, 2021
FF #25: YURA ENJOJI
Well, I guess Rumiko Takahashi's five-part WASTED MINDS series must be one of her least liked serials, 'cause I couldn't find a single martial scene with the female character Yura, even though she boasts impressive super-strength.
Here's what she looks like, anyway, from a reprint in MANGA VIZION.
FF #24: XENA
As I remember, the regular XENA comic book suffered from awful art, so I didn't even look at that one again. But here's one passable scene from the mashup comic ARMY OF DARKNESS/XENA, whose main purpose seems to be to team up Ash Williams and Autolycus so as to double your Campbells.
FF #23: WONDER WOMAN
But just for a change of pace, let's make it the "Modesty Peel" version of Wonder Woman from the seventies, kicking up a storm from WW #193.
FF #22: THE VALKYRIE (1940s)
Somewhat like the 40s Catwoman, the original forties Valkyrie was at best a decent brawler, only to get refashioned into a Queen of Kung in the latter half of the 20th century. From AIRBOY #38.
Saturday, January 16, 2021
FF #21: ULTIMA
There's not gonna be too many "U's" either, but for what it's worth, here's a tough girl named Ultima trying to take on Marvel's She-Hulk.
FF #20: TESSIE THE TYPIST
FF #19: SHEENA
As noted in the previous post, despite her many imitators Sheena remained the reigning Queen of the Jungle. And just as most if not all governments are justified by force, Sheena's reign was upheld by the fact that she always seemed toughest of the bunch, with a better class of artists rendering her exploits. Note how, in this scene from SHEENA #8, the jungle girl takes on the armed man while her wimpy mate Bob grabs the thug's female accomplice, and seems inordinately proud of being able to subdue an unskilled female crook.
Friday, January 8, 2021
FF#18: RULAH JUNGLE GODDESS
Though the 1938 SHEENA is the unrivaled Queen of the Jungle, the 1947 jungle girl Rulah was the closest she ever had to a heir apparent. A lot of jungle girls tended to be pretty but not that demonstratively tough, but Rulah was seen doing tons of punches, kicks, and knifings throughout her career, most of which was drawn by Black American artist Matt Baker. (Perhaps because of his heritage, Baker makes the "African" tribes around Rulah a real polyglot of racial types, with some suggested interbreeding between white and black tribes.) Rulah was also one of the few jungle types of either sex who came to the primeval life in adulthood, rather than being raised by animals or natives.
Sunday, January 3, 2021
FF #17: QUEEN KILLER SHARK
The list of "Qs" will probably run out before even the "Os," but here's a decent scene from BLACKHAWK #228. Queen Killer Shark was formerly heroine Lady Blackhawk, but she was brainwashed to turn against her namesake by Blackhawk's enemy Killer Shark. This was a better fight than the character even got in her goody-goody persona.
Friday, January 1, 2021
FF#16: THE PURPLE TIGRESS
Blessed with but two appearances-- this one from JO-JO #7-- the Purple Tigress was an athletic lady crimefighter with a tiger-striped costume and no origin. Some cute dialogue at least.
FF #15: OWL GIRL (1968)
The Owl Girl of the forties may be the weakest girl-partner in superhero comics, barely able to throw a good punch. But in the sixties, a new iteration of the Owl got a brand new sidekick, and she showed off good skills at judo and karate for her two whole appearances.
FF#14: NARU NARUSEGAWA
Naru, one of the main characters in the ensemble-cast of the manga LOVE HINA, may win some sort of award for "most punches ever thrown at guys" in the category of comedy-romance. If she has any failing, it might be that she's a one-punch wonder, rarely getting into prolonged beatdowns.