| Rulah, Jungle Goddess | |
|---|---|
 Rulah on the cover ofZoot #7 (June 1947), art byJack Kamen. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fox Feature Syndicate |
| First appearance | Zoot Comics #7 (June 1947) |
| Created by | Unknown |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | (originally) Jane Dodge (afterRulah, Jungle Goddess #20) Joan Grayson |
| Species | Human |
| Abilities | Normal human strength |
Rulah, Jungle Goddess is a fictional character, ajungle girl, incomic books published byFox Feature Syndicate. She first appeared inZoot Comics #7 (June 1947).[1] The cover of her debut issue was illustrated byJack Kamen; however, the writer and artist responsible for her origin story remain unknown.[2]
In addition to Kamen, Rulah was illustrated by several notable artists, includingMatt Baker andEdmond Good.[3] While theGrand Comics Database lists Matt Baker as a possible contributor to Rulah's origin, his involvement remains uncertain.[4]
Rulah was inspired by a boom in jungle girl comics in the late 1940s, headed by Fiction House'sSheena, Queen of the Jungle.[2]
Rulah's real name was given variously as either Jane Dodge[3] or Joan Grayson.[4] In the former version, she is a youngaviator on a solo flight overAfrica when her plane loses control and crashes. She replaces her clothes (which were destroyed in the crash) with abikini made from the skin of a deadgiraffe. Soon afterwards, she saves a local tribe from an evil woman, and is accepted as its queen, who remains in the jungle as its protector. She is often accompanied by her petpanther, Saber. Her ex-boyfriend, Tim Pointer, is introduced in issue #20.
According toJess 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]
Rulah appeared in each issue ofZoot Comics after issue #7. By issue #17,Zoot was retitledRulah, Jungle Goddess.[6] She also appeared inAll Top Comics, alongsideDagar, the Desert Hawk, and theBlue Beetle. Her last appearance in her own title was issue #27 (June 1949), after which it became a romance comic renamedI 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 theMarvel Comics imprint), andI. W. Publications, under theSuper Comics andSkywald Comics lines.[citation needed]
The last original story featuring Rulah is "Clash of Gods", written by Enrico Teodorani and drawn by Antonio Conversano, published in 2004 byAC Comics inFemforce # 129.
In 2011, Rulah was ranked 79th inComics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.[7]
