Jab’s Builds! (Nightmare Creatures/Circus! Lawnmower Man! Metroid!)

[Jabroniville]

GORK
Played by: Unknown
Role: Evil Alien, Mind-Possesser
Group Affiliations: The Evil Empire
PL 6 (133)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+7)
Athletics 4 (+9)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Science) 7 (+12)
Insight 2 (+3)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 2 (+3)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Technology 5 (+10)
Vehicles 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Improved Initiative, Fast Grab, Ranged Attack 3, Startle

Powers:
"Stretching Limbs" Reach 1 [1]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Movement 1 (Slow Fall) [2]

"Brain Possession" Mind Control 8 (Feats: Accurate 2) (Extras: Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range -2, Instant Recovery) (Quirks: Only Humans, Noticeable- Giant Head) Linked to Morph 1 (Flaws: Limited to Giant-Headed Form, Attack Only +0) (26) -- [29]

• AE: Blast 5 (10)
• AE: Move Object 5 (10)
• AE: Mind Control 2 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Distracting, Touch Range -2) (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Blasts +6 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +5, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (Taking Over The World)
Enemy (Roy)- Gork is leading the invasion of his people, and Roy is alone in stopping him until Jim comes along.

Total: Abilities: 68 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 8 (133)

-Gork is the Evil Alien, and has a few different powers, such as the ability to Possess Others with his own version of the "Go Inside Someone's Head" thing.

[Jabroniville]

And that does it for my "MTV Trifecta"! It's a bit too much to ALSO add King of the Hill (which has a different vibe than all the other shows) to the mix, but I will re-post those some day.

Next up... Marvel's JUNGLE GIRLS! Because they actually had 3-4 aside from Shanna the She-Devil and I just now discovered them. Also a couple of male characters, including some of the earliest black heroes in comics. This set'll only be a few days.

[Jabroniville]

MARVEL'S JUNGLE GIRLS:
-I recently became aware of Marvel's Non-Shanna "Jungle Girl" characters, doing a deep dive of Marvunapp looking for un-built, interesting characters. I'd really only seen Shanna the She-Devil, but there were at least three more. This was a semi-common genre at the time, fueled by Sheena, Queen of the Jungle- a fanservice-laden strip created by Will Eisner (haha, holy shit, really?) in 1942. However, Sheena HERSELF is a knock-off, swiped from Rima The Jungle Girl from a 1904 novel. Granted, go back far enough and they're all just distaff rip-offs of Tarzan, which remains the gold standard in the "Sexy Loincloth-Wearing Jungle White People" genre. Generally speaking, these are all beautiful, athletic white women who wore jungle-print swimsuit-esque costumes... which is most of the appeal of the genre right there. While "Bathing Beauty" stuff was hardly rare, this was the 1940s equivalent of the Image Comics fap-books that were produced fifty years later.

Martin Goodman, skinflint owner of Timely Comics, renamed Atlas in the 1950s and Marvel in the 1960s, was particularly notable for his tendency to just take something that was popular and rip it off a thousand times to see what stuck. This was hardly rare in any era of comics, but his particular shamelessness is nonetheless amusing- Romance Comics, Monster Comics, Western Comics- he was infamous for dumping his entirely line and just pushing the "Hot New Thing". So we should be surprised there are as few of these as there are.

Marvel's various Jungle Girls came out at different times. Lorna the Jungle Queen debuted in 1953, featuring a duplicate of Sheena, and Jann of the Jungle (which starred a brunette to make it stand out) and Leopard Girl (with a woman in a catsuit) came out the following year- ALL THREE were written by Don Rico. Lorna was a blonde-haired girl raised by her father's African friend, Chief M'Tuba, while Jann was an American stuntwoman carrying on her grandmother's legacy in defending the jungle- both had a rapport with animals and male sidekicks they often had to save. Leopard Girl instead LED A WHOLE PACK OF LEOPARDS, and was cancelled the earliest, in 1955. Lorna & Jann were longest-lasting, getting cancelled only in 1957.

Shanna the She-Devil is actually the latest, having debuted in 1972 for a trio of "Girl Books" Marvel wanted to push in the early 1970s. Written mostly by amateurs Marvel just threw into comics writing, these books (featuring Shanna, The Cat and Night Nurse) all rapidly failed. Shanna is of course particularly obviously a rip-off of Sheena.

I'll also take a look at a variety of other jungle-themed characters, including Tharn (Lord of the Jungle- a huge Tarzan rip-off), Waku, and Man-oo the ape.

[Sidney369]

I think Kevin's Dex should be higher. The reason he's such a good football player is because he's fast. Any time he's shown on the field, he's running with the ball. Maybe change his Str to 0 and his Sta 1 and moving the 2 points to Dex. He should also have the Attractive Advantage, since he once won a modelling contract when the agent was looking for a female.

I wonder if Kevin and Brittany were created to be counterpoints to Beavis and Butt-head, as they're stupid and nice as opposed to stupid and jerks.

And it's been confirmed that Tiffany talks slowly because that's how how fast she thinks.

[Sidney369]

Marvel's first jungle girl was Zara https://comicvine.gamespot.com/zara-of- ... 005-48365/ who appeared in 2 issues of Mystic Comics in 1940. It's a good bet that she was a rip-off of Sheena, whose first American appearance was Jumbo Comics #1 (1938). Marvel's first jungle character was Ka-Zar (no, not that one) who appeared in comics in Marvel Comics #1, having previously been in a pulp novel in 1936.

[Jabroniville]

I think Kevin's Dex should be higher. The reason he's such a good football player is because he's fast. Any time he's shown on the field, he's running with the ball. Maybe change his Str to 0 and his Sta 1 and moving the 2 points to Dex. He should also have the Attractive Advantage, since he once won a modelling contract when the agent was looking for a female.

I wonder if Kevin and Brittany were created to be counterpoints to Beavis and Butt-head, as they're stupid and nice as opposed to stupid and jerks.

And it's been confirmed that Tiffany talks slowly because that's how how fast she thinks.

I don't recall many shots of him on the field, but I boosted his AGI (I assume that's what you meant) to reflect his ability, and boosted some Parry to represent avoiding getting smashed. I don't give the "Attractive" advantage to someone just acknowledging looks, but a functional effectiveness of the person at using their looks (such as Quinn manipulating men).

It's amusing how many people here watched the hell out of Daria but comparatively few watched its predecessor, especially considering how much more impact Beavis & Butt-Head had.

[Jabroniville]

Marvel's first jungle girl was Zara https://comicvine.gamespot.com/zara-of- ... 005-48365/ who appeared in 2 issues of Mystic Comics in 1940. It's a good bet that she was a rip-off of Sheena, whose first American appearance was Jumbo Comics #1 (1938). Marvel's first jungle character was Ka-Zar (no, not that one) who appeared in comics in Marvel Comics #1, having previously been in a pulp novel in 1936.

oh ha- I actually have a bio on Zara of the Jungle and didn't notice her on my search.

[Jabroniville]

LORNA THE JUNGLE QUEEN
Created By: Don Rico & Werner Roth
First Appearance: Lorna, The Jungle Queen #1 (July 1953)
Role: Jungle Girl, Sheena Rip-Off, Forgotten Character
Group Affiliations: N/A
PL 7 (120)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 10 (+12)
Deception 1 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 7 (+10)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+10)
Treatment 2 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (Jungle Arsenal), Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Jungles), Great Endurance, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Spears), Minion 4 (Mikki the Monkey), Move-By Action, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 4, Tracking

Powers:
"Rapport With Animals" Comprehend (Animals) 2 (Flaws: Limited to Simple Concepts) [2]

Equipment:
"Spear" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) (3)
"Knife" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Knife +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Spear +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (M'Tuba, Greg Knight)- The African chief and the jungle explorer are among Lorna's allies.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 12 (120)

MIKKI
Role: Fluffy Monkey
PL 3 (61)- Minion Rank 4, Sidekick Rank 12
STRENGTH -3 STAMINA -2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+11)
Athletics 13 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+8)
Insight 3 (+4)
Perception 5 (+6)
Ranged Attack (Poop) 6 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Initiative

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]
Speed 2 (2 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
"Prehensile Tail" Extra Limb 1 [1]

"Small Size" Shrinking 8 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [17]
(-2 Strength & Speed, +4 Defenses, +8 Stealth, -4 Intimidation)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (-3 Damage, DC 12)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness -2, Fortitude +1, Will +4

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Monkeys cannot speak to humans.
Enemy (Rival Males)- Rival males constantly seek to up-end a male leader's territory, and they must always be on the watch, lest rivals take their females.

Total: Abilities: -2 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 24 / Defenses: 12 (61)

-Lorna the Jungle Queen was of course a "Jungle Girl" comic produced by Atlas Comics (the precursor to Marvel) in 1953. It was retitled Lorna the Jungle Girl four issues later and ran for twenty-six in total, from 1953-1957. Actually a very good run for Atlas in those days. A wide variety of cover artists were chosen for the book. Two characters were spun off for the backup features- Greg Knight, a jungle explorer (and Lorna's boyfriend), and M'Tuba, the African guardian of Lorna. This makes M'Tuba the first black character Marvel ever gave a solo starring role (though it only lasted for one issue).

-Lorna stars a young girl brought to central Africa by her father after the death of her mother in childbirth. Her father is mauled to death by the lion named Numa, leaving a teenage Lorna to be trained by her father's friend, Chief M'Tuba. She learns the skills of the tribe, becoming an expert with the spear and knife, and develops a mystical rapport with native animals, particularly the chimpanzee Mikki. She reaches adulthood and becomes a jungle protector- her allies include M'Tuba, Knight, African natives and government authorities. Lorna has never reappeared since her 1957 cancellation- only reprints have existed since then.

-Marvel's "Jungle Girl" heroines are all essentially Shanna Lite, as Shanna lived on past them all and became a recurring character while the rest were left in the pre-Silver Age era. Lorna has a pet monkey sidekick named Mikki to differentiate her.

[Davies]

All of these characters should probably have Benefit (possesses access to modern cosmetics and hairstyling despite supposedly living in the jungle).

[Jabroniville]

CHIEF M'TUBA
Created By: Don Rico & Werner Roth
First Appearance: Lorna, The Jungle Queen #1 (July 1953)
Role: Ethnic Helper
Group Affiliations: Unnamed Tribe

-M'Tuba actually got his own starring feature in the first issue of Lorna, The Jungle Queen, making him the first black "headliner" in Marvel history, technically (Waku would appear a year later). M'Tuba is an "Ethnic Helper" type of character, which was fairly common in Golden Age stories. Here, he was the man who raised Lorna into a survival expert and Jungle Girl. When the two are nearly killed by headhunters, M'Tuba's pet monkey cuts them free using the chief's knife, and M'Tuba is named chief of his tribe after Lorna defers command to him. He appears in all the later stories, typically in an advisory role, and sometimes as someone to be saved (Lorna rescues him from a killer leopard once, then she & her boyfriend cure his poison-driven coma with an antidote). His nephew Baku attempts to usurp the tribe by pretending to be a ghost at one point, and Lorna had to reveal the truth.

-M'Tuba is a wise chief and good survivalist, but ultimately has to have Lorna's help to do anything.

[Jabroniville]

Seriously, though- HOT DIGGITY.

JANN OF THE JUNGLE (Jane Hastings)
Created By: Don Rico & Jay Scott Pike
First Appearance: Jungle Tales #1 (June 1954)
Role: Jungle Girl, Sheena Rip-Off, Forgotten Character
Group Affiliations: N/A
PL 7 (117)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 10 (+12)
Deception 1 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 7 (+10)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+10)
Treatment 2 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (Jungle Arsenal), Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Jungles), Great Endurance, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Spears), Move-By Action, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 4, Tracking

Powers:
"Rapport With Animals" Comprehend (Animals) 2 (Flaws: Limited to Simple Concepts) [2]

Equipment:
"Spear" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) (3)
"Knife" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Knife +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Spear +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Communists)- For some reason, Communist agents are always in the jungle trying to take control.
Relationship (Pat Mahoney)- Jann's companion is a former film director turned photographer who is always after great legends and usually needs to be bailed out by Jann.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 12 (117)

-Jann of the Jungle was a cover feature of Jungle Tales for seventeen issues, running from 1954-1957. It starred a buxom brunette to contrast Lorna the Jungle Girl, which debuted the year earlier. The feature stars Jane Hastings, whose grandmother Jann had relocated to the jungles of the Congo, where she aided the various tribes that lived there. Jann had become a legend to the people of the Congo, and she had a daughter who then had Jane, who was raised in the United States. Jane heard stories of her grandmother's legend, and had become a trapeze artist for the circus, ultimately working as a stuntwoman on a jungle picture in 1954. She was doing stunts for the lead actress, but tribal people came to warn the cast & crew that the animals of the jungle had grown restless and might attack- they notice the resemblance of Jane to Jann, and give her the latter name, which she accepts (thinking it "sounded professional") not realizing the connotations. The animals indeed attack, but Jann uses her acrobatic skills to redirect their stampede- she then realizes that the "Jann" the tribes referred to was her ancestor.

-Jann thus decides to abandon her career and stay in the jungle to continue her grandmother's legacy the director Pat Mahoney decides to stay behind as well, to "keep an eye on her" and act as her companion, becoming a photographer. Jann went on a handful of adventures, like finding a black orchid to cure madness brought on by a red orchid, beating a remote controlled "Screaming Terror" robot controlled by Communists who wanted to rule the Congo, and raised a lion cub she had rescued until the cub's father came to reclaim him. She fights further Communists out to make a mess (one tries to turn the local tribes against her; another drives a gorilla mad to keep his uranium mine secret). She also killed a strange flying lizard that lured creatures to a poisoned watering hole, helped an old white hunter believe in himself again (by taking down a savage gorilla and making him think he did it by himself), and beat an abusive lion-tamer. Other stories involve supersticious tribes (more than one story features Jann & Pat tricking them to calm them down from something) and fighting other bad guys, most of whom agree to leave Africa afterwards. Overall it's an interest pile of stuff- the stories have twists and turns and most villains are manipulative whites- aside from the occasional "lol these tribes have weird gods and we have to trick them" story it doesn't seem that bad for the era. It even has a dopey guy that the heroine constantly has to save.

-Jann appears only once after 1957- an Agents of Atlas story where she helps the Uranian find Gorilla Man.

-Jann of the Jungle is effectively the exact same as Lorna (right down to the "rapport with animals", which allows them to communicate simple things and even understand what they want), but has more Acrobatics skill, owing to her backstory.

[catsi563]

1950s the era when everyone who didnt agree with you was a communist and the commies where behind every rock and tree and bush waiting to pounce on you and mug you for your stars and stripes

[Sidney369]

-Jann appears only once after 1957- an Agents of Atlas story where she helps the Uranian find Gorilla Man.

Which was actually recapping events from What If? #9, drawn by Good Girl Art appreciator Bill Black.

[Jabroniville]

LEOPARD GIRL (Gwen)
Created By: Don Rico & Al Hartley
First Appearance: Jungle Tales #2 (Sept. 1954)
Role: Jungle Girl, Sheena Rip-Off, Forgotten Character
Group Affiliations: The Leopard Pack
PL 7 (124)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 10 (+12)
Deception 1 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 7 (+10)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 5 (+10)
Treatment 2 (+3)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment (Jungle Arsenal), Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Jungles), Great Endurance, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Spears), Minions 8 (Leopard Pack), Move-By Action, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 4, Tracking

Powers:
"Rapport With Animals" Comprehend (Animals) 2 (Flaws: Limited to Simple Concepts) [2]

Equipment:
"Spear" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) (3)
"Knife" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Knife +10 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Spear +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Peter)- Gwen acts as secretary to wealthy young Peter, and he is infatuated with the mysterious Leopard Girl.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 26 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 12 (124)

-Leopard Girl quickly joined "Jungle Girls" Lorna & Jann at Atlas Comics, debuting in 1954 (the month after Jann, in the same book). This one at least looked a lot different- she wore a skintight leopard-print catsuit with kitty-ears, looking more like DC's Golden Age Cheetah than the other Sheena knock-offs. She was more mysterious than the others, with no real origin given- she was "Gwen", the secretary to numerous scientists and explorers who lived in the jungles of Africa. One of her clients, the wealthy young Peter, was infatuated with the Leopard Girl. Leopard Girl was aided by a pack of wild leopards who obeyed her every command (!!).

-Leopard Girl's first adventure featured her saving Peter from his evil wife, who conspired with her father to rob him of his wealth and leave him. She then fought a mad scientist who used radiation to summon the "Flame Witch", which she beat luring her into water. She fought a mad leopard (restoring its sanity by literally removing a thorn from its paw) and had her position as ruler of the leopard pack taken by a leopard named Fang, but she beat him and learned that he had no teeth and only sought to be part of the pack- magnanimously, she kept his secret from the others and let him be a member.

-Leopard Girl only lasts five issues, and doesn't last when Jungle Action is renamed Jann of the Jungle. She actually reappears in 2015 for an Ant-Man book, where Scott Lang meets her at a retirement home for ex-heroes.

-Leopard Girl is another typical "Jungle Girl" character, but has a WHOLE PACK OF LEOPARDS that obey her, which rules.

[Bonnacon]

I love how issue 16 asks, Can Lorna Survive “The Pit of Peril?”, only for issue 25 to ask, Would Lorna Be Trapped By “The Peril of The Pit!”.