CHO & MURRAY TALK JUNGLE GIRL

[MattBrady]

Frank Cho, Doug Murray and Adriano Batista will add another character to the pulp-y list of “jungle girl” regulars in July, as the trio debuts Jungle Girl #0 from Dynamite. The 16 page, 25-cent introductory issue (with an eight page story) will set the stage for the ongoing series which will begin later this year.

We spoke with Cho and Murray about the project, and took a look at the first three pages of #0’s story.

Newsarama: From the initial images we’ve seen, Jungle Girl looks like a cross between a pulp heroine and a classic Frank Frazetta female figure. Talk about the inspiration for the character.

Frank Cho: My fascination of jungle girls in general started with Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC and Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. I guess what fascinates me about jungle girls are the primal, pure, untouched-by-civilization qualities to them…and they look great in leather and fur bikinis.

Doug Murray: From my end, Jungle Girl was more inspired by the women of the Edgar Rice Burroughs adventures. The girls of Opar and Barsoom always had a certain something, both in looks and abilities--I've tried to bring a bit of that--along with a touch of the naïveté and headstrongness of youth (Jungle Girl is just a teenager, after all) to this character.

NRAMA: Internet message boards have already begun drawing comparisons between Jungle Girl and the other bikini-clad heroines of the past: Sheena, Shanna the She-Devil, Cavewoman, etc. How will Jungle Girl differ from her predecessors?

DM: Jungle Girl is probably a bit stronger and a lot younger then the others. She lives in a very odd place but has grown up there--for her, it's home. Still, an everyday world where you have to compete with dinosaurs for your meals is a very different sort of place for anyone.

FC: This will be more Edgar Rice Burroughs and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Lost World feel to it. We’re layering in various subplots wrapped around a mystery.

NRAMA: But still – it’s hard to imagine there are all that many…well-built blondes swinging around in the wilds of the jungle; how did Jungle Girl become Jungle Girl? What’s her story?

DM: I'd rather not go into that for now. It will come out in the series. For now--she's just a teenager on her 'walkabout' who encounters something strange (to her).

FC: I was approached by Dynamite to create a Jungle Girl character for them. I had several Cavewoman/Shanna concepts and ideas in my files, and accepted the challenge. Doug Murray came on board and took my half baked ideas and turned it into a fully formed character with colorful supporting characters and history. I’m constantly amazed at Doug Murray’s creativity and writing abilities.

NRAMA: The solicit for the series’ zero issue promises “beautiful women” and “thrilling adventures.” The first part is readily apparent—Jungle Girl’s front & center on the comic’s cover—but tell us about the thrilling adventures. What do you have in store for the series?

FC: I don’t want to give too much but here are some are some hints: Dinosaur fights, plane wreck, Neanderthals, mastodon on fire, witch doctors, a sunken WW1 U-boat, giant octopus, and a sweaty hot blonde.

DM: Think of it as a cross between Pellucidar and Lost's island paradise--with some Ray Harryhausen creatures tossed in.

NRAMA: Can you give us a rundown on the supporting cast that’ll surround the comic’s heroine? Any talking chimpanzees?

FC: Besides me. No. I’ll let Doug handle this part.

DM: The supporting cast will change in different story arcs. The one constant (aside from the Jungle Girl) will be her best friend Togg--a well-mannered Neanderthal.

NRAMA: Frank, how has it been working with Doug Murray? What does he bring to the book?

FC: Working with Doug has been a dream. He is such a wonderful creative writer. He turned my frat-boy T & A action story into a complex atmospheric layered adventure story examining different tribal cultures and social taboos in a flamboyant pulp style. Doug simply brings class to this project.

NRAMA: What are the brainstorming sessions for the series like?

FC: It’s pretty straightforward. Doug and I bat ideas around until we come up with something that we both like. This process will go through several stages. Doug then takes all the ideas and writes great stories out of it, while I draw sexy covers that internet trolls will bitch and moan as demeaning to women and label me a sexist…And then Adam Hughes create a stunningly beautiful cover/statue and all the internet trolls leave me and attack him. It’s a fun cycle.

DM: Oddly, Frank and I are usually on the same page when we brainstorm a storyline. It's more a question of what kind of neat stuff we'll toss in--working with Frank, I sort of take the beautiful and scantily clad stuff as a given.

NRAMA: In terms of art, what makes Adriano Batista a good choice to pencil Jungle Girl?

DM: I think his art replicates Frank's style really well. As Frank can't do the penciling, it's nice to have someone with the same sort of sensibilities doing it in his place.

FC: Not only is Adriano a solid artist, but he’s a great visual storyteller, which is rare in today’s comics.

NRAMA: Frank, what was it like for you, passing the artistic responsibilities for the series to someone else?

FC: It was a little weird since I like to draw what I write. But after seeing Adriano’s pencils, all my worries and strangeness went away. Adriano was the perfect artist for this book.

NRAMA: The Shanna the She-Devil you did for Marvel was originally intended to include more “mature” artwork. Will Jungle Girl lean that way, or will the series be more restrained?

FC: For the time being, it’s going to be rated PG-13. But I am toying with the idea of doing rated R one-shots for fun which I’ll write and draw.

NRAMA: Any plans to market a line of leopard-print bikinis?

FC: I think they already have that at Wal-Mart.

[Grievous]

first post, cool read

[Excelsior!]

Crikey. Cho really draws awesome Mosasaurs!

[MightyMarvel]

Looks good Frank!

I've never read any of the Shanna books, but I've always liked the art.

Hands down some of the best drawn women in comics.

[SoopDawg]

He had better had a year start on this book.

[Comiccub]

I like Frank cho but I am left to wonder how this looks any different than Shanna. besides the fact the hair color has been changed these characters look exactly the same. Won't be wasting my money on this one.

[EmeraldGuy32]

For 25 cents I'm picking this up. After that who knows....

[Jimmy Palmiotti]

I personally cannot wait to get my hands on this book. nothing makes me more happy when super talented creators do their own thing.For that alone I suppport the project...as everyone else should to.

It sure does help that it looks insanely beautiful. Doug and Frank are the tops in their field.

knock them dead guys!!!

JIMMY

PS: frank, really...congrats dude!!!

[Beau Smith]

This will be the best!

It's wonderful when creators get to do what they are really good at and interested in. It's also nice that they are gonna throw some spotlight on the genre. We need more action/adventure and this is a great way to present it.

Best news in a long time.

Your amigo,

Beau

[TheGrayHulk]

So what's the official difference between Jungle Girl and Shanna the She-Devil?

No offense, but I'm more attracted to the new Palmiotti/Gray Shanna comic than this project... and ironically, I prefer Shanna mainly because of Cho!

[Comic2read]

This is the Jungle Girl book I'm most looking forward to read. Frank Cho, Doug Murray, Adraino Batista and Dynamite make a great team. I like how they have all the classic pulp atmosphere like Witch Doctors, Cannibals, Dinosaurs for Jungle Girl to battle. Can't wait!

[vbartilucci]

Originally Posted by TheGrayHulk

So what's the official difference between Jungle Girl and Shanna the She-Devil?

It is the exact difference between Shanna and Nyoka the Jungle Girl. And Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

Hope that helps.

You know, Frank's art has a sense of...what's the word I'm looking for...(Breasts? no...) FUN to it. Even if the characters aren't smirking, you get the sense they want to.

Monkey-boy, I will get a Norbert from you...someday.

[Skinshark]

I'm digging those colors...good harmony.

=s=

[Charlie Hustle]

I'm sure everybody's offended by this book too but I think Cho's great. It'll be interesting to see if a series not drawn by him holds as much attention since his name brings an automatic audience as an artist only to this point.

[Jed Saxon]

Wow. Batista was good when he was at Chaos! and brought "Chastity" to life. But this? This is awesome!

[ziza9]

"NRAMA: What are the brainstorming sessions for the series like?

FC: It’s pretty straightforward. Doug and I bat ideas around until we come up with something that we both like. This process will go through several stages. Doug then takes all the ideas and writes great stories out of it, while I draw sexy covers that internet trolls will bitch and moan as demeaning to women and label me a sexist…And then Adam Hughes create a stunningly beautiful cover/statue and all the internet trolls leave me and attack him. It’s a fun cycle."

Quote of the day for the funny. That was awesome and oh so very true. :0)

This looks like a fun book that both creators are really pouring their hearts and talent full steam into. I hope it's a big success for them and will definitely be checking out the zero issue.

[Forbush Man]

Definetly picking this up for 25 cents.

[bebopeva88]

Originally Posted by Frank Cho

Doug and I bat ideas around until we come up with something that we both like. This process will go through several stages. Doug then takes all the ideas and writes great stories out of it, while I draw sexy covers that internet trolls will bitch and moan as demeaning to women and label me a sexist…And then Adam Hughes create a stunningly beautiful cover/statue and all the internet trolls leave me and attack him. It’s a fun cycle.

LOL, that's hilarious.

I'm definitely on board with this. Cho is amazing, and although I wish he were on interiors, now that I see Batista's art, my worries have subsided. It just looks like it'll be a fun book, just as Shanna was.

The pulp aspect to the book and the enthusiasm of the creators has me pumped, I'm looking forward to this! (And the possible R-rated Cho done specials! )

[idkidd]

I like Frank cho but I am left to wonder how this looks any different than Shanna. besides the fact the hair color has been changed these characters look exactly the same.

I feel the exact same way. This interview would have been a lot more effective had it focused on why this is any different from Shanna. In the above posts, Palmiotti and Beau Smith are thrilled Cho can do his own thing here but, from the info we are given, he has already done this thing before (but with a name character). Frankly, from the info we've been given, I feel my intelligence is being insulted.

That said, there could be a twist that comes out of nowhere that sets this apart; however, it'd be nice if SOME indication of such a thing could be given.

[Beau Smith]

I'm happy for Frank as a friend, as a chance for folks to see even more of his great art and because of the freedom that a creator-owned project gives a writer & artist.

Have their been "Jungle Girls" before, including Shanna? Sure. But there have been super heroes in tights, zombies, vampires done, redone and done again as well with the same artists and writers doing them. I figure if there can be multiples of those, why not girls in the jungle, hard boiled detectives, tough guys, cowboys and other genres

It breaks down to what the most important thing. Making the character interesting and giving the readers something to invest their emotions in. The setting, situation and conflict comes second because they don't work if you don't care about the character.

Your amigo,

Beau

[Bluefire]

what the hell? if cho was gonna do another story about some jungle tramp, the least he could have done was make her look different from all the other jungle whores out there. or atleast different from the jungle slut he just finished drawing. i wouldn't be surprised if marvel decides to file a law suit against this character who BLATANTLY looks like shanna the she devil. i for one would love to see a jungle slut who acctually LOOKS like she could possibly come from the jungle maybe she could be latino or black? why must she be a blue eyed blonde inorder to be a jungle skank?

[Comic2read]

Originally Posted by TheGrayHulk

So what's the official difference between Jungle Girl and Shanna the She-Devil?

Shanna was practice. Jungle Girl is the real thing.

[vbartilucci]

Originally Posted by Bluefire

what the hell? if cho was gonna do another story about some jungle tramp, the least he could have done was make her look different from all the other jungle whores out there. or atleast different from the jungle slut he just finished drawing. i wouldn't be surprised if marvel decides to file a law suit against this character who BLATANTLY looks like shanna the she devil. i for one would love to see a jungle slut who acctually LOOKS like she could possibly come from the jungle maybe she could be latino or black? why must she be a blue eyed blonde inorder to be a jungle skank?

1) I am fairly sure that if Marvel were to sue Cho he would think seriously about why he is working for them.

2) As has been said, "Hot babe in jungle" is about as generic and widespread as a concept as you can get, and they're all pretty derivative of each other, and if you really wanted to get down to they all derive from Tarzan, or before that, Jungle Book, and before that, probably an even older story that I'm not acquainted with. So if Marvel decided to sue about Shanna, The folks at ERB's estate might come asking about Ka-Zar...

3) The majority of comics readers are white, or would simply rather read (OK, ogle) a white babe in a leopard bikini. That is nothing more than supply and demand, and not representative of the culture or anything else.

And truth to tell, if she were living since childhood in a jungle, she'd have probably gotten one hell of a tan by now anyway.

[AbacusComics]

I could have SWORN IDW solicited a book called Jungle Girl a few years back, illustrated by Ed Muller.

I could be wrong, of course. It's happened once or twice before.

Edited to ad:

Yeah, this one:

[skl183]

All Cho did was hair pallette swap from the Savage Red Sonja cover drawing and a bigger bust. Original...