Comic Mockery - Cave Girl

Honestly, this is probably the last jungle comic I can handle. Great art by Bob Powell, written by Gardner Fox ... but the comic book jungles are thick with the danger of unkind stereotypes. Still, we'll press on through this one and see if there's anything worth while.

As always, this one was found at the Comic Book Catacombs!

I dig the term "morass country" - I'll have to steal that one for the Pwenet/Kush hexcrawl (coming soon!). That bit at the end is what a saving throw looks like - or maybe just a missed attack roll. The art is by Bob Powell, who was known for his "good girl" art. Good indeed. Nice action shots as well - he could draw more than just a pretty face.

"Fat One" - nice. I suppose the elephant was trying to kill them, but is it really necessary to hurt the beast's self esteem. We've gone a couple pages so far and no unkind stereotypes yet, so it's looking pretty good.

Ah, spoke too soon. Well, if Eisner's Spirit can be forgiven, maybe Cave Girl can as well. Impressive display of super powers from the kid though (invulnerability III, perhaps).

Wild time in the old town tonight, though, isn't it. First an explosion, then a crazy guy with a knife. One question, though - is that guy rabid, or did he just go berserk while he was shaving. Or, in the words of a half-dozen Marvel comic book covers ... "Is he both?"

Wonderful stroke of luck, those two shriners with outrageous English accents showing up to help. Still, this does diffuse the stereotype problem a little.

Here, Cave Girl makes a case for being a druid (or my beastlord variation thereof) - speak with animals, calm animals, etc. The chick in the last panel looks like she's trying to pass a brick.

Nice action here - knee to the chin ranks right up there with face kicking. And a real waaa-waaa-waaaaaaa moment at the end. The woman who brought Cave Girl into town looks like an oompa loompa at the end, which actually ties in to the whole African stereotype thing if you know the history of Willy Wonka.

I dig the art in this one, and the story isn't any worse than was typical for the genre/time period. Cave Girl almost made the cut into the Mystery Men! rulebook, but I decided to stick with the more classic concept of superheroes. Here are some stats, though, for those who want to do a little knee-to-the-chin action themselves ...

CAVE GIRL, Adventurer 14 (Jungle Girl)
STR 7 (+2) | DEX 7 (+2) | CON 7 (+2) | INT 3 (+0) | WIL 7 (+2) | CHA 7 (+2)
HP 88 | DC 16 | ATK +11 (+13 melee, +13 ranged) | SPD 2 | XP 29,500

Ability Boosts: Str +1, Dex +5, Con +5, Int +2, Wil +2, Cha +3

Powers: Calm Emotions (Animals Only), Catfall, Invulnerability I, Jump, Speak With Animals

Gear: Leopard skin, flower in hair