[MarkWarner]

Well it has certainly been an "interesting" week. There was an upgrade performed somewhere upstream, which caused the forum part of the site to error, and fill up the database grinding the site to a spluttering standstill.

After some head scratching and fair bit of navel contemplation we got off our butts and have now pretty much got it fixed. So that is why this week's reading books are a bit late!

I realized we were well overdue for a comparison and I saw that Saari https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=29692 was written on "the list". So I had a look at our jungle section https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=jungle and randomly plucked out Cave Girl #14 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=22952

The comparison stories are "The Man Who Conquered Death" in Cave Girl and "The False Priestess of Ugandi in Saari"

So just to repeat Saari #1 is here https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=29692 and Cave Girl #14 is here https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=22952

[SuperScrounge]

The Man Who Conquered Death - Huh. Strange story with dodgy time travel shenanigans.

The False Priestess of Ugandi - Okay.

Given that one story is out there and the other is down to earth the Cave Girl story The Shining Gods would have made a better point of comparison.

The two main characters are pretty similar, generic jungle heroines.

As for stories Cave Girl seems to have more sci-fi elements, while Sa

[narfstar]

I know I have written so bad they are good before but these are so bad they are just bad. I agree that Saari's cover is better and Cave Girl's splash is the better. The art in both was good but I would have to say I liked Sarri's art the most.

I was going to point out some of the bad spots but there were just too many in each story. When I began to read the Cave Girl story it made me think of some of the strange DC scifi. Then I looked at the credits and knew why. Gardner Fox was preparing for his long run on DC scifi. He was unsuccessful at mixing the scifi and jungle genres. The story was terrible. I will point out that Cave Girl would not have really made it as a jungle hero if she so easily stubs her toe and gets taken from behind.

The dialog on Saari make it difficult to read. The story had problems but it was more typical and exciting than Cave Girl. It would be nice to have the artist identified on Saari.

[crashryan]

These comics make for an interesting comparison. I read both books through and realized a little jungle goes a long way. When you think about it, jungle heroes/heroines inhabit one of the more limited comics genres. Ivory, treasure, witch doctors, usurpers, rogue animals and that about covers it. The main interest comes from ogling the jungle queens.

Saari definitely wins in the story department. The featured story is no great shakes but it's mostly coherent, unlike the Cave Girl story. Unfortunately the Saari artist torpedoes an important scene on page 7. We're supposed to be seeing the fake princess making her grand entrance atop a throne borne by a squad of apes. Instead both princess and apes (one ape, actually) are reduced to tiny figures peeking out from behind the fake priest doing a Rudy Vallee impression. This isn't the only artist in the book who cops out of drawing the difficult stuff. Notice on page 17 how a last-minute balloon was scribbled in to cover for the artist not drawing his backgrounds.

The other stories are okay. I appreciate that Congo Jim doesn't speak the stilted "Ho! Hai!" dialogue that makes Saari and Tambor rough going. I think it's funny that Tambor's native friends are always trying to set him up.

Cave Girl's art outshines Saari's from the very first panel. Bob Powell draws good figures, good animals and great action. He's also not afraid to draw big scenes. I don't find Powell's women very pretty--their faces strike me as hard and mannish--but that's personal preference. I'm surprised how over-the-top his racial caricatures are. I realize that African stereotypes were still thriving in 1954, but Powell's bestial, huge-lipped natives match anything from the 19th century.

Our Cave Girl feature story is a mess. Gardner Fox made up plenty of bogus science, but usually he gave it an internal logic. Not here. A time machine that sends people back in time but keeps them in the present? A time machine that sends itself into the past to a time before it was invented, so it disappears??? Gimme a break. The book's other stories are better. I like "Terror in the Town" best because it's amusing.

A final observation: considering that these are pre-Code comics, I'm struck by the lack of gore and  sexploitation in either book. With a few tweaks these could have won Code approval.

[Morgus]

The CAVE GIRL story was so folded in on itself it was nearly zen. Just trying to follow it gave me a headache. But Bob Powell's art made up for a lot...For some reason I was reminded of one of my favorite bad films...ROBOT MONSTER..still don't know why....NICE opening page...reminded me of Trader Vic/tiki d

[MarkWarner]

Ok so it's a comparison "Rumble in the Jungle" featuring Saari and Cave Girl.

The Man Who Conquered Death (Cave Girl) - I rather liked the art in this one - but  I think the story was really written by a 7 year old. I didn't quite grasp the time machine malarkey. All very peculiar!!

The False Priestess of Ugandi (Saari) - I not like - Surely have I never read before one like this and my wish is for my eyes not to see such dialogue as this again! Surely, this was written by the aforementioned 7 year old's younger sister! The best bit for me was when I misread "That's the pitch Beth ..."

We travel yonder with heavy heart to do a quick round up

The Shining Gods (Cave Girl) - With nasty Soviet agent Karen Long this was the best of a rotten bunch, of stories and they had the lack of foresight to kill her off anyway! Her final words being "Ah!!! EEEEEE"

I hoped that Mugongo the Mighty might bring some relief, which it failed on apart from this which raised a bit of a smile

"Trailing after Mugongo come his followers hairy little half-men ..."   

However there is some redemption with a cool advertising page, with a half-page how to write love letters (not a skill I have so far ever had to use. But under that there is a Money Making Opportunity
is an old favorite of mine

"Raise Earthworms! Terrific! Get important information plus true story, "An Earthworm Turned His Life" Send dime Earthmaster System, 23D El Monte, Calif"




Congo Jim Bantu Blood Curse (Saari) - Can you send complex messages by jungle drums?? Surely not???

Tambor The Mighty (Saari) - A talkative Tarzan on steroids..

Verdict: A double fail Cave Girl was better, but that is not saying very much at all!!

However, these books have got me thinking about when I was a kid. I very much liked Ron Ely's Tarzan. I also never managed to make one of those man traps ... the one that you bend a branch down and when someone steps on it, up it goes leaving the victim hanging by their ankle. Maybe I should have another go at it ... would certainly be more fun than reading any more comics like these!