Edgar Rice Burroughs began writing Jungle Girl on October 2, 1929. His working title for the novel was The Dancing Girl of the Leper King. Not to be limited to those two title options, Blue Book Magazine serialized it as The Land of Hidden Men in five monthly installments from May through September 1931. To keep things interesting, Edgar Rice Burroughs Incorporated published the first edition as Jungle Girl on April 15, 1932 and Grosset & Dunlap used that title for several reprint editions.

The Blue Book cover is a beautiful piece of art by Lawrence Herndon that illustrates one of the most exciting scenes in the novel. Studley O. Burroughs, Ed’s nephew, illustrated the cover for the first edition. It’s a gorgeous painting, but I always felt that it didn’t fit the story. The lady on the elephant just didn’t do it for me.

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Between the magazine publication and the first edition, the story was serialized in the newspapers with illustrations by Rex Maxon, who illustrated the Tarzan daily comic for almost forever. One of Rex’s illustrations is remarkable similar to Studley’s cover, but Studley’s cover came first.

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As they say on the television infomercials, wait there’s more. Ace Books took the title full circle and published it as The Land of Hidden Men in October 1963. Ballantine Books published the book once and used the LOHM title. The Ace covers were by Roy Krenkel and Frank Frazetta, not bad for a little girl lost in the jungle.

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The Ballantine cover was by Michael Herring. I want to mention a couple more covers. The one with the woman on an elephant is by Tandem Books. Artists must love that image. The third image is from a Kindle only edition published in March 2024. It owes more to the Jungle Girl film serials than it does to the novel. Cool though. The book was published in Japan and you have to love the cover.

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Recently the novel was adapted by ERB Inc. as an EComic with art by Nick Poliwko and story by Martin Powell. Pretty great!

The novel was sort of adapted to the big screen, but not really. It received credit as the inspiration for the film serial, Jungle Girl, starring Frances Gifford, who later appeared in Tarzan Triumphs with Johnny Weissmuller. Jungle Girl inspired a sequel, Perils of Nyoka starring Kay Aldridge. Nyoka, the Jungle Girl inspired a comic book and a seemingly endless parade of jungle heroines, Sheena, for one.

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The Nyoka the Jungle Girl comic book was originally published by Fawcett Comics, and then Charlton Comics, and finally AC Comics in the US. A total of 92 issues in the United States.

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But Sheena isn’t the only jungle girl to owe her origin to Nyoka, who owes her origin to The Dancing Girl of the Leopard Men. We shouldn’t forget Rima, Jann of the Jungle, Lorna of the Jungle, Shanna the She-Devil, The White Princess, Ruluh, Kyrra, Alien Jungle Girl, Tiger Girl, Camilla, the Congo Queen, Judy of the Jungle, Vooda, Jungle Princess and a continent full of others. Almost everyone comic book publisher had a jungle girl. One thing most of them had in common, was that the Jungle Girl, however named, was a strong self-sufficient character. She didn’t need saving. She was the savior. Jungle Girl comics became a genre all their own. I may have missed one of your favorites. I haven’t included illustrations of Ann Mason, Queen, Zara of the Jungle, Kazanda, Wild Girl of the Forbidden Kingdom, Princess Taj, Kara of the Jungle, Princess Pantha, Tygra of the Flame People, Safari Cary, Tangi, Ruler of the Jungle, Tegra, Jungle Empress, Jungle Lil, Saari the Jungle Goddess, Leopard Girl, , Shirl, the Jungle Girl, Kyra, Tiger Woman, Fana, the Jungle Girl, Pamela of the Jungle, Jay-Na, the Jungle Queen, and even, Robot Jungle Girl. I’m sure I didn’t get them all. Less I forget, in the August 1959 issue of Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane, Lois took a turn as The Leopard Girl of the Jungle. Judy of the Jungle was in Exciting Comics. Jo-Jo the Jungle King had several mates throughout his run. I haven’t included those.

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At some point in this article, I planned to write more about the novel. I loved it, although I thought the ending was a bit contrived. Mushroom allergy seemed too convenient. But, The Dancing Girl of the Leper King spawned an industry of its own. Here’s to you Edgar Rice Burroughs and a toast to Gordon King and the beautiful Fou-tan, one of ERB’s underappreciated heroines, well maybe not. There are all those movies, comic books, and television shows. Tarzan didn’t have a daughter, but Jungle Girl fits the bill. No matter she’s on television, the movies, or in the comics, we know who she really is.

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