“Leopard Girl’s Dread Domain” caught my eye because it has a jungle girl in it. I’ve seen plenty of jungle girls but not usually in a horror comic. Ace Magazines’s The Beyond #10 (April 1952) featured this tale of the jungle and lycanthropy. The author isn’t known but the art is by Chic Stone.
An expedition to find a fabulous Egyptian statue comes across Felia, the jungle girl. She explains that she is the survivor of an airplane crash. All the animals around her react with fear. Dan Lawton, the hired archaeologist of Croyden’s, suspects there is more to Felia.
When Felia hears why the men are in the jungle she tells them she knows where the jeweled idol is. She will show them if they promise to take her back to civilization. During the night, Doti the safari boy disappears. While traveling Lawton notices that Felia only drinks milk and eats no meat. Tawali, another safari porter is taken by a leopard in the night.
When the expedition leaders go to find Tawali they realize Felia is not in her tent. They find her and Lawton grills her over what happened. Croyden tells him to leave her alone. The boss has fallen in love with Felia and wants to protect her.
Dan is worried for Carole, the lone woman on the expedition. Felia overhears the two talking. Lawton wants Carole to stay behind when they reach the location of the idol because it may be dangerous.
Dan discovers Felia drinking from a stream like an animal. She proposes that the two take the idol and run out on the others. Dan rejects the idea and Felia’s love. Croyton overhears the two and offers to take Lawton’s place, murdering him. Felia won’t let that happen. She turns into a leopard and jumps Croyden. Meanwhile Dan and Carole are captured by “Human Jungle Cats”, a race of lycanthropes. Felia intervenes, revealing she is one of them. The cats take Dan and Carole to the cave where the idol is kept. Felia explains that her race evolved from cats, just as humans evolved from apes.
Felia makes Dan an offer: marry her and let Carole be sacrificed or die with her. The idol has other ideas. Because of Carole’s undying love, the red Buddha declares the end of the cat race and topples over on Felia. Her dying body turns from human to leopard… Dan finally realizes what we have known since Page 5.
Sorry, no sequel for you, Felia. What is an evil witch priestess of the Jungle Cat people to do? “Leopard Girl’s Dread Domain” appeared after the two famous movies by Val Lewton, The Cat People (1942) and The Curse of the Cat People (1944). As a jungle girl, Felia wears the required leopard fur garments and is beautiful. Since this is a horror comic, she can’t be good. Her origin story is right on the money though, the old plane crash of the Pulps.
Read for free at DCM.
