Jungle Action is the name of two American comic book series published by Marvel Comics and its 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics. The Marvel version contained the first series starring the Black Panther, the first black superhero in mainstream comics, created by the writer/artist team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966). Atlas Comics Publication history The first series – published during a time of few superheroes, when comics featured an enormous assortment of genres – was a multi-character omnibus that ran six issues (Oct. 1954 – Aug. 1955). Each starred the blond-haired, Tarzanesque Lo-Zar, Lord of the Jungle (renamed "Tharn the Magnificent" in 1970s reprints, presumably to avoid confusion with Marvel's modern-day Ka-Zar); Jungle Boy, the teenaged son of a renowned hunter; Leopard Girl, created by writer Don Rico and artist Al Hartley; and Man-Oo the Mighty, the jungle-protector gorilla hero of narrated nature dramas. The giant sentient snake Serpo was an antagonist common to most, lending some tangential geographic continuity. Leopard Girl – a scientist's assistant named Gwen who was never given a last name – wore a skintight full-body leotard. The four series' stories were called by one critic "painful to a modern eye, racist, ridiculous and old-fashioned", Those stories were drawn by Joe Maneely, John Forte, Al Hartley, and Paul Hodge, respectively. Additional Atlas jungle titles Two brethren titles were published by Atlas. The seven-issue Jungle Tales (Sept. 1954 – Sept. 1955) introduced Marvel's first African hero – Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who predated the Black Panther by nearly a dozen years. It was renamed and continued as Jann of the Jungle from #8–17 (Nov. 1955 – June 1957). The second title, Lorna, the Jungle Queen, renamed Lorna, the Jungle Girl with issue #6, ran 26 issues (July 1953 – August 1957). Marvel Comics Publication history The company's second series of this name premiered with an issue cover-dated October 1972 and containing reprints of the same-name Atlas Comics title, with stories of white jungle adventurers. There was little market for these types of stories at the time, and the new Jungle Action was one of a wave of low-cost series that Marvel pushed out in the 1970s in a bid to capture shelf space from competing comics publishers. Don McGregor, who was then proofreading all of Marvel's publications, noted to the editorial staff that the series' preponderance of white protagonists in