Congorilla, originally a human character known as Congo Bill, is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and Vertigo Comics. Originally co-created by writer Whitney Ellsworth and artist George Papp, he was later transformed into Congorilla by Robert Bernstein and Howard Sherman. The character first appeared in More Fun Comics #56 (June 1940). Publication history Congo Bill was a long-running DC Comics adventure comic strip, often reminiscent of Alex Raymond's Jungle Jim newspaper strip. Originating in More Fun Comics #56, the strip was a moderate success and ran there until issue #67 (May 1941), after which it moved to Action Comics from issue #37 (June 1941). Action Comics #191 (April 1954) saw the introduction of Janu the Jungle Boy, a young boy brought up in the jungle after his father had been killed by a tiger. In 1954, DC awarded Congo Bill his own title, published on a bi-monthly schedule, which lasted for seven issues (August/September 1954 – August/September 1955). Congo Bill encountered the legendary golden gorilla in Action Comics #224 (January 1957). He also encountered the similarly named Kongorilla in Action Comics #228 (May 1957). In issue #248 (January 1959), Congo Bill was transformed into Congorilla and the title of the strip was likewise changed. The Congorilla series ran in Action Comics until issue #261 (February 1960), after which it was transferred to Adventure Comics from issues #270 (March 1960) to #283 (April 1961). Since the demise of its own series, Congorilla has mainly been seen as a guest star in other titles, including as part of the Forgotten Heroes. The character finally received a mini-series of his own in 1992, where Congo Bill is betrayed by his (now corrupt) ward Janu, who usurps the Congorilla identity and Bill is forced to fight his adopted son to the death. Congo Bill became blind in his left eye, making it hard for him to see after fighting his son to the end. In 1999, DC Comics once again brought Congo Bill back for another four-issue limited series under the company's mature readership Vertigo Comics imprint. Congorilla returned in the 2009 series Cry for Justice, joining a proactive splinter faction of the Justice League. Following that series, Congorilla became a main character in Justice League of America as a full-time member of the Justice League. He also starred in the Starman/Congorilla one-shot (March 2011) alongside close friend and