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<HEAD><TITLE>Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Tiger Girl </TITLE> <script language="JavaScript"></script> <META name = "author" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "description" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "subject" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "keywords" content = "comic books animated cartoons animation comics comix syndicated comic strips"> <META name = "publisher" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "format" content = "text/html"> <META name = "language" content = "EN"> </HEAD><BODY> <body onload="if (self!= top) top.location = self.location"></body> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000EE" VLINK="551A8B"> <TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=310 VALIGN="CENTER"><IMG GALLERYIMG="NO" ALIGN="LEFT" HEIGHT=352 WIDTH=300 ALT="Tiger Girl shows a bad guy who's boss. Artist: Jack Kamen" SRC="tigrgrl1.jpg"> <TD VALIGN="CENTER"><H1>TIGER GIRL</H1><FONT SIZE=4> <B>Medium:</B> Comic books <BR><B>Published by:</B> Fiction House Magazines <BR><B>First Appeared:</B> 1944 <BR><B>Creator:</B> unknown writer and Robert Webb, artist <FONT SIZE=3> <! BEGIN DONATION CODE> <HR><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR="993366"><CENTER> If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, <BR>Please contribute to its necessary financial support. <BR><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1237L0BCY25QA" TARGET="_blank">Amazon.com</A> or <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=don%40toonopedia.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_cod e=USD" TARGET="_blank">PayPal</A> </FONT></CENTER><HR> <! END DONATION CODE> <P><A NAME="cont"> <A HREF="glossary.htm#superhero">Superheroes</A> weren't the only genre that proliferated in American comic books during the 1940s. Jungle heroes in the <A HREF="tarzan.htm">Tarzan</A> mold, too, were popular, even in the very early days, but growing more so as the super guys began to lose their footing. <A href="fiction.htm">Fiction House Magazines,</A> where <A HREF="kaanga.htm">Kaanga,</A> <A href="camilla.htm">Camilla,</A> <A HREF="fantomah.htm">Fantomah</A> and many more thrived, was one of their leading  <P ALIGN="RIGHT"><A HREF="#cont"><FONT SIZE=2><I>continued below</A></FONT> </TABLE> <CENTER><! BEGIN ADSENSE "LEADERBOARD" CODE> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <! END ADSENSE CODE></CENTER> <P><TABLE><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP"> purveyors. In fact, Fiction House was the company that put a new wrinkle on the old genre — that was where <A HREF="sheena.htm">Sheena,</A> the first female Tarzan knock-off in comics, got her start. <P> It was undoubtedly Sheena who inspired Fiction House's Tiger Girl, and not Republic Pictures' 12-part serial, <I>The Tiger Woman.</I> The former debuted in <I>Fight Comics</I> #32, dated June, 1944, while the latter was first seen on May 27, 1944 — which, the way comics have traditionally been dated, means it's likely the comic book came out first. The writer who co-created Tiger Girl is unknown, but the artist was Robert Webb, a prolific contributor to Fiction House, who also worked for <A HREF="foxfeatr.htm">Fox Feature Syndicate.</A> Other artists who worked on her over the years include Matt Baker (<A HREF="phanlady.htm">Phantom Lady</A>) and Jack Kamen (<A HREF="ec.htm">EC Comics</A>). <P> Like <A HREF="wambi.htm">Wambi the Jungle Boy,</A> another Fiction House jungle guy, Tiger Girl mixed African and Indian jungle motifs (except Wambi was more haphazard about it). Her original name, Princess Vishnu, ties her to India, as does the tiger theme itself — not to mention her constant companion, a real tiger named Benzali. Her other constant companion was Abdola, sometimes referred to as a Hindu and sometimes as a Sikh, which reinforces impressions of India. But the jungle she operated in was mostly African. Even without Benzali and Abdola at her side, Tiger Girl was pretty good in a fight, especially when she used her whip and her tiger ring, which gave her added strength when she looked at it. <P> Tiger Girl was a redhead at first, but had become blonde by the time she began her stint on the <I>Fight Comics</I> cover, which she did in #49 (April, 1947). She wrested the position from <A HREF="senorio.htm">Señorita Rio,</A> a U.S. government agent who masqueraded as an ordinary actress. She stayed on the cover until her very last appearance in <I>Fight,</I> #81 (July, 1952). The following month, she was transferred to <I>Jungle Comics,</I> where her adventures consisted mostly of reprints. Her last appearance altogether was in <I>Jungle Comics</I> #163 (Summer, 1954). <P> She didn't have a title of her own at Fiction House, nor was she even subjected to unauthorized reprints by Israel Waldman's <A href="iw-super.htm">IW or Super Comics,</A> as so many Fiction House characters were. She was later appropriated by AC Comics, which did the same with <A HREF="avenger.htm">The Avenger,</A> <A HREF="f_yank.htm">Fighting Yank</A> and many other comic book characters that weren't protected by copyright. <P> In 1968, <A HREF="goldkey.htm">Gold Key Comics</A> brought out a character named <A HREF="tigrgrl2.htm">Tiger Girl,</A> but that one had no connection with the original except the name. <P ALIGN = "RIGHT">— DDM <P><A HREF="index.htm">BACK</A> to <I>Don Markstein's Toonopedia</I> Home Page <BR><A HREF="today.htm">Today in Toons:</A> Every day's an anniversary! <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE BANNER CODE><CENTER> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </CENTER><! END ADSENSE CODE> <TD WIDTH=10><TD WIDTH=180 VALIGN="TOP"> <! 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