Sheena Queen of the Jungle # Review

Written by: Marguerite Bennett and Christina Trujillo

Art by: Maria Sanapo

Color: Ceci de la Cruz

Letters by: Thomas Napolitano

Published by: Dynamite

The battle to stave up the poison that threatens to destroy the jungle that is home to Sheena and her tribe continues this month with a pretty surprising twist. At the end of the last issue, Sheena finally caught up to the Huntress, the supposed cause of the jungle’s sickness, and subsequently confronts her in a good old fashioned jungle fight. What happens next, and the revelation of the Huntress’s identity is the surprising twist. What happens after, not so much.

Since most of the first half of the issue deals with Sheena’s confrontation with the Huntress and talking about any plot points would be super spoilery, I will concentrate on the second half of the issue - the evil corporation!

So we learn that the evil Caldwell corporation (the bad guys from the first story arc) have gotten their hands on an artifact from the jungle that looks like a very large tomb thing. What Caldwell is unable to do is gain access to this tomb that they paid quite a handsome sum for. After losing a few teams in the attempt at opening the door, the head of Caldwell learns from one of his minions that there is a woman was able to close a door very similar to the one in their way, so she may be able to open it as well. Queue attempt at kidnapping Sheena!

The issue itself is not bad, and never really has been, but it’s also a case that it feels like a lot of deja vu for anyone who has ever read any type of jungle pulp in the past. There is no real new territory that is touched upon within this issue, or this series, but every time I finish reading an issue of Sheena, I was have a glimmer of hope. The potential is there, it’s just not being fulfilled.

Sanapo with the help of de la Cruz continues this month some great visuals in the comic itself. Her art skirts on the edge of the “bad girl” art of the 90s - mostly due to the subject matter more than by choice - but never fully goes over the line. I’m hoping to see some improvement in the expressions of her characters, something I’m a big proponent of, but otherwise, a pretty good job on her part.