Lorna (Earth-616)

Lorna the Jungle Queen
Name	Lorna
Current Alias	Lorna the Jungle Queen
Aliases	Lorna the Jungle Girl
Affiliation and Relationships
Relatives	Unnamed parents (both deceased)
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Hair	Blonde
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Congo Jungle
Personal Information
Identity	Public
Citizenship	Congolese
Occupation	Jungle adventurer
Base of Operations	Congo Jungle
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Don Rico, Werner Roth
First	Lorna the Jungle Queen #1 (March, 1953)
First	Lorna the Jungle Queen #1 (March, 1953)

History

The woman who became known as Lorna the Jungle Queen was the daughter of a couple who ran a trading post deep in the jungles of the Congo back in 1918. Lorna's mother died in 1936, the cause of her death is unspecified. Lorna's father continued running his trading post and raised Lorna. He had hoped that his late wife would have given birth to a boy that he could have trained to be a great hunter, but loved and raised Lorna nonetheless. In the summer of 1953, Lorna's father was attacked by Numa the lion, and was seriously injured while killing the beast. Lorna's father was then given medical aid by their local friend M'Tuba who was forced to amputate his leg. As the sole provider, Lorna vowed to live up to be a great hunter just like the boy that her father hoped for but never had. However, she found that she was unable to use a rifle properly and was almost trampled to death by a rhino until it was killed by M'Tuba. Lorna's father soon died from his injuries and Lorna vowed to learn everything about hunting in the jungle that M'Tuba could teach her. During her training, Lorna slew a leopard and made an outfit out of the big cat's hide. Shortly after her training was completed, Lorna and M'Tuba were captured by the Wafisi tribe, a group of warrior head-hunters. Tied to a post, Lorna was freed by M'Tuba's pet monkey Mikki and claimed she freed herself with magic, cowing the superstitious Wafisi warriors into allowing her to battle their leader. Lorna easily defeated the Wafisi tribal leader and with his defeat she was named leader of the Wafisi and dubbed the "Jungle Queen" by her new subjects. Lorna decided to use her skills to help those who were endangered by the jungle and left M'Tuba in charge of the Wafisi. Before she left on her adventures, M'Tuba gifted her with Mikki who became her constant companion. Apparently M'Tuba trained Lorna due to prophecy that she would have to face a being called the Mask of Doom.

Some of her early adventures included stopping the local Itibi tribe from attacking Agu the giant ape who would only attack when threatened. In saving Agu's life, the massive primate came to consider Lorna a friend and became a regular ally. Lorna also tried and failed to stop a British diamond hunter named Putnam from trying to steal diamonds protected by the Ukaki tribe. However, Putnam met his end in the maw of Ukaki the giant snail who resembled a mountain, whom fed on diamonds brought to it by the tribe that worshiped the creature like a god.

Lorna soon encountered game hunter and explorer Greg Knight and was instantly smitten by him. A woman hater, Knight dismissed Lorna's abilities and prestige in the jungle and was frequently proven wrong or saved by Lorna. In their first meeting, Lorna had warned Knight of indiscriminately shooting animals in the wild as any orphaned children of his hunts could grow up to be dangerous beasts. This point was proven when the area was savaged by the Killer Rogue, a massive elephant that was forced to grow up on it's own after a hunter killed it's mother. Lorna saved Knight from the rampaging beast by tricking it to run off a cliff to fall to it's death in an elephant graveyard. She next followed Greg Knight into the Black Swamp with botanist Peter Dooley, when Dooley hired Knight to help him find some rare orchids that grew in the area. There they were attacked by the so-called Crocodile Man whom Lorna defeated. Revealing that the Crocodile Man was really missing scientist Terrance Logan, Lorna promised to keep the location of the orchids (which were a shrine to Logan's wife who died on his expedition) secret in exchange for some of the rare flowers. Shortly thereafter, Lorna and Greg were captured by the head-hunting Gaturi tribe. Before they could be executed, Lorna convinced Labu, leader of the Gaturi, to battle Greg one-on-one. Greg defeated Labu, winning their freedom and Labu was executed by his own people.

While hunting with M'Tuba, Lorna learned of the existence of a Lost City located somewhere in the jungle and sought to locate it. The reclusive people that lived in the Lost City captured Lorna and were about to execute her when their leader had second thoughts after becoming smitten by Lorna. The wise man however raised a coup and had the prince tied up along with Lorna. The pair were waved by Grey Knight who killed the wise man ending his revolt. Lorna and Greg then found some escaped Communist spies hiding out in the city and took them into custody. Lorna next took Greg Knight out to try and locate Agu the Giant Ape, a creature whom Greg did not believe existed. However he soon ate his own words and was forced to be nice to Lorna for a change when the ape appeared and expressed it's displeasure with the way he treated her. When a wild fire raged across the jungle during a drought, Lorna rescued Greg after he was captured by poachers and tied to a tree to die. Soon after a much needed rain storm (seemingly summoned by M'Tuba and his people's appeal to the gods) put out the flames.

Not long after, Lorna warned Greg of working with a man named Boggs who hunted animals for zoos and circuses around the world. When it turned out that Boggs sought to capture Agu the Ape, Lorna and Greg prevented him from doing so and Boggs was soon killed by the escaped animals he captured and starved. While out fishing with Greg, Lorna learned of the Devil of the Lagoon a massive octopus that terrorized a local tribe. Greg refused to let her go after the creature, so she convinced the locals that Greg was responsible for bringing the creature upon them, and they captured him. Lorna slew the beast, but the locals refused to let Greg go unless their missing people were found. Lorna expected to find their dead bodies, but found them all alive and well in an undersea cave, having been tied up to be eaten later. Lorna brought the people back to their village and Greg was set free. Shortly thereafter, Lorna assisted Greg in transporting diamonds through Vulture's Roost where diamond couriers were murdered and their diamonds stolen. They were attacked by the Vulture -- a man in a vulture costume -- and Lorna defeated him, revealing him to be trading post owner Rudy Rudolph, the man who hired Greg for the job.

Lorna discovered that the Vodū goddess Mamalu had returned to reassert her dominance over the region and sought to make Greg Knight her mate. Lorna was captured but when Mamalu spurred the love of a tribesman named Kabu in favor of Knight, he helped banish her once again. Lorna later helped animal collector Monty Mortimer recover his escaped tiger before Greg Knight could hunt it down and kill it. After Greg Knight and an explorer named Spencer went missing searching for the so-called Lost Kingdom, Lorna tracks them down and discovers the lost city, with its prehistoric creatures and its primitive inhabitants. She next stopped a group of hunters who capture animals for horrific experiments. Not long after, Lorna's friend M'Tuba was poisoned by the Morta plant, Lorna and Greg traveled to the so-called Lost World, clashing with its ruler the primitive Gau to recover the antidote. Not long after this, Greg brought Lorna to a nearby town to buy her new clothing in the hopes of domesticating her. However, Lorna was knocked out by Grace, an ex-circus star turned criminal who greatly resembled Lorna who had hoped to learn the location of secret tribal diamond mines. Lorna was dumped in the jungle and left to die, however Lorna managed to return to her domain and battle Grace. However, Greg could not tell the two women apart until Mikki was able to identify the real Lorna, and root out the impostor.

When Greg Knight was bitten by the deadly snake named Fang, Lorna followed after the beast and slew it in order to get the needed antidote to cure him. During a time of famine, Lorna exiled a tribesman named Kativa from the tribe when he was caught stealing food. Kativa returned to terrorize the tribe as Man-Killer. Lorna hunted him down and defeated him in battle, only to watch in horror as the Man-Killer was consumed by a pack of hyenas. When Greg was hired to take photos of the dangerous Swampland of Terror, Lorna was on hand to protect him from danger. When M'Tuba's tribe was being terrorized by a supposed ghost, Lorna called on the aid of Agu the Giant to expose the "Ghost" as M'Tuba's nephew Baku who was trying to discredit M'Tuba and take over the tribe. Later Lorna and Greg exposed illegal pearl hunters hiding in an underwater cave located under Dead Lake. Lorna next assisted Greg in stopping the bizarre half-ape, half-crocodile known as the Killer who had been terrorizing the region.

Shortly thereafter, communist agents attempted to force animals and tribes people out of the jungle using their bat shaped helicopter called the Devil Bird. Their plot was foiled by Lorna and Greg Knight. When rumors that Agu had turned evil and was attacking the tribes, Lorna uncovered that the real attacker was Agu's brother who was under the hypnotic control of Doctor Wendall Bryant, who was slain in a battle between Agu and his brother, freeing Agu's brother from his control. When Greg Knight sought to find the location of a elephant graveyard to collect the ivory, Lorna secretly protected him from the maddened elephants that were after him for invading their sacred grounds. Later, when the Wakabu and Baki tribes were on the brink of war, Lorna succeeded in stopping the conflict despite interference from Greg to keep her out of danger. Later Greg was put into a stage of shock when he came between a gorilla and her child, Lorna saved him and then later stopped a group of communists who had invaded the jungle. When Mount Inferno erupts the region was invaded by the massive insectoid creature known as the Monster of the Deep. Lorna and Greg kept the creature at bay until it was forced back into the volcano by the local bird population and killed in a subsequent eruption.

When the Quaqui tribe was being threatened with extermination by their rivals the Abaku, Lorna surrendered herself to the Abaku in order to be sacrificed to their god Og. She was later rescued by Greg Knight, who dumped Mokku -- the Abaku leader -- into the sacrificial flames satisfying the Abaku's need for sacrifice, restoring peace in the area once again. Lorna later clashed with Chiga, a weather controlling mystic who sought to take over the region, saving Greg Knight and a number of captured local warriors in the process of defeating Chiga. Lorna later rescued Greg from a gang of mobsters who had come to Africa to poach the animals on his wildlife preserve. Lorna next investigates a series of strange attacks by a creature the locals dub the Fang, exposing the "creature" as Mr. Slade, a man currently employing Greg Knight in a complex scheme to get revenge against the jungle natives that helped put him away for murder years earlier. Lorna was later accused of stealing the black opal owned by a tribe of Pygmies led by Okobu. She is captured and is about to be sacrificed to the Pygmies god, but is rescued by Greg Knight and fellow explorer Paul Thompson and they reveal Okobu as the real thief. During the "Hunting Dance" ritual, Lorna and Greg uncovered a Communist plot to use alcohol to entice the local natives into war and foiled it. However, in interrupting the Hunting Dance ritual, Lorna soon found herself tied to a stake to be burned alive, but she was soon saved by Greg.

Soon, Lorna faced a series of mostly Communist threats as agents from Russia and other Communist countries came to try and capitalize on the untamed jungles. Lorna was once again captured and impersonated, this time by a Communist agents who sought take over the region. When Meg -- the Communist posing as Lorna -- attempts to eliminate Greg Knight, but Lorna -- having broken free -- manages to stop the attempt and capture the spies. Lorna soon found herself quashing another Communist plot when she stumbled into yet another region of the jungle called "The Lost World". This region was populated by a race of giants who were being tricked into going to war by a Communist spy. Lorna exposed the spy's plot and he was slain by the giants who later let Lorna go free. In one of her more bizarre adventures, Lorna went to rescue Greg when he was carried off by crocodiles and was surprised to find that Greg, as well as natives that are regularly sacrificed to a "crocodile god" are alive and well and that he crocodiles in the region are strangely docile. Later, Lorna and Greg stop Moki, who had usurped control of the Gabu tribe using a mystical drum beat that enthralls his people, liberating the Gabu in the process. They later uncovered a plot by a Russian operative named Alexi who sought to obtain the mystical Green Opal, and were surprised to find that the Opal was sentient and in judging them, forced Alexi to surrender;

Lorna and Greg later stopped yet another group of Communists who sought to plunder the ivory of an elephant graveyard in order to fund their operations. They also discovered the so-called Caesar of Crime, a Chicago mobster and his gang who fled to the jungles and disguised themselves as ancient Romans in order to avoid detection. The pair exposed the ruse and brought the Caesar and his gang to justice. It soon appeared that the prophecies were true when Lorna had to rescue Mikki from the supposed Mask of Doom, however Lorna easily defeated her foe despite interference from both M'Tuba and Greg, and revealed that the "Mask of Doom" was merely a criminal seeking to capitalize on the legend in order to best Lorna. Lorna later put a stop to a pack of savage panthers stalking the jungles, saving Greg's life in the process. She and M'Tuba also saved Greg from a herd of rampaging elephants that were merely defending their mates during the birthing season. Lorna and Greg then worked together on stopping Jed Riordan, a former animal trainer, who had become a mentally unstable hunter, restoring his sanity by reuniting him with one of the animals he trained.

Lorna later came to the aid of exiled lion Numo and assisted him in defeating his successor Patro in order to reclaim his position in his pack. While investigating the mysterious "Call of the Savage", Greg locked Lorna in a cage to prevent her interference. Lorna freed herself and exposed one of Greg's assistants was using a special whistle to drive the animals mad. During a brief moment during this adventure Greg believe Lorna dead and admitted his feelings for her without knowing she was still alive and that she heard every word. Lorna later prevented a war between the Kula and Baggi tribes by exposing Gako, the Kula medicine man, as attempting to inflame tensions to rule over both tribes. She also stopped the Na-Tubi from going to war against Fujji by defeating the Na-Tubi leader Rah-Mi in combat. She also prevented two communist agent, Otto Price and Rudy, from taking over the jungle for their masters and another group of communists from setting off bombs in the jungle.

...

Lorna next stopped the insane murder spree of a insane circus performer called the Silent Claw. After stopping poachers she also recaptured a tiger that escaped from a circus visiting the region. She continued to keep order in the jungle, stopping would be diamond smugglers, saving the life of a Canadian hunter unable to cope with the dangers of the jungle, and with Greg Knight taught a circus owner named Johnson the importance of respecting the wildlife in the jungle.

When a gang of mobsters attempted to take over the jungle by poisoning the animals, Lorna forced them to release the antidote before turning them over to the authorities. She also defended a tribe of pygmies from a massive crocodile-like creature known as the Thing. She also prevented Greg from killing Simba a lion that had gone killer, allowing a tribe of baboons dispense justice against them instead. Lorna also saved Greg's career when a rival hunter named Simes attempted to discredit him. She also uncovered a plot by a crooked trader named Haynes to try and poison the Katubi tribe. Lorna's status as a "jungle goddess" to the Untubi and other tribes made her a target of exhibitionists who sought to capture her and use her to make a fortune. However she thwarted this scheme thanks to a flash flood caused by her would-be kidnappers attempted to disturb a statue built by the Untubi in Lorna's honour. Lorna soon became a target of yet another criminal -- Chicago mobster Jocko Mullen -- who hired men to eliminate her so he could take over the jungle, but this like other attempts were thwarted. Lorna also prevented Congo Mort from slaying a gorilla and stealing its children with the help of Greg Knight. She and Greg also stopped a crook named Nails who targeted them so he could take steal land from local tribes. While out on an expedition with Greg, Lorna and the others got lost and when Greg's assistant Mort Hoskins attempted to steal their rations and was ejected as an exile, Lorna helped redeem Mort and find more water essential for their survival. Finding their way back home, Lorna next stopped a group of poachers from capturing an albino lion. In her last recorded adventure, Lorna was brought to the city by Greg Knight who thought seeing the civilized world would convince her to give up on the jungle. However they were targeted by a crook named Karl who unleashed a Night Beast on her. However the creature managed to escape and Lorna helped the local authorities recapture the beast before anyone could get hurt.

Lorna's subsequent activities and ultimate fate are unknown.

Attributes

Abilities

Lorna is a skill hunter, tracker and survivalist with a expert knowledge of the jungles of the Congo. Lorna has an affinity with animals, but this does not seem to be a superhuman ability.

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Lorna used weapons that were commonly used by local tribes of the time, usually spears.

Transportation

Lorna frequently used vines to swing across the jungle.

See Also

• 27 appearance(s) of Lorna (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Lorna (Earth-616)
• 36 image(s) of Lorna (Earth-616)
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Lorna (Earth-616)
• 3 victim(s) killed by Lorna (Earth-616)