Real Name: Gwen (last name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Unrevealed (1950s era)

Occupation: Retired adventurer; former cook/housekeeper/secretary

Group Membership: Valhalla Villas (Captain Daring/Lee Bradford, Doctor Fear/Ambrose Meek, Fighting Yank/Bill Prince, Robert "Flash" Foster, Golden Girl/Betsy Ross Mace, Human Top/David Mitchell, Miss Patriot/Mary Morgenstern, Sun Girl/Mary Mitchell, Thunderer/Jerry Carstairs, others)

Affiliations: Hans Kreitzer, Numa, Peter, various African tribesmen (including Giboga, Oku, and Todo)

Enemies: Mr. Danning, Sandra Danning, Flame Witch, Robo

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Leopard Lady" (as called by Robo)

Base of Operations: Valhalla Villas, Miami, Florida;
   formerly Matawata jungle, near Tagai Lake, somewhere in Africa (see comments)

First Appearance: Jungle Action I#1/4 (October, 1954)

Powers/Abilities: The full extent of the Leopard Girl's powers was unrevealed (see comments), but she had peak-human (if not superhuman) strength; highly agile and acrobatic, her usual means of travel throughout the jungle was by swinging on vines from tree to tree. She was also familiar with the customs and folklore of African tribes.

Leopard Girl seemed to have a rapport with certain animals of the jungle--in particular, a pack of leopards, which she could summon with her "cry of the leopard," and they would obey her spoken commands.

In her civilian identity, she was a talented cook, and she also had secretarial skills.

Her paranormal abilities presumably diminished in her senior years, but Leopard Girl was temporarily restored to the prime of her youth for an unspecified period of time.

Height: 5' 6" (by approximation)
Weight: 110 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond

History:
(Jungle Tales I#1/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of the bespectacled Gwen is largely unrevealed (see comments), but she had apparently lived in Africa for a long time. Whenever criminals sought to exploit the jungle, the seemingly meek and timid Gwen changed to her alter-ego and fought them as the legendary costumed heroine known as Leopard Girl.

   At some point, Gwen began to work at the jungle trading-post owned by Mr. Danning and his daughter Sandra, where she was employed as a live-in cook and secretary; she also met the acquaintance of Sandra's wealthy fiancé, Peter.

   One evening, the heroine and her leopard pack confronted a gang of diamond smugglers--after easily defeating the criminals, Leopard Girl grabbed hold of a vine and began swinging back to her place of employment.

(Jungle Tales I#1/4) - As Leopard Girl went swinging by the trading-post, she was sighted by Mr. Danning, Sandra, and Peter, who were all sitting out on the porch; while the trio discussed the startling appearance of the heroine with each other, Gwen quickly changed out of her costume and brought them some more tea. Since Gwen had lived in Africa for some time, they asked her what she knew about Leopard Girl; Gwen repeated some of the rumors she'd heard others say about the mysterious heroine, then she excused herself for the evening and went to her bedroom. But Gwen was suspicious about Mr. Danning--although his business was bankrupt, Danning seemed to be anxious to turn it over to his future son-in-law, so Gwen put her costume back on to investigate.

   Shortly afterward, while eavesdropping outside Sandra's bedroom window, Leopard Girl overheard Mr. Danning and his daughter discussing their dubious scheme--Sandra didn't really love Peter, and she and her father were planning to swindle money from him, then leave Peter with their debts.

   The next morning, when Mr. Danning and Sandra were driving away with Peter's money, Leopard Girl forced their jeep to crash into a tree, thus stranding them in the middle of the jungle. Leopard Girl then pointed out that the two had stepped into a nest of some man-eating snakes, and that she would only help them if they confessed their scam, so Sandra admitted their criminal intentions to Peter. Before she turned the two swindlers over to the authorities, Leopard Girl revealed that the snakes were harmless.

(Jungle Tales I#2/4 (fb) - BTS) - Following the arrest of the Dannings, Gwen became the secretary of renowned scientist Dr. Hans Kreitzer, who came to the jungle to escape the distractions of modern civilization.

(Jungle Tales I#2/4) - When Kreitzer's experiments with certain nuclear reactions revived the legendary Flame Witch, Gwen confronted the evil goddess as Leopard Girl.

(Jungle Tales I#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, Leopard Girl had captured the murderous native tribesman Robo and sent him to prison--Giboga, the tribe's high-priest, had assisted Leopard Girl with Robo's apprehension.

   But Robo eventually escaped and sought vengeance upon the heroine; after killing Giboga and disguising himself with the high-priest's ceremonial mask, Robo began to beat upon the Drums of Doom to attract Leopard Girl's attention.

(Jungle Tales I#3/2) - That evening, Gwen was with Peter and Kreitzer while the two men were playing chess, but their game was interrupted by the drumbeats. Knowing that the natives only sounded the drums in times of great trouble to summon their gods, Gwen excused herself, then changed into her costume and went to investigate as Leopard Girl.

   As she swung through the jungle, the heroine came upon a totem pole that was rocking to the rhythm of the drums; when the pole toppled over, a group of spiritual beings was released from the earth. But seeing that the spirits meant no harm to her, Leopard Girl continued onward.

   When Leopard Girl reached "Giboga" pounding the drums, she found herself ensnared within a net hanging from a tree, and she learned that her captor was actually Robo in disguise. As Robo gloated over his trapping the heroine, Leopard Girl warned the distracted native about a rhino that was charging at him from behind, and she even reached through the net and pulled him to safety in the branches; but despite the heroine saving his life, Robo pulled out his knife, for he was still determined to get his revenge upon her. Suddenly, Robo found himself surrounded by the spirit of Giboga and the other phantoms; the frightened murderer lost his footing and fell off the branch, and he again landed in the path of the charging rhino.

   After Leopard Girl freed herself from the net and changed back to Gwen, she found Peter and Kreitzer trapped in a hunting pit--the two men had unwittingly fallen into it while they were also investigating the drumbeats, so Gwen lowered a vine down to rescue them.

(Jungle Tales I#4/4) - Leopard Girl protected the injured Peter when he was being stalked by the temporarily-maddened lion Numa. The heroine grappled with the king of beasts, but she eventually summoned her leopard pack to overwhelm Numa--she stopped her leopards before they killed the lion, then released the pressure from Numa's nerve which had driven him mad.

(Jungle Tales I#5/4) - The jungle was menaced by the Wild One, a rogue leopard that attacked and killed other animals just for the sake of killing. Leopard Girl went to confront the Wild One, for she feared that the rogue would sway her own leopards to turn on her; she eventually discovered the Wild One had been driven mad from the pain caused by a thorn in its paw, so she removed it and restored the beast's sanity.

(Jungle Tales I#6/4) - Leopard Girl went to the territory of her pack, but the once-friendly leopards drew away from her, and she was attacked by an outlaw leopard that sought to usurp her role as the pack's leader. After the beast pounced upon her, the heroine feigned death by laying perfectly still; satisfied that he had defeated Leopard Girl, the outlaw roared in defiance, and the pack accepted him as their new ruler--the heroine feared that her leopards would destroy the jungle if they remained under the leadership of the outlaw.

   But Leopard Girl later confronted the outlaw in a cave and learned his secret--the aged leopard had no teeth, and he had only attacked her to impress the rest of the pack and earn their respect. Leopard Girl assured the elderly beast that she'd keep his secret, and that she'd make sure he always got his share of the hunt. The former outlaw, now as docile as a kitten, followed the heroine out of the cave--when the pack saw this, they once again became obedient to Leopard Girl.

   Leopard Girl's further adventures (if any) are unrevealed.

(Ant-Man: Last Days#1 (fb) - BTS) - By the modern era, the elderly Gwen had retired and moved to Miami, Florida; she became a resident of Valhalla Villas, a retirement community for superheroes (and at least one super-villain: Doctor Fear) run by Mary Morgenstern (formerly Miss Patriot).

(Ant-Man: Last Days#1) - Sensing the end of the world approaching, Morgenstern promised her residents that she would temporarily restore them to their youthful vitality--all of them, including Leopard Girl, donned their old costumes and attended a dance at the Villas in anticipation of Mary fulfilling her promise to them.

   Later, Mary brought Scott Lang (Ant-Man) to the dance and explained to him that the residents were retired heroes. While Leopard Girl was dancing with the Thunderer, Lang recognized her and mentioned that his father had once been in love with her--Leopard Girl seemed interested in meeting Scott's father, but Scott told her that his father was dead.

   A few moments later Morgenstern used an Asgardian artifact to rejuvenate the residents, but warned them that this effect would only last for a short while.

   Afterwards, the youthful Leopard Girl and Thunderer chased Doctor Fear when the villain committed a violence-free robbery for fun.

Comments: Created by Don Rico and Al Hartley.

In regards to exactly where in Africa Leopard Girl made her home: I googled both "Matawata" and "Tagai Lake"--I couldn't find anything for Matawata, but there really is a Tagai Lake...in British Columbia! With that in mind, I assume these locations are in some African country unique to Earth-616 (the mainstream Marvel Universe).

The stories in Jungle Action I#2 and #3 both ended with Gwen looking directly at the reader and winking, so possibly she also had the power to see past the "fourth-wall."

The full extent of Leopard Girl's strength was unrevealed, but she once carried the injured Peter in one arm while swinging from a vine with the other, and she even wrestled with a lion afterward, so she definitely had greater than normal strength.

Leopard Girl's full history was never revealed, but in the first story, Gwen hinted to Peter and the Dannings what her origin could be (...and if it's true, then it's similar to the 1940s hero Cat-Man); or--since a panther is a variety of leopard--maybe she had some connection to the Panther God.

This profile was completed 5/18/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Leopard Girl has no known connections to:

Leopard Girl's pack of leopards has no known connections to:

Numa has no known connections to:

Peter had no known connections to:

Giboga has no known connections to:

Mr. Danning and Sandra Danning have no known connections to:

Robo has no known connections to:

Leopard Girl's leopard pack

A pack of vicious leopards living in the African jungle, they were obedient to Leopard Girl--they appeared whenever she summoned them with her "cry of the leopard," and they obeyed her voiced commands.

They had assisted Leopard Girl when she battled a gang of diamond smugglers.

When Leopard Girl wrestled with the maddened lion Numa, the leopards answered her call and helped her overwhelm him.

Leopard Girl feared her pack would turn against her when a rogue leopard was amongst them; but she later pulled a thorn from the rogue's paw, thus removing the source of the pain that caused the creature's insanity.

When she feared an outlaw leopard would turn her pack against her, Leopard Girl confronted the outlaw, and her pack became loyal to her again.

--Jungle Action I#1/4 (Jungle Action I#1/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4

Numa

A lion living in the African jungle, he had fathered at least two cubs, and he assisted Leopard Girl when his cubs were threatened by the Flame Witch.

Later, Numa attacked Peter for some reason, and Leopard Girl had to pinch a nerve to render the lion unconscious; but when he revived, Numa had been driven mad from pressure on his nerve, and he continued to stalk Peter. While she wrestled with Numa, the heroine had to summon her leopard pack to overwhelm him, then she released the pressure on the nerve and restored Numa to normal.

When Numa stalked an antelope and its young, Leopard Girl stopped him and instead led him to a cache of meat that had been hidden by an outlaw leopard.

--Jungle Action I#2/4 (Jungle Action I#2/4, 4/4, 6/4

Peter

Peter (last name unrevealed) lived in Africa, and he was apparently wealthy (On one occasion, he just happened to be carrying $5000 on him). At some point, he became acquainted with Mr. Danning and his daughter Sandra, the owners of a jungle trading-post; he also met the Dannings' live-in cook/secretary, Gwen (who was secretly Leopard Girl).

He eventually became engaged to Sandra Danning, but she didn't really love him--Sandra and her con-artist father were just trying to swindle money from Peter. Mr. Danning borrowed $5000 from him, under the pretense that he needed to buy some supplies for the trading-post, then he and Sandra drove off in their jeep, with no intention of returning. But the Dannings' scheme was eventually foiled by Leopard Girl, who turned Sandra and her father over to the authorities--with his marriage plans cancelled, Peter seemed to become infatuated with Leopard Gird, unaware that she was the meek and timid Gwen.

When scientist Dr. Hans Kreitzer relocated to the jungle to escape the distractions of modern civilization, Peter helped him move his belongings into his new home.

One night, Peter was playing chess with Kreitzer when they were interrupted by the sound of drumbeats coming from the jungle; Peter went to investigate, but both he and Kreitzer were trapped in a hunting pit, until they were rescued by Gwen.

When Peter was attacked by the temporarily-maddened lion Numa, Leopard Girl carried him to get medical attention (...even though Peter told her that he doubted she could do it, because she was "just a girl").

While Leopard Girl struggled with a rogue leopard, Peter tried to help her by shooting the beast, but he was unable to get a clear shot with his rifle; later, the heroine pulled a thorn from the rogue's paw, which relieved its pain and restored its sanity.

Peter watched as Leopard Girl went into a cave to confront an outlaw leopard that had usurped her rule of her pack. When Leopard Girl came out again, she was followed by the outlaw, who was now as obedient as a kitten--Peter wondered how she had accomplished the feat, but the heroine refused to divulge the secret.

--Jungle Action I#1/4 (Jungle Action I#1/4, 2/4, 3/2, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4

spirits

They were unidentified spirits of native Africans; they had emerged from the ground under a totem pole when the murderous Robo began to beat the Drums of Doom.

They later surrounded Robo and frightened him so badly that he fell to his death.

(Comment: Although Leopard Girl referred to them as "gods," none of them displayed any such levels of power, other than their ghostly appearances--I'm guessing they were just deceased humans who were revived by their gods (possibly the Vodu (African) Gods?))

--Jungle Action I#3/2

Giboga

The high-priest of an unidentified African tribe, he had earlier helped Leopard Girl apprehend the murderous Robo.

But Giboga was later captured by Robo when the killer escaped from prison and returned to get his revenge. Robo began to beat upon the Drums of Doom to attract the attention of Leopard Girl, despite Giboga cautioning him that the drums would summon the gods of their people; but Robo disregarded the high-priest's warning, for he didn't believe in gods. Robo then killed Giboga and buried his body in the jungle.

But the gods freed the spirit of Giboga from the grave, so that he could avenge his death at the hands of Robo. Giboga and other spirits surrounded the frightened Robo and caused him to fall to his death.

Before he departed, Giboga's spirit asked Leopard Girl to help his people find a new high-priest to lead them.

(Comment: There weren't any clear images of Giboga while he was alive, so the only ones available were of his ghost.)

--Jungle Action I#3/2

Mr. Danning

Danning (first name unrevealed) was said to be "America's top con-man" (as per his daughter, Sandra). He and Sandra eventually relocated to Africa, where they operated a trading-post in the jungle, and they employed Gwen (secretly Leopard Girl) as their live-in cook/secretary.

The Dannings' business was bankrupt, so they schemed to swindle money from Sandra's wealthy fiancé, Peter. They borrowed $5000 from Peter, under the pretense that they were buying supplies for the trading-post, then they drove off in their jeep, leaving Peter with their debts; but their dubious scheme was foiled by Leopard Girl, who sent the father and daughter to prison.

--Jungle Action I#1/4

Sandra Danning

The daughter of Mr. Danning, she and her father owned a trading-post in the African jungle, where they employed Gwen (secretly Leopard Girl) as their live-in cook/secretary.

Sandra was engaged to the wealthy Peter, but she didn't really love him, and she and her father were planning to swindle money from him. That night, Sandra was concerned that Leopard Girl would try to stop them, so she loaded her pistol before she went to bed.

When she and her father drove off with Peter's money, Leopard Girl caused their jeep to crash into a tree. As the two crawled out of the wreckage, the heroine warned Sandra and her father that they had stepped into a nest of man-eating snakes. Leopard Girl offered to help them, but only on the condition that they confessed their crime to Peter. Sandra agreed, and the heroine swung from a vine and carried them a short distance away. But the treacherous Sandra pulled out her pistol and fired at Leopard Girl--she was flabbergasted when the heroine was unharmed!

As the snakes again slithered closer to Sandra and her father, Peter--having heard the gunshots--came running to investigate, and Sandra confessed their scheme to him.

Before Leopard Girl turned the two swindlers over to the authorities, the heroine revealed that the snakes were harmless, and that she had replaced the bullets in Sandra's gun with blanks while Sandra was sleeping.

--Jungle Action I#1/4

Robo

An African tribesman, Robo had committed a murder in the past; he was sent to prison by Leopard Girl and his tribe's high-priest, Giboga.

Robo later escaped from prison and returned to get his revenge--he first captured Giboga, then he began to beat the Drums of Doom to attract the attention of Leopard Girl. Although Giboga cautioned him that the drums would summon the gods of their people, Robo disregarded the high-priest's warning, for he didn't believe in gods; Robo then killed Giboga and buried him.

When Leopard Girl came swinging through the jungle, Robo captured her in a net suspended from a tree. While Robo mocked the trapped heroine, a rhino came charging at him from behind; Leopard Girl reached through the net and pulled him up to safety on a tree branch--despite the heroine saving his life, Robo was still determined to get his revenge upon her, so he pulled out his knife and menacingly approached her.

But as a result of Robo beating upon the drums, the spirit of Giboga returned from the grave, along with other phantom beings.

Robo was so frightened when the apparitions surrounded him that he fell off the branch and into the rhino's path--presumably, Robo was killed.

--Jungle Action I#3/2

images: (without ads)
Jungle Action I#1/4, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Leopard Girl, swinging on vine past trading-post; Mr. Danning, Sandra Danning, Peter (background))
Jungle Action I#4/4, p2, pan2 (Headshot - Leopard Girl)
Jungle Action I#1/4, p2, pan2 (Gwen telling the Dannings and Peter what she knows about Leopard Girl)
Jungle Action I#4/4, p4, pan4 (Leopard Girl calling for her pack with her "cry of the leopard")
Ant-Man: Last Days#1, p12, pan3 (elderly Leopard Girl dancing with the Thunderer, talking to Scott Lang)
Jungle Action I#2/4, p6, pan6 (Gwen winking at readers)
Jungle Action I#4/4, p5, pan7 (leopard pack answering Leopard Girl's call)
Jungle Action I#2/4, p6, pan4 (Numa and his cubs)
Jungle Action I#4/4, p3, pan7 (Leopard Girl wrestles maddened Numa)
Jungle Action I#6/4, p1, pan2 (Leopard Girl prevents Numa from killing antelope)
Jungle Action I#1/4, p6, pan4 (Peter)
Jungle Action I#6/4, p5, pan3 (Peter with Leopard Girl)
Jungle Action I#3/2, p3, pan2 (spirits emerge from under fallen totem pole; Leopard Girl (background))
Jungle Action I#3/2, p3, pan3 (spirits answering summons of Drums of Doom; Leopard Girl (background))
Jungle Action I#3/2, p5, pan6 (spirit of Giboga speaks to Robo)
Jungle Action I#3/2, p6, pan4 (spirit of Giboga speaks to Leopard Girl)
Jungle Action I#1/4, p4, pan6 (Mr. Danning, riding in jeep)
Jungle Action I#1/4, p3, pan8 (Sandra Danning)
Jungle Action I#1/4, p6, pan1 (Sandra Danning confronts Leopard Girl; Mr. Danning (background))
Jungle Action I#1/4, p6, pan3 (under threat of "man-eating" snakes, Sandra Danning and Mr. Danning (background) surrender to Leopard Girl)
Jungle Action I#3/2, p2, pan7 (Robo beating Drums of Doom)
Jungle Action I#3/2, p5, pan3 (Robo with knife)
Jungle Action I#3/2, p6, pan3 (Robo falls off branch and into path of charging rhino)

Appearances:
Jungle Action I#1/4 (October, 1954) - Don Rico (writer), Al Hartley (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Jungle Action I#2/4 (December, 1954) - Don Rico (writer), Al Hartley (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Jungle Action I#3/2 (February, 1955) - Don Rico (writer), Al Hartley (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Jungle Action I#4/4 (April, 1955) - Don Rico (writer), Vince Colletta (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Jungle Action I#5/4 (June, 1955) - Don Rico (writer), Al Hartley (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Jungle Action I#6/4 (August, 1955) - Don Rico (writer), Tom Sawyer [as Tom Scheuer] (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Ant-Man: Last Days#1 (October, 2015) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (pencils and inks), Jordan Boyd (colors), Travis Lanham (letters), Will Moss (editor)

First Posted: 09/08/2021
Last updated: 09/06/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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