Well, here we are in a different time. Women have entered the realm of strength athletes in a big way. And then there is Xena, and Wonder Woman, and Sheena, who serve as iconic representations of the powerful woman. And men who admire that want to see them doing the same things as the heroes of old did. We aren't content for our Queens of the Jungle to keep getting captured and tied up and rescued by some guy. We want to see them overcoming evil and nature with their own brute strength.
There is a small community of artists, writers, and other fans who cater to this growing market. We can write our stories, and draw our pictures, but until some rising FBB takes it to the next level, we will stay on the margin.
Every once in a while, a female strength athlete will give us a tip of the cap, and pose with some harmless stuffed jungle beast. Nikki Fuller and Debbie Bramwell have done this. But these posed photos tend to be corny and end up disappointing.
But hopefully soon, some powerfully-muscled female athlete will do more. Some lady who wants to make a name for herself and be recognized by this growing segment of the market will do something with a wild beast. After all, crushing unopened coke cans, and watermelons, and bending some rebar only gets you so far.
Safety is of course paramount. While many of the known female bodybuilders try their hands at wrestling men for pay, none that I know of have done much with any animals other than a horse. And women have been riding horses for centuries, and don't have to be particularly strong to do so. Dealing with wild beasts is very dangerous, so every precaution will have to be taken.
I expect that the next step will be some sort of CGI effect. There will be live shots of both the female strength athlete, and the beast in an assortment of poses and sequences. And that will be mixed with CGI, and some good old-fashioned 1950sish wrestling around with a tiger skin in very tight camera angles.
We certainly can't expect them to actually kill the animals. In this age of the ubiquitous PETA pests, I doubt anyone will ever let a video of a female body builder strangling a wild leopard see the light of day. You Tube would pull it in a nanosecond.
But with all the usual assurances that no animals were actually harmed, something could be done. And, given time, something probably will be done.
In the meantime, here are some good artistic renderings to keep us amused.
The following three are the excellent poser artwork of Rick Efron:
Here is a rather disappointing clip of Irish Macalla as Sheena fighting a crocodile.
Aroundel provides these two:
African huntress grabs leopard. Note that the arms aren't locked around the neck yet.
She poses over the dead cat. I only regret that there wasn't more of the fight shown. At least 10-12 panels.
Aroundel's African huntress takes on a lion in three panels:
I like this pose. It is one of his very best
Closeup, or are the lion's jaws a little further apart now?
Flexing over the dead cat. Everyone likes to see this pose at the end of the fight.
COMING SOON:
Aroundel's pdf comic Rowena the Lionhuntress.
