Review: Savage! Jungle Princess #4 / Author: John A. Short / Artist: Gabrielle Noble / Publisher: Kult Creations / Release Date: Out Now

Back to Death Island! Yes, it’s the fourth issue of Savage! Jungle Princess, and possibly the final one, as its creative team, writer John A. Short and penwoman Gabrielle Noble, have hinted that they will now be turning their attentions to other projects, at least for the time being. Shame – we were just starting to get hooked.

Just to recap, Savage! is a saucy romp that takes it cue from ’40s Saturday morning serials such as Jungle Girl and from the Daily Mail’s Jane comic strip. This time round, cockney sparrow Friday Robinson has been taken prisoner by the cruel Countess Von Klaus and is being whipped into a stupor by her onboard her U-boat (much to the jealousy of the Countess’ crew). Meanwhile, Arabella Savage, the Jungle Princess of the title (who hasn’t had time to replace her bikini top since losing it in #3, such has been the pace of events), is battling cutely dressed Nazi zombiettes. Can Arabella defeat the zombiettes and save Friday, while also foiling the Countess’ plan to shoot off her G-string with a laser pistol?

All right, it’s not exactly life-changing, but Short and Noble do a good job in this issue of mixing silliness, sexiness and a smattering of action, and everything is tied up in a neat bow. Noble’s art is very attractive and accomplished, and people with a soft spot for end-of-the-pier naughtiness could do worse than give this comic a try. Let’s hope it returns for another story arc and we get to see more of Arabella and Friday – not that we haven’t seen a lot of them already.