Sheena Queen of the Jungle vol. 2 is a collection of the recent Sheena series of the same name. It picks up after the events of the first volume, where Sheena failed to protect her home from their enemies, while their leader was away.
The volume is written by Marguerite Bennett and Christina Trujillo with art by Maria Sanapo. It’s not very often we get an all-female team on a woman character’s book. They certainly offered a lot of unique perspectives and delivered on a really great story.
$19.99 for the physical soft cover, or $15.99 for the e-book. At 144 pages, you’re getting quite a bit of content for that price.
Sheena is a super human warrior of a remote jungle tribe that often comes into conflict from the outside world. Her story manages to take inspiration from the likes of Wonder Woman while managing to make a name for herself.
Sheena’s Story
In this volume, The Mother Heart is being poisoned with something referred to as The Rot. The Mother Heart is basically the force of the jungle, and with a mysterious villain called The Huntress excepted to be the one harming it, Sheena and her people are on high alert.
Sheena is sent to find The Huntress and eliminate her. Unfortunately, quite a few things go wrong, and the entire plot winds up going in an unexpected direction. Rather than setting up a villain, fighting the villain, and stopping the problem, Bennett and Trullijo shake up the formula some. To avoid spoilers, I won’t share much else.
Quality of the Written Word
The quality of the dialogue and story is sometimes hit or miss. It’s a common problem in comics with multiple writers. Here it isn’t a large problem. Some of the dialogue is a little cheesy. Calling drones flying turtles and such.
Yes, the characters aren’t accustomed to technology, but the phrasing is just a little weird. Flying turtle isn’t what you would think a jungle savage would refer to a drone as. It’s moments like these that cause some unbalance.
Otherwise the writing is good. Many tense and emotional moments come across as such, and while they aren’t tear jerkers, they do successfully come across as these important moments.
Jungle Artwork
The art is also surprisingly good. There are some weird faces or anatomy issues, but that’s generally to be expected. Sanapo shows a great understanding of everything human anatomy to drawing fight scenes and monsters.
The coloring is also well done. Part of the reason why the art stands out compared to similar styles is how much the world pops in certain areas.
While some may have issues with the sexualization of basically every character, for a tribe of people who live in the jungle, their clothing is fitting, and it never detracts from or takes the focus of the story.
The panel layouts were basic though. Not bad, but not anything particularly special. Which is a good way to sum up most of the artwork.
The covers are where the art is truly stunning. This TPB comes with a large variety of covers and variants of the issues included. Glancing at these was a great way to wrap up the TPB after the story had finished.
The Verdict
Sheena Queen of the Jungle vol. 2 is a wild and fun ride. If you haven’t read the first volume some things might not be so clear, but this is generally not a bad place to pick up from as it’s the start of a new story arc.
The writing and story are of a good quality, and the art manages to meet the standards of the industry, without blending in too much.
Overall, if you’re looking for a new series to pick up, and enjoy stories like Wonder Woman and Red Sonja, then Sheena is worth picking up.
- Review Summary
Sheena Queen of the Jungle vol. 2 is a great read. It has plenty of action to keep you interested, and a lot of well written character moments to keep you invested.
