Congorilla, originally a human character known as
Congo Bill, is a
fictionFiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al
characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a
superheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
appearing in
comic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s published by
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and Vertigo Comics. Originally co-created by writer
Whitney EllsworthFredric Whitney Ellsworth was an American comic book editor, and sometime writer and artist for DC Comics during the period known to historians and fans as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
and artist
George PappGeorge Edward Papp was a U.S. comic book artist. Best known as one of the principal artists on the long-running Superboy feature for DC Comics, Papp also co-created the Green Arrow character with Mort Weisinger and co-created Congorilla along with writer Whitney Ellsworth.Papp began his comic...
, he was later transformed into Congorilla by Robert Bernstein and Howard Sherman. The character first appeared in
More Fun ComicsMore Fun Comics, originally titled New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine a.k.a. New Fun Comics, was a 1935-1947 American comic book anthology that introduced several major superhero characters and was the first American comic-book series to feature solely original material rather than reprints of...
#56 (June
1940-Year overall:* Another boom year for the burgeoning American comic book industry, as Ace Comics, Columbia Comics, Farrell Publications, Holyoke Publishing, Novelty Press, and Street & Smith Comics all begin publishing.-January:...
).
Publication history
Congo Bill was a long running DC Comics adventure
comic stripA comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, running in various DC Comics titles until
Action ComicsAction Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#248 (January
1959- October :* October 29: first issue of Pilote, featuring debuts of the series Astérix by René Goscinny, and Albert Uderzo, and Michel Tanguy by Uderzo and Jean-Michel Charlier.-U.S...
), when Congo Bill was transformed into Congorilla (the title of the strip was likewise changed). The
Congo Bill strip was a standard adventure strip, often reminiscent of
Alex RaymondAlexander Gillespie "Alex" Raymond was an American cartoonist, best known for creating Flash Gordon for King Features in 1934...
's
Jungle JimJungle Jim is the fictional hero of a series of jungle adventures in various media. The series began in 1934 as an American newspaper comic strip chronicling the adventures of Asia-based hunter Jim Bradley, who was nicknamed Jungle Jim...
newspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
strip.
Action Comics #191 (April 1954) saw the introduction of
Janu the Jungle BoyJanu the Jungle Boy is a fictional character published by DC Comics. He is a young boy brought up in the jungle after his father has been killed by a tiger, and who appears as a sidekick to Congo Bill, who adopts him as his ward...
, a young boy brought up in the jungle after his father had been killed by a tiger. The strip was a moderate success and moved from
More Fun Comics to
Action Comics with issue #37, where it stayed until issue #248 when it was transformed into
Congorilla. In 1954, DC awarded Congo Bill his own title, which lasted for seven issues (August/September 1954 – August/September 1955).
The
Congorilla series ran in
Action Comics until issue #262, after which it was transferred to
Adventure ComicsAdventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
, where it ran until issue #283. Since the demise of its own series, Congorilla has mainly been seen as a guest star in other titles, including as part of the
Forgotten HeroesThe Forgotten Heroes are fictional superhero team in the DC Comics universe. The group is composed of superheroes that had faded from the limelight...
. The character finally received a
mini-seriesA limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
of his own in
1994-Year overall:* Huge changes in the marketplace force many retailers and small publishers out of business...
, where Congo Bill is betrayed by his (now corrupt) ward Janu, who usurps the Congorilla identity and Bill is forced to fight his adopted son to the death. Congo Bill became blind in his left eye making it hard for him to see after fighting his son to the end. In
1999-February:* February 3: Pioneering editor Vin Sullivan dies at age 87.* February 26: John L. Goldwater, co-founder of Archie Comics, dies at age 82.-March:* Incredible Hulk is canceled by Marvel with issue #474.-May:...
, DC Comics once again brought Congo Bill back for another four-issue
limited seriesA limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
under the company's mature readership Vertigo Comics imprint. Congorilla returned in the 2009 series
Cry for Justice, joining a proactive splinter faction of the
Justice LeagueThe Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
. Following that series, Congorilla became a full time member of the Justice League.
Fictional character biography
William "Congo Bill" Glenmorgan was born in 1898, the son of a Scottish gamekeeper. At one point he was a member of the
IRAThe Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
, and during
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he served as soldier in the Battle of the Somme in France 1916 and also Battle of Flanders Field in Passendale, Belgium. He worked his way up a spy in
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. He later became a globe-trotting adventurer, and for a time worked for the Worldwide Insurance Company, protecting policies they had written and saving the company from fraudulent payouts.
Bill grew content to live in his adopted
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n home, swearing to protect it from harm. There he befriended a witch doctor known as Chief Kawolo. When Kawolo was mortally injured in a fall, he summoned Bill to his bedside, and offered him a magic ring. Kawolo told the skeptical Congo Bill that, by rubbing the ring, he could transfer his consciousness into the body of the legendary Golden Gorilla. He accepted the ring to humor his friend's dying wish. Several weeks later, an earthquake trapped Bill in a deep cave. With no possible escape, Congo Bill hopelessly rubbed the magic ring. Instantly, his mind was transported into the body of the Golden Gorilla. Racing to the cave-in, he used his massive strength to clear the blocked entrance and wondering what had become of his body without him being "home". He realized that when his consciousness entered the body of the Gorilla, the creature's consciousness entered his own body. Bill decides to use his new powers to fight crime in the jungle. He is later assisted by Janu, a young boy raised in the jungle.
Justice League
Years later, Bill (now known as Congorilla) is trapped in his gorilla form upon the death of his human body. He becomes the protector of a band of gorillas, and friend of the South African hero
Freedom BeastFreedom Beast is a fictional comic book character in the DC Universe.-Fictional character biography:A South African by birth, Freedom Beast was born Dominic Mndawe. His first appearance was in Animal Man #13...
. When the gorillas and Freedom Beast are slaughtered by hunters, Congorilla decides to seek justice. After the trail leads to the villain
PrometheusPrometheus is the name of three fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.The first Prometheus debuted in New Teen Titans vol. 2, #24 and was created by Marv Wolfman and Eduardo Barreto . The second version debuted in New Year's Evil: Prometheus Prometheus is the name...
, Congorilla teams up with Starman, and eventually a splinter faction of the Justice League. After Prometheus's death, Congorilla becomes a full time member of the Justice League.
During his time with the League, Bill faces off against such foes as the rogue
StarheartAlan Scott is a fictional character, a superhero in the and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern.-Publication history:The original Green Lantern was created by young struggling artist Martin Nodell, who was inspired by the sight of a New York Subway employee waving a red lantern to...
and
EclipsoEclipso is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre...
, and becomes close friends with Starman and
SupergirlKara Zor-El is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and related media, created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino. As Supergirl, Kara Zor-El serves as the biological cousin and female counterpart to DC Comic's iconic superhero Superman, created...
. After Batman Inc. appoints the vigilante Batwing as the official Batman of Africa, Congorilla realizes that the continent is too big for one hero to handle. He ultimately chooses to resign from the JLA in order to help organize the superheroes of Africa into a more efficient team, as well as to find a worthy successor to carry on Freedom Beast's legacy.
Flashpoint
In the alternate timeline of the
FlashpointFlashpoint is an American comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Consisting of an eponymous core limited series and a number of tie-in titles, the storyline premiered in May 2011...
event, Congorilla is killed by
Gorilla GroddGorilla Grodd is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. He debuted in Flash v.1 #106 , and was created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino....
in
Gorilla CityGorilla City is a fictional city in the DC Comics Universe. The city, hidden in the jungles of Africa, is home to a race of super-intelligent gorillas, that gained their powers from a meteorite. The supervillain Gorilla Grodd is also from the city. Gorilla City first appears in The Flash vol...
's arena.
Film serial
- Congo Bill
Congo Bill is a Columbia movie serial based on the DC Comics character Congo Bill.-Plot:Congo Bill searches Africa following rumours of a "White Goddess" and for an heiress, missing since her plane crashed in the wilderness...
was filmed as a 15 chapter movie serial by Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
in 1948. The series starred Don McGuire and Cleo MooreCleouna "Cleo" Moore was an American actress, usually seen in the role of a blonde bombshell, in 1950s Hollywood films. She was known as Columbia Pictures's clone of 20th Century Fox's, Marilyn Monroe...
and was produced by Sam KatzmanSam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
. The series was reissued in 1957 when Moore had become a famous film star.
External links