Review - The Jungle Book #3

Zenescope's take on The Jungle Book started with four orphaned kids, focused on one and then two. Now, in The Jungle Book #3, the third of those orphans gets some serious time.

The Jungle Book #3 is published by Zenescope and is written by Mark L. Miller, with pencils by Carlos Granda, colors by Liezl Buenaventura and Tim Yates and letters by Jim Campbell.

Mowglii is unquestionably the main character of the series, just as the character is in the original story. Since this is Zenescope, he is a she here and she is dealing with the fallout from Shere Kahn's brazen attack on her wolf clan, leading to a dramatic finish at the end of the second issue.

Mowglii moves out with Baloo to go after the tigers, only her path is detoured when she encounters Bandar Louis and his group of primates. It's here that she also encounters Dewan, one of the other orphans who seems to share a kindred spirit with Mowglii.

Miller has brought Mowglii, Dewan and Bomani together, as all look to be recognizing some of their lost humanity. It's a nice touch in the story, making it more than just a straight up adaptation of the original story. It really adds depth to their struggles, both within their respective tribes and amongst each other.

Granda's pencils are quite familiar with this issue and he does a great job with the lush jungle scenes. All the pages that feature Bandar Louis are actually pretty interesting, because all you really see are an army of different primate arms reaching in every direction, all looking for Mowglii.

There's only one issue in the four-issue series and there's a lot that's left to be wrapped up. Kaa the Giant Python is lingering as a foe, while Mowglii still has to extract her revenge against the tigers for their actions. It'll be interesting to see how the last issue tidies everything up.

The Jungle Book #3 is in stores now.