Writer – George Kashdan
Artist – Jack Sparling

A new threat has arrived in the jungle and he calls himself Viracocha and a god with magic at his fingertips and what’s more, he needs gold or he will be angry. After a bit of a display, Tina, the daughter of the chief, heads out to find Bomba and get his aid in driving off this so-called god before any real harm is done. Bomba agrees of course, how can he refuse a pretty girl and what has he got going on other than talking to his animal friends? Coming face to face with Viracocha makes Bomba laugh as the man is clearly a charlatan but when the trees come alive and attack Bomba, he knows that though the man might be a fake, there is something else at play that will make exposing him a little bit harder than originally thought. This issue is brought to readers by George Kashdan and Jack Sparling once again and the two make a great team, the story being both fun and entertaining while the artwork perfectly conveys that and continues to get better with each passing issue. There is some light humour throughout and a ton of action and it all makes for a very wonderful read. As it is, Bomba continues to try and get the better of Viracocha and is close to doing so when the man pulls a fast one by releasing some deadly gas in the jungle. Now it is a race against time to get all the tribesmen out safely and all of the animals as well. Sparling’s artwork looks great during this sequence, especially in a two-page spread that finds Bomba and Tina trying to get the jungle animals moving so that they will not fall victim to the gas. All of this leads to one final confrontation between the two men and as one might guess, Bomba manages to defeat the villain with a little help from the mysterious tree-men who had previously made a deal with Viracocha, one that they soon discovered only benefitted the bad guy and one that was built on lies. What makes this story so enjoyable and strange at the same time is the fact that Kashdan has now introduced a bit of the mystical and the fantastical into it all with the introduction of this race of tree-people. Whether they play a part in any stories going forward remains to be seen, though one has to guess this might be the last time they are ever seen or heard of but if these beings can exist, nothing really seems off-limits.

3.5 out of 5