Writer – George Kashdan
Artist – Jack Sparling

Bomba, accompanied by Tina, has been asked to help out the villagers led by Manco. The reason for such is that no matter what their chief says, they continue to worship the statue of the evil god Tampu. Though they might starve and face hardship, the statue holds sway and Manco feels bad for the people of his village. Bomba agrees to help out and so he devises a plan with his animal friends to ‘defeat’ the statue/god so that peace might finally reign in the village. Suffice it to say, things do not go according to plan as Tampu does indeed come to life or at least so it would seem and now Bomba has to figure out a way to stop it for real. As it is, author George Kashdan reveals it all to be the work of a dastardly villain who is simply looking to scoop up the oil reserves that lie dormant under the jungle and Tampu is his way of doing so. Thankfully an opportunity presents itself but it is one fraught with danger and yet, be that as it may, Bomba is going to attempt it and hope that the rumours about this forbidden part of the jungle are all an exaggeration and that he and Tina will walk in and out with the magic water that they need to defeat Tampu. With Jack Sparling onboard to handle the art chores once again, the book really starts to get into the thick of the action at this point and Sparling does a great job with it. After battling a giant snake and trying to avoid an enormous anteater, Bomba and Tina finally reach their quest’s end and gain that which they seek but close behind them is Tampu who is looking to do away with the two teens. This was yet another really fun tale featuring everyone’s favourite teenage Tarzan and the creators of this book did a great job at crafting a very enjoyable story filled with action, excitement and drama. While it is getting a little silly that every person who comes to the jungle looks to exploit it and Bomba is always needed to save the locals, the stories within are told well enough that in the end, it does not really matter in the slightest. What would be nice is to see Bomba get his own archnemesis, though one can see that not happening given that there are only two more issues left in this series. As it is, for a nice bit of light fluff, Bomba makes for the perfect read.

3.5 out of 5