Grant Morrison is known for their radical re-inventions of many classic DC Comics heroes, but their favorite Wonder Woman character might surprise most fans. Morrison revealed their love for Jumpa, a “kanga” from Paradise Island who dates back to the earliest Wonder Woman stories by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter.
Recently, Morrison has been providing annotations (via newsletter Xanaduum) to their work on the Wonder Woman: Earth One series of graphic novels done in collaboration with Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn and Todd Klein. In a recent entry, Morrison expresses their enthusiasm for Jumpa, Wonder Woman’s kanga pet.
“I love animals in comics,” Morrison writes, “I love super animals, and I always felt the kangas in the early Wonder Woman stories were an inspired element – they even had space kangas capable of leaping between worlds!” Jumpa shows up Wonder Woman: Earth One, Morrison’s radical reinvention of Princess Diana’s origin story set in contemporary times.
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Grant Morrison’s Favorite Wonder Woman Character Is Her Pet, Jumpa
First introduced in the early Wonder Woman stories of the Golden Age, “kangas” are basically kangaroos that could be mounted like horses. The Amazons would routinely use these steeds to get around Paradise Island and in jousting competitions. Wonder Woman’s pet kanga Jumpa made her debut in Sensation Comics #6 by Marston and Peter, where Diana is summoned back to Paradise Island and is reunited with her beloved pet from childhood. Notably, this issue is also where Wonder Woman is gifted her magic lasso after mounting Jumpa and defeating the other Amazons in a lasso contest.
There was a time when animal sidekicks were de rigueur for superheroes, with the most prominent examples being Krypto the Super-Dog and Ace the Bat-Hound. Superman himself had a whole legion of pets, with Krypto, Streaky the Super-Cat, Comet the Super-Horse and even a super-monkey in Beppo. A noted animal lover, Morrison has included super-pets whenever possible in much of their mainstream superhero work, perhaps most notably in their Batman run when they introduced Bat-Cow, an animal that Damian Wayne rescued from Professor Pyg’s stable of cattle injected with hormones meant to turn the ordinary citizens of Gotham into zombie-like Dollotrons.
The Kangas Are An Important Part of Wonder Woman’s History
After making various appearances in cartoons and other media designed primarily for children, Jumpa made her proper DCU reappearance in a story from Wonder Woman #770 by Jordie Bellaire, Paulina Ganucheau, Kendall Goode, and Becca Carey, which details a young Diana’s adventures with her kanga best friend. While it may seem a cheesy relic of the past, Jumpa and the other super-pets are an important part of superhero and comic-book history. Thanks to Grant Morrison and other creators, the legacy of super-pets like Wonder Woman’s Jumpa lives on.
