Pulp magazine and comic book hero created by
Martin Goodman and
Robert Byrd. Ka-Zar first appeared in the pulp magazine
Ka-Zar #1 in
October 1936 and later in
Marvel Mystery Comics #1 in 1939.
Imagine a story where a young boy and his family are trapped in the deepest
jungle. The parents are killed and the child is raised by the wild beasts of the
jungle eventually learning to communicate with them. He rules over them
by his strength and protects them from outside intruders.
Sound familiar? Do the names Greystoke and Tarzan spring to mind? Well,
they should, but in this case, it is the original origin of the hero Ka-Zar. In the
original story by Bob Byrd, a young boy named David Rand along with
his parents are involved in a plane crash that leaves them in the middle of the
Congo. Rand's parents are killed, and David is raised by the lion , Zar.
The character was not terribly popular and his pulp magazine only lasted three
issues. He was shelved for a few years until the original publisher, Mavis Publishing Company,
branched out to begin publishing comics under the name of Marvel Comics. During
this time, the publisher, Martin Goodman, dusted off Ka-Zar and introduced him
to readers again. Ka-Zar and Zar starred in the first twenty seven issues of Marvel
Mystery Comics, but then fell into obscurity again.
Flash forward to the 1960's, when Jack Kirby and Stan Lee decide to refit
the character of Ka-Zar and introduce him to their readership. Instead of being
an American named David Rand, Ka-Zar is now Kevin Plunder, a British lord fitting
closer with the original Tarzan origin. Ka-Zar also no longer lives in Africa,
but instead is a part of the Savage Land
The Savage Land is the Marvel universe's answer to the Land That Time Forgot.
Located in Antarctica, the Savage Land is a tropical paradise inhabited by a
number of strange races, including bird-men and toad-men. Most amazingly,
the Savage Land is the home of dinosaurs. The Savage Land's environment
is sustained by some type of high tech machinery left by the Celestials, a group
of advanced aliens.
Ka-Zar lives in the Savage Land where he travels with a sabretooth tiger name
Zabu. The two have traveled outside the Savage Land on adventures and
have teamed up with such heros as the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Avengers,
and many others. One of Ka-Zar's most frequent foes is the demon prince, Belasco.
Ka-Zar's love interest is Shanna the She-Devil, a thinly-veiled imitation
of Sheena.