BRONZE AGE MINUTE: Astonishing Tales #11

Marvel; April 1972
Cover by Gil Kane

Title: “A Day of Tigers!”
Synopsis: Man-apes leave young Kevin Plunder orphaned in the Savage Land, but the child is soon adopted by the saber-toothed Zabu.

Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Gil Kane
Inker: Frank Giacoia

Review: At long last: The secret origin of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle! Umm, wait. Make that Ka-Zar, Lord of the Jungle! Seriously, while competently done, this Roy Thomas penned story brings little new to the table. Part of the problem is that the jungle hero genre was severely over mined by the comic book industry during the Bronze Age. But the best work of the type – say Mike Grell’s Warlord or Joe Kubert’s work on the granddaddy of the field, Tarzan – made it work with passion and a love of the material. Sadly, that largely seems to be missing here.

Grade: B-

Cool factor: Gil Kane’s art is dynamic, as usual. He really shines on adventure books like this one.
Not-so-cool factor: Ka-Zar’s intentional genocide of the man-ape tribe. Genocide, never cool.

Notable: Origin of Ka-Zar.

Character quotable: “Mighty is KA-ZAR – LORD OF THE JUNGLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL …” – Ka-Zar, also lord of the third person, and original concepts

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