Marvel’s Lord of the Jungle, Ka-Zar, returns this September in a brand-new limited series, and he is going to be more powerful than ever. The five-issue series, titled Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land, comes on the heels of the character’s resurrection during last year’s Empyre event and is written by Zac Thompson with art by German Garcia and colors by Mat Lopes.
There have been two characters to bear the name Ka-Zar in Marvel Comics, and the second version, a Tarzan pastiche named Kevin Plunder, is the best known, with this version first appearing in 1965’s Uncanny X-Men #10. Born into wealth and privilege in Britain, Kevin traveled to the mysterious Savage Land as a child with his father. After his father was killed, Kevin was raised by the sabretooth tiger Zabu, and took the name Ka-Zar. He would go on to share adventures with the X-Men and the Avengers. The character was seemingly killed, and later resurrected, during the recently concluded Empyre saga, and now Ka-Zar must contend with not only having new powers, but also a new villain with sinister plans for the Savage land.
Marvel announced the title in a press release, providing plot details as well as advance art, shared below. Picking up where Empyre left off, Ka-Zar is now bonded to Shanna the She-Devil, the love of his life. He has little time to adjust to his new status quo, however, an ancient foe has reemerged, ready to remake the Savage Land into his own image. Ka-Zar and Shanna must stop this evil force from destroying their land. Unfortunately, few other plot details were provided. Writer Zac Thompson called Ka-Zar, “the book I’ve always wanted to write,” and expressed excitement over helping the character find his place in the Marvel Universe. Thompson had nothing but praise for his collaborators; artist German Garcia is also excited to be tackling the Jungle Lord, saying he is having a “great time” illustrating the character.
Since his first appearance over 60 years ago, Ka-Zar has been a cult favorite and has carried his own title on several occasions. The character had been largely absent from the Marvel Universe but now is set to make his return in a grand fashion. Ka-Zar has his roots in the pulp adventure magazines of the early 20th Century, and Thompson acknowledges this, calling the new series an “evolution” for the character. Thompson points to Immortal Hulk as an example of what he and his collaborators hope to achieve with Ka-Zar.
Ka-Zar is set to make his return to the Marvel Universe in Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land, on sale in print and digital on September 9.
Source: Marvel