Ka-Zar and Zabu Jumping Out of the Comics Page by Starlin and Romita

Here is a great cover that I almost thought was done by Gil Kane.  It features a familiar theme, the hero bursting out of the comics page.

The jungle lord Ka-Zar and his best buddy Zabu are jumping out of the page directly at the reader, in Astonishing Tales #16, circa 1972.

I found the original art to this on Heritage.  It looks to me like Jim Starlin penciled this cover and John Romita inked it.  Ka-Zar really looks like he is in a typical Starlin pose, but the inking is undeniably Romita's crisp line.  Gil Kane's presence is still here, since his artwork is on the page in the background.  Nuff Said!

Marvel Fanfare 45 pinups by John Byrne, Michael Golden, Brent Anderson, and Paul Smith

Marvel Fanfare #45 from 1988 was a special issue devoted to pinups.  Editor Al Milgrom picked some notable artists to contribute this stellar issue.  Michael Golden’s Captain America pinup here is a prime example.  How many times have you seen Cap take down Hydra agents?  Many times, but never like you see it here in Golden’s pinup.

Brent Anderson contributed this pinup featuring Ka-Zar, Shanna the She Devil, and Zabu in their native Savage Land.  Zabu is stealing the spotlight here.  I hereby declare Anderson to be the definitive artist for Zabu!

Paul Smith drew this excellent illustration of the Green Goblin flying above Manhattan on his glider.  Love the angle of this picture.

Here is the cover to Marvel Fanfare #45, featuring Al Milgrom lining up all the Marvel Universe stars (featured in this issue) for their portraits to be taken.  I’ll share some more pinups from the issue tomorrow.  Nuff Said!

Neal Adams Savage Tales Starring Conan, Ka-Zar, and Zabu, Too!

One of my favorite Marvel magazines of all time was Savage Tales #2, featuring Barry Smith's Red Nails adaption.  I blogged about that giant-size wonder earlier this year.  Apparently Red Nails made Savage Tales a hit, and editor Roy Thomas commissioned Neal Adams to do three covers that would spin the magazine in a different direction.

Savage Tales #3 (1974) features Conan going berserk, about to behead another barbarian before he can defile that babe in the metal bikini.  I think it's terrific; Adams always excelled at portraying characters losing themselves in rage.  A painting like this could sell a comic, regardless of the content inside (which happened to be quite good in this case).  Adams also did a series of paintings for a line of Tarzan paperbacks, which again, were quite irresistible.

The baton was passed from Conan to Ka-Zar in Savage Tales #4 (1974).  If one barbarian magazine was successful, why not two?  (If one Deadpool book is successful, if one Wolverine book is successful, if one X-Men book...you get the idea.)  This was Conan's last appearance in Savage Tales before Roy Thomas spun him off in his own super-giant magazine, Savage Sword of Conan.  It would be up to Ka-Zar and Zabu to carry ST forward.  Zabu looks very intimidating here, doesn't he?

This cover always made me think that a time travelling team-up between Conan and Ka-Zar would have been a nifty idea.

Ka-Zar took cover the masthead in Savage Tales #5 (1974), with another rip-roaring cover.  Within this painting, Adams captured all the elements that should make Ka-Zar a fantastic series.  He's surrounded by prehistoric creatures, about to get his chest ripped to shreds, with Zabu the Sabretooth Tiger as his backup.  And the requisite modern babe in the foreground waiting to be rescued.  Shanna the She-Devil and SHIELD agent Bobbi Morse (who later became Mockingbird) joined Ka-Zar in subsequent issues.

Notice also that the figures of Ka-Zar and Zabu from issue #4 were used on the corner masthead.  Nuff said.

Update: Comments from my old MT blog...

2 Comments

By Andrew Wahl on December 18, 2009 6:42 PM

Richard:

These Adams covers are absolutely gorgeous. I've seen them all before over the years, but put them altogether like this and they're simply stunning. Thanks!

Andrew
ComicsBronzeAge.com

By Andrei on December 20, 2009 10:05 AM

Superb. I think the 70's had extraordinaire artists. I mostly like the way that the pencils and inking were done back then. There was this liberty and exuberance in the art style that the modern artists kinda fail to deliver. I am buying all the Conan Savage Sword TBPs from Dark Horse, and one of the motives is that they include all the black and white covers inside. A truly joy.

Steranko’s Jungle Queen, Shanna the She-Devil

You may know that Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan began in the pulp magazines.  Ka-Zar actually first appeared in the pulps as well.  And if a man can run around in the jungle half naked, why can't a woman?  The pulp stories had women as supporting characters in Tarzan and Conan, but it took a comic book series to make a headline character.   Sheena, Queen of the Jungle was the first female character in comics to have her own title--appearing in 1942 three months before Wonder Woman.  Since that time, there's probably been more jungle queens running around than men.

Marvel decided to create their own jungle girl in 1972 when Shanna the She-Devil was published.

And A Jungle Queen Is Born!  One of the greatest covers Steranko has ever executed.  The cover, and the character, harkens back to the 1940s covers featuring Sheena.  Shanna's design is just classic, with the leopard skinned bikini that she runs around in, the claw bracelets on her legs/arms, and that wild red hair.  She's leaping out of the trees, towards the hunters, but also leaping at the reader.

Ka-Zar has his sabretooth tiger Zabu as his best bud.  Shanna has her pet leopards, Ina and Buri, who will do anything to protect her.  I thought this was a great idea, it made Shanna an animal lover and protector.  Unfortunately, Ina and Buri were killed by a villain in Savage Tales #9.

Our current era has a lot of artists who draw sexy women.  Adam Hughes, Terry Dodson, and Frank Cho immediately come to mind, although Amanda Conner is in that mix as well.  I like all those artists and their women are fantastic. 

But I think our collective senses are all too dominated by Maxim magazine.  The cover to Shanna the She-Devil #2 shows another way to draw a sexy woman.  Make her toned, athletic, and sensual with a classic face and flowing hair.  Shanna's breasts are normal sized and her ass isn't jutting out of a thong, but she's wildly appealing.  When I hit puberty, this cover was better than most Playboy magazines.

The women back in the 1970s that I liked were more normal.  Linda Carter, Victoria Principal, Catherine Bach, Heather Thomas, Markie Post, Bo Derek, Valerie Bertinelli.  I also liked Adrienne Barbeau, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress, Loni Anderson.  Did the latter group have breast implants?  It's possible since those were developed in the 1960s.  Even if they did, those gals didn't appear too unreal.

Don't get me wrong, not everyone in comics draws unreal women.  There are lots of exceptions.  I just think Steranko has shown how a strong, lithe woman is sexier than heck.  Nuff said.

EXTRA!  Steranko's Jungle Queen on Comic Collector box.

Marvels of Gil Kane: Ka-Zar and Zabu, too

I’ve always had a fondness for Marvel’s Lord of the Savage Land: Ka-Zar!  He just wouldn’t be so darn lovable without Zabu, his sabretooth tiger.  Gil Kane drew a number of covers featuring them, from Astonishing Tales and the first Ka-Zar series.

In every Ka-Zar series (and there have been many), the writers always bring Ka-Zar and Zabu to New York City for a spell.  It makes for a great fish out of water story, just like the first Crocodile Dundee movie.  I like this cover that Kane did for one of these stories.  The hand holding the pipe in the foreground really drives your attention toward Ka-Zar, who looks like he’s ready to pounce on these guys and rip them a new one.  These dudes are high on something.  Really, I mean Ka-Zar fights pterodactyls and t-rexs almost daily in the Savage Land, these street punks are a threat?  But it’s a great kitschy cover nonetheless.  The balloon “You’ve come a long way, baby—and you’re never goin’ back again!” and the caption They Stalk The Concrete Jungle are just the epitome of 70s style.

Ka-Zar leaped into his own series after Astonishing Tales #20.  Kane’s cover to issue #15 is really striking, with the Jungle Lord riding the back of a winged “Hellbird”—a construct of the villain Klaw.  The perspective of these guys attacking this beast over London is spectacular, but what’s really crazy is Zabu clawing at this thing with no regard for his own life!  He’s about to fall to his death at any moment.  Another thing about this Kane cover—it looks to me like Klaus Janson inked it.

Another hallmark of Ka-Zar—he teams up with Spider-Man every few years!  Usually Peter Parker makes a trip to the Savage Land for a little vacation and Ka-Zar plays the host.  In Amazing Spider-Man #103-104, Parker is sent by the Daily Bugle to take pictures of Ka-Zar’s homeland.  Gwen Stacy even tags along.  But wouldn’t you know it, Kraven the Hunter shows up and spoils everything!  This cover really makes Kraven seem like a real threat—he’s just taken down Spidey, Ka-Zar, and Zabu!  Probably his greatest moment until his Last Hunt.  Nuff said.

Marvel Double Features: The Inhumans! Black Widow! Huh?

Marvel often tried to put two characters together in a series of ads or anthologies that often left me scratching my head.  So let’s celebrate those double feature specials!

Morbius and Lilith.  Kind of makes sense, both vampires, right?  Wrong.  Morbius is a scientifically created vampire, while Lilith was magically created.  OK, I’m a nit-picker.

Brother Voodoo and the Son of Satan?  Competing religions right there!  The Mark of Satan was the original title for Daimon Hellstrom’s series. 

Hey, we’re launching Man-Thing #1, and just because you love monsters so much, you should also buy Ka-Zar #1!  Well, both series have characters running completely naked in the great outdoors.

How about putting Ka-Zar in Astonishing Tales along with Doc Doom?  Jungle tales combined with evil dictator conquering tales—peanut butter and jelly!  We just weren’t ready for that jelly.  I just noticed that Zabu’s head is the hyphen in Ka-Zar’s logo.  Too bad Zabu’s head was also the same color as the background!

And then there was Amazing Adventures with the Inhumans and the Black Widow.  That didn’t make sense either; you would think the Inhumans and Doctor Doom would be better off sharing a title!

Amazing Adventures #7 is almost a crime, because you have 2/3 of a great cover ruined by the Widow at the bottom.  What’s more dramatic, some dude with a bionic arm threatening to burn down San Francisco or the lithe Black Widow karate kicking a fat guy?  I think I know which one Neal Adams preferred.  Nuff said.