Recently in Ka-Zar, Shanna the She Devil, and Zabu Category

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.

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.

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.