Ka-Zar the Great

Ka-Zar, born David Rand, is a South African man who lives in Africa among the jungle animals. After he and his parents suffered a plane crash in the Belgian Congo, David displayed a keen attachment to the animals of the jungle and an ability to commune with them. Both of his parents died in the jungle, and David developed a brotherly bond with the lion Zar, adopting the moniker Ka-Zar.

Biography

Origin

Three-year-old David Rand and his parents—diamond-field owner John and his wife Constance Rand—crash-landed in the Belgian Congo while flying from Johannesburg to Cairo. Unable to flag down passing planes, the Rands attempted to make the best of their new home in the jungle. David quickly showed an aptitude for it, making friends with the animals, but Constance broke her leg in the crash and soon died of fever. David came of age and gained experience under his father's tutelage, meeting the lion Zar and saving him from a pit of quicksand. David was also attacked by the leopard N'jaga, who was deflected by John and began to harbor a deep-seated grudge against David. John soon met and confronted treasure hunter Paul de Kraft, whom John saw as defiling the land that was sacred to his wife's memory. De Kraft shot and killed John, and attempted to do the same to David, but Zar appeared and saved the boy, forcing de Kraft to flee. Zar declared David his new brother, giving him the name Ka-Zar.

1939-1940

Some time later, Ka-Zar met Zar's mate, Sha, who was suspicious of the human and reluctant to trust him. Ka-Zar returned to De Kraft's camp, hoping to find a hand mirror he had seen there. When he arrived, the ape Bardak had claimed the mirror. Ka-Zar overpowered Bardak, but showed mercy and released him, winning the mirror for his own. Ka-Zar and Zar then went to see Trajah, the leader of the elephants. When they returned to Zar's cave, they found that Sha had given birth to cubs. Some time later, Bardak invaded the lions' cave while they were away, hoping to find Ka-Zar's mirror. Sha and her cubs returned, and Bardak abducted one of them, Zoro. Zar and Ka-Zar returned, and Ka-Zar killed Bardak, saving Zoro. This happened in front of several apes, including their leader Chaka, and Ka-Zar warned them not to disturb the lions.

Big-game hunter Steve Hardy and his entourage of native men soon arrived in the Congo and began capturing several of Ka-Zar's animal friends, notably the elephant Tuta. Ka-Zar took it upon himself to rescue the animals, frightening the natives in the process and convincing them that he was a jungle god. Their fear caused them to abandon Hardy's cause, leaving him essentially powerless. Ka-Zar was also attacked once more by N'jaga, but successfully defended himself by feigning death by drowning.

Paul de Kraft, along with another jewel hunter, Ed Kivlin, returned to the jungle and met with a grown David Rand for the first time. Kivlin and de Kraft sought an emerald-filled stream that the latter had found on his first expedition, and each planned to kill the other to claim all of the emeralds for himself. They used natives to guide them to the Congo, not telling them their true destination to avoid panicked fright on account of the "jungle god." Upon learning of de Kraft's return, Ka-Zar sought revenge. The animals similarly desired vengeance. A day after the men's arrival, Kivlin stumbled upon Zar and attempted to shoot him to death, but Ka-Zar intervened, telling Kivlin to leave or die. Kivlin returned to the camp and told de Kraft the situation; the latter deduced that the "white savage" must be the son of the man he had killed on his previous trip. Later, Ka-Zar stole the explorers' guns from their camp, recognizing them as a grave threat. When de Kraft saw them gone, he blamed and killed Kivlin. Returning to de Kraft's camp, Ka-Zar was ambushed by the former and his African henchmen. Nonetheless, with the help of his monkey friend Nono, Ka-Zar overcame the odds and killed de Kraft with a knife to the heart, avenging his father once and for all.

Paul de Kraft was not the last foreign invader in the Congo. Ka-Zar soon happened upon N'jaga attempting to kill a defenseless man, and was able to fend off the cat once more. The man explained to Ka-Zar that he had been a guide to a hunter named Fenton before Fenton grievously injured and blinded him. The man fell dead, but not before warning Ka-Zar of Fenton's mortal threat to the jungle animals. Ka-Zar in turn warned the animals, and Nono informed him of the location of Fenton's camp nearby. Fenton had violently coerced a group of native Africans into helping him hunt elephants for their ivory; Ka-Zar was able to convince them to instead help him and get revenge on Fenton. As Fenton zeroed in on a herd of elephants, Ka-Zar and the Africans encouraged the elephants to stampede, trampling Fenton to death.

The jungle was soon visited by a group of people looking to study it. Professor Rice and his daughter Mara, accompanied by their pilot, arrived with peaceful intentions. But upon arrival, their pilot revealed himself to be notorious criminal Red Skelton. He attempted to extort $100,000 and Mara's hand in marriage out of them, threatening to leave the jungle without them. Professor Rice resisted, and Skelton shot and killed him. Seeing this, Ka-Zar interfered, stabbing Skelton to death. Mara wished to stay in the jungle, but Ka-Zar insisted that she needed to return to civilization, giving her to a passing caravan. Ka-Zar later learned of Lester Drake, a man who had set up a gold mine in the area and taken a great deal of human and elephant slaves with the help of native chief Abwama. Ka-Zar put a stop to their dealings, releasing the captives and bringing about their deaths by an elephant stampede.

Returning home, Ka-Zar spotted a young woman about to be attacked by N'jaga. Fighting off the jaguar, Ka-Zar learned that the woman had gotten separated from her father in the jungle. Fighting through a violent tribe of natives, Ka-Zar led the woman to her father, who thoroughly thanked him. Later, a plane carrying a murder suspect known as London Jack was forced to land in the Congo. Jack outsmarted the detectives and pilot, stealing their guns and flying away with the plane after the pilot had finished repairing it. Ka-Zar watched this transpire and climbed aboard the plane as it took off, overpowering Jack and landing the plane to return him to custody and back on his trip to justice.

See also

• Ka-Zar the Savage