KA-ZAR

Last Saturday, Sidekicks, a local comic book store, held a going out of business sale with everything priced at a dollar (single issue comic books were a dime each). Sidekicks was part of the Austin Books empire and for several years the store existed to move out over stocked product and back issues at half of cover price. You have to sell one helluva lot of comics and comics related merchandise at half price to break even, much less, turn a profit these days given the high price of commercial real estate rent. Couple that with a highly desirable central Austin address and Sidekicks, sadly, was finally forced to close their door for good. 

But their loss was the fans gain. I got there early and had to stand in a short line with other fans waiting for the door to open. Once inside, it was controlled chaos with people filling up boxes and boxes with comics, trade paperbacks, graphic novels, toys, action figures, and other merchandise. I budgeted $25 for my spending spree and it didn't take me long to fill a box with twenty-three trade paperbacks and two action figures. I was in and out fairly quickly with the frantic, everything-must-go buying still going on inside.

One of the items I purchased for a buck is pictured above. This trade paperback was published in 2010 and it collects issues #1-7 and -1 of the KA-ZAR series published by Marvel Comics in 1997. The run was written by Mark Waid with art by Andy Kubert. I read it last night and loved every page of it.

Ka-Zar has a long publishing history. He started out as a Tarzan clone in the pages of pulp magazines published by Martin Goodman (who also published Timely Comics). Ka-Zar made his four-color debut in the pages of the legendary MARVEL COMICS #1 (which became MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS soon after). Ka-Zar shared those primal pages with a couple of characters who would go on to become bigger stars in the comic books firmament: the Human Torch and Namor, the Sub-Mariner. 

Flash forward to March, 1965 when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced a reinvented iteration of the jungle lord in the pages of X-MEN #10. This time Ka-Zar was, in reality, Lord Kevin Plunder, the long haired ruler of the Savage Land, a hidden world beneath Antarctica in which various tribes of humanoids co-exited alongside dinosaurs.  This version of Ka-Zar was definitely a second-stringer (third stringer?) in the Marvel Universe, making guest appearances in issues of DAREDEVIL and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN before finally earning his own series in 1970. Ka-Zar has had several series since but the series collected here is definitely one of the best versions of the jungle lord and his lovely wife, Shanna the She-Devil.

In this story arc, Ka-Zar, Shanna and Zabu, Ka-Zar's faithful sabre tooth tiger companion, are menaced in their Savage Land home by Gregor, the man who trained Kraven the Hunter. Gregor has been sent to the Savage Land by Ka-Zar's evil brother, Parnival Plunder (who secretly serves Thanos). Ka-Zar and Shanna defeat Gregor and take the fight to Parnival in his New York City headquarters. But Parnival has The Rhino in his thrall and Ka-Zar and Shanna have their hands full dealing with this classic Spider-Man villain. 

To make matters worse, Ka-Zar and Shanna's marriage seems to be coming apart at the seams with Ka-Zar's fascination with all things technological going against the grain of Shanna's back-to-nature, pure, uncontaminated lifestyle. Waid deftly mixes blistering action scenes with quieter moments of domestic drama. Andy Kubert's pencils are simply sensational. He doesn't slavishly follow his famous father's style but there are places where I can detect a slight Joe Kubert influence. And that's not a bad thing, as Joe Kubert ranks as one of my top five all time favorite comic book artists. 

The collection is capped off with a "Flashback" story from issue # -1 which recounts an untold  tale from Ka-Zar's teenage years. The most interesting thing about this "done-in-one" story is the artwork by John Cassaday. The work here shows only a hint of the greatness to come as Cassadays' pencils evolved over time to become quite different from what's on display here. But hey, every comic book artist  has to start somewhere right?

I'm probably in the minority on this and I'm reasonably sure that it will never happen but I would dearly love to see a MCU film version of Ka-Zar. Cast some bulked up young stud of an actor (not a meat head because Ka-Zar's not dumb), a smoking hot red-head to play Shanna, throw in a mess of CGI created dinosaurs and the Savage Land itself, and you've got a terrific cinematic  jungle adventure film. Like I said, it will probably never happen but then again, did anyone ever think that we'd one day see not one but two GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films, two ANT-MAN films, a Best Picture Academy Award nominated BLACK PANTHER and a box office record breaking AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR? 

As Marvel Studios prepares to enter Phase Three of their movie making plans, I submit for consideration Ka-Zar and Shanna as candidates for their own movie.

 Can I get an amen?

 C'mon people, show a little love for my favorite jungle lord.

BLITZ

I ran across a used Blu-Ray copy of BLITZ in a thrift store the other day. Never heard of the film but it was pitched as a gritty British urban crime film starring Jason Statham. I've enjoyed the other Statham starring films I've seen so I decided to take a chance.

I watched the film last night and while watching the end credits, I discovered that I did indeed know a little something about this film. BLITZ (2011) is based on the novel of the same name by Irish crime writer Ken Bruen (who also served as a producer on the film). I've read a few of Bruen's novels over the years and I recalled that I have a trade paperback edition of BLITZ sitting on my shelf, purchased years ago, just waiting to be read. Guess what's going into the to-be-read rotation?

Stratham stars as Detective Sargeant Tom Brant, a burnt out cop with a short fuse and violent tendencies. A serial killer who dubs himself "Blitz' (Aiden Gillen) is picking off cops one by one. The common thread linking the victims is that they all arrested Barry Weiss aka "Blitz" at some point in his criminal career (he's got a rap sheet a mile long). Brant teams up with Sergeant Porter Nash (Paddy Considine), a gay cop who has a few deadly skeletons in his closet, to capture "Blitz".

They succeed after a terrific foot chase sequence, only to find that they don't have enough hard evidence to make any of the charges stick. "Blitz" is kicked loose but Brant and Nash decide to set a deadly trap for the maniac and take justice into their own hands.

BLITZ is, as advertised, a gritty crime thriller, with good performances (especially Gillen) and scenes of brutal violence. Think of it as a sorta Brit version of DIRTY HARRY and go along for the ride. You won't be disappointed.

INSIDE BASEBALL-THE HYBORIAN LEAGUE

Pulp Hero Press released this trade paperback late last year and I finished reading it yesterday evening (in lieu of watching the Super Bowl, I read this book, went for a walk, and watched a movie along with some vintage cartoons and the first episode of FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE, but I digress...)

BARBARIAN LIFE: A LITERARY BIOGRAPHY OF CONAN THE BARBARIAN VOLUME ONE by Roy Thomas will appeal to fans who count themselves among any or all of the following groups: fans of Robert E. Howard, fans of Conan the Barbarian, the character, fans of comic book writer/editor Roy Thomas, fans of the 1970s era comic book CONAN THE BARBARIAN and, specifically, fans of the first 51 issues of said comic as written and edited by Thomas. 

Me? I check all of those boxes. I've long avowed that Conan is among my five favorite fictional heroic characters, the others being Superman, James Bond, Doc Savage and Sherlock Holmes. I bought each of the 51 issues covered here (and many more)  brand new off of the stands and spinner racks of my youth. I currently own original copies of #12 and #21 but I have the first 59 issues of CONAN THE BARBARIAN collected in handsome trade paperbacks published by Dark Horse when that fine comic book publishing house held the rights to Conan and other REH properties (those rights have now returned to Marvel Comics). I've stood at REH's grave (a family plot including his mother and father) in Brownwood, Texas and visited his home in Cross Plains, Texas, both before and after the historic renovation project. And Roy Thomas is, hands down, my all time favorite comic book writer. 

Thomas recounts in painstaking detail the genesis of each of the first 51 issues of CONAN THE BARBARIAN in this volume (a second volume, due out sometime this year, will cover the remaining issues of CONAN THE BARBARIAN written and edited by Thomas). It's a fascinating peek behind the scenes to see how Thomas and some of the best comic book artists in the business (then or now), brought REH's immortal hero to four color life. The artists roster includes Barry (Windsor) Smith (pencils),  John (pencils) and Sal (inks) Buscema, Ernie Chua/Chan (inks), Dick Giordano (inks), Gil Kane (pencils), Neal Adams (pencils and inks) and Dan Adkins (inks). Each issue gets its' own chapter with a black and white scan of the cover included. There are issues adapted from REH material, both Conan and other types, issues based on material by John Jakes, Michael Moorcock, Norvell Page and Gardner Fox, some material based on the works of Lin Carter and L. Sprague DeCamp and more. Thomas clearly shows that his intent in each issue was to remain as true as possible to REH and his original vision and, in my opinion, he succeeded admirably.

Reading this book took me back to the days when I was in high school and college and each new issue of CONAN THE BARBARIAN was a must buy, double bag item. I have a hankering to re-read this material in those trade paperbacks I mentioned above. The most amazing thing about the book is that after more than 40 years, Roy Thomas can recall the events behind these comics with nearly total recall. He doesn't remember everything and he's quick to point that out when it's the case but the rest of the time, he delivers a treasure trove of "inside baseball" type of material that I loved reading.

Thumbs up.