Ka-Zar the Savage #11

History

Ka-Zar the Savage was a 34-issue series (April 1981 – October 1984) shepherded by writer Bruce Jones — a veteran of horror anthology titles like Creepy and Eerie — and penciler Brent Anderson, with Louise Jones (later Louise Simonson) serving as editor under Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. Issue #11, released on the newsstand October 27, 1981 with a February 1982 cover date, arrived at roughly the series' one-year mark, at which point Jones had already moved Ka-Zar and Shanna from the familiar Savage Land into the expanded prehistoric realm of Pangea, giving the book a swords-and-sorcery flavor distinct from its predecessors. The issue carried two stories: the main 'Children of the Damned' feature penciled by Brent Anderson and inked by Joe Rubinstein, and a backup 'Tales of Zabu!' strip drawn by Gil Kane (who also inked his own work), with colors by Don Warfield and letters by Janice Chiang throughout.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Belasco (Earth-616): created by writer Bruce Jones and artist Brent Anderson; Belasco is a demonic sorcerer of 13th-century Florentine origin who made a pact with extradimensional Elder Gods in exchange for immortality and vast mystical power.
• Origin of Zabu: the issue's backup story, 'Tales of Zabu!' (pencils and inks by Gil Kane), tells the origin of Ka-Zar's saber-toothed tiger companion for the first time.
• Main story title: 'Children of the Damned!' — cover-dated February 1982, released October 27, 1981; story is set in Pangea, the expanded prehistoric region of the Savage Land introduced by Bruce Jones earlier in the series.
• Belasco's backstory is woven around a Marvel Universe interpretation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno: in-story, Dante himself pursued Belasco into Pangea's underground labyrinths after the sorcerer kidnapped Beatrice Portinari, and a ship's log written by 'Captain Dante Alighieri' is a plot device in the issue.
• After his defeat at Ka-Zar's hands in this storyline, Belasco is trapped in Limbo (Otherplace), which he eventually conquers — setting up his role as primary antagonist of the 1983 Magik (Illyana and Storm) limited series and a recurring threat to the X-Men and New Mutants.
• Full creative credits: Bruce Jones (writer), Brent Anderson (penciler, main story), Joe Rubinstein (inker, main story), Gil Kane (penciler and inker, backup), Don Warfield (colorist), Janice Chiang (letterer), Louise Jones (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).
• Reprinted three times: in the French Ka-Zar (Arédit-Artima) series #4–5 (1983), in the Spanish Kazar (Ediciones Surco) #5 (1983), in Marvel Firsts: The 1980s #1 (2013), and collected in the Ka-Zar the Savage Omnibus (Marvel, 2021).
• Belasco subsequently appeared across the X-Men titles, the Fantastic Four, the 1983 Magik limited series, New X-Men, X-Infernus, the 2021 X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing one-shot, and the 2023 Mary Jane & Black Cat series, making this issue the root of a villain with over four decades of continuous Marvel publication history.

Full credits