Ka-Zar

Marvel’s 1974–1977 Ka-Zar series took the jungle lord and his saber-toothed companion Zabu out of their supporting role in The X-Men and gave them their own savage adventure strip. Over twenty issues, a rotating team of writers—including Doug Moench, Gerry Conway, and Mike Friedrich—and artists like Val Mayerik, Don Heck, and John Buscema explored Kevin Plunder’s dual life as a civilized man and the feral protector of the Antarctic’s hidden Savage Land. This run deepened Ka-Zar’s mythos with a blend of lost-world science fiction, primal action, and Marvel-style angst, cementing him as a distinctive figure in the publisher’s 1970s lineup.