This issue is a nice done-in-one, with Ka-Zar tripping on bad mushrooms and thinking he’s Sam Spade after a double-crossing dame (Shanna).
Unfortunately, Frenz is still on the art–I suppose his noir scenes are a little better than his jungle scenes, but not much. It’s a script tailor made for the departed Brent Anderson.
But what’s interesting about it is how Jones approaches the whole event. It’s clear he identifies more with Shanna. She choses the Savage Land lifestyle, which makes her more interesting than Ka-Zar, who’s bound to it. Half the issue follows her around and Jones does a fine job.
The Mayerik illustrated backup is this lovely story of Ka-Zar’s sabertooth tiger (when Ka-Zar was a kid). It’s all silent, just great, emotive imagery. Disney really ought to be mining this series for movies… but not as much as Marvel should be collecting it.
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