History ComicBook / KaZar

The original Ka-Zar was created in 1936 by writer Bob Byrd. David Rand was an American boy who grew up in the Congo, becoming a [[NatureHero Jungle Hero]] who's friends with an elephant (Trajah) and a lion (Zar). Byrd's initial Ka-Zar tales were first published as text stories in the eponymous ‘’Ka-Zar'' pulp magazine, then adapted into comic form and continued with sequels from 1939 onwards - by which point the original pulp magazine had been cancelled. In these stories, Ka-Zar initially avenges his father's murder by the villainous Paul de Kraft and then goes on to assist the Allies against Axis forces during World War II.

The second Ka-Zar (Lord Kevin Plunder) was introduced by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby in 1965, appearing in an early issue of ''ComicBook/TheXMen''. This version of the character went on to become an established part of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse and star of several solo comics. Like his predecessor, he's a Franchise/{{Tarzan}}-style Westerner who's been raised in the jungle (and like Tarzan - and unlike his predecessor - Plunder is British nobility). But instead of the jungles of Africa, Ka-Zar becomes lord of the Savage Land, an artificially created hidden jungle in the Antarctic. The Savage Land contains dinosaurs, humanoid tribes and superhuman threats.

For the most part, the ''Ka-Zar'' comics have used the Savage Land as their setting, with Ka-Zar himself as a BadassNormal hero in that environment. However, some stories have taken a very different approach - taking the cast to an urban environment or turning him into an EmpoweredBadassNormal.

* Marvel Comics (1939)
* Marvel Mystery Comics (1939)

* Ka-Zar (1970)
* Ka-Zar (1974)

* Ka-Zar (1997)
* Ka-Zar (2011)

!!Ka-Zar’s comic appearances contain the following tropes:

[[/folder]]

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Occasionally the dinosaurs are [[DinosaurMedia critical to the plot]], but mostly they're thrown in as background colour or brief complications. Because dinosaurs are cool.

* Ka-Zar the Savage (1981)

* Ka-Zar Lord of the Savage Land (2021)

* LostWorld: Initially played straight with the Savage Land. Later stories subvert this as the outside world ''does'' now know it's there, and outside interference is a recurring threat.

[[folder:Tropes not specific to a particular series]]

* {{Loincloth}}: In many stories this is all (or almost all) he wears.

* NatureHero: He's a jungle hero who's completely at home in the wild.

Ka-Zar is a Creator/MarvelComics adventurer and superhero. The name has been used by two different characters over the years, with the second version far better known.

[[redirect:Characters/MarvelComicsSavageLand]]

[[redirect:Characters/TheSavageLand]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kevin_plunder_earth_616.png]]
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Ka-Zar is the name of two fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The first character to bear the Ka-Zar name is David Rand. He was created by writer Bob Byrd, and first appeared in the pulp magazine Ka-Zar #1 (October 1936). The story was continued in two further issues published in January and June 1937, and then the character was set aside.

The second character to bear the Ka-Zar name is Lord Kevin Plunder. He was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #10 (March 1965).

Ka-Zar is Kevin Reginald, Lord Plunder, born in Castle Plunder, Kentish Town, London, England. He is the eldest son of Lord Robert Plunder, the English nobleman who discovered the Savage Land. After his mother had died and his father was killed by the barbaric Man-Ape natives of the Savage Land, Plunder was found and raised by the sabertooth tiger Zabu, who possesses near-human intelligence thanks to a mutation caused by radioactive mists. "Ka-Zar" means "Son of the Tiger" in the language of the Man-Apes. Ka-Zar and Zabu are constant partners. Ka-Zar became an expert hunter, trapper, and fisherman, living off the wild land.

In the Savage Land, some territories are populated by several human or humanoid tribes, and while most of them are on friendly terms with Ka-Zar, some of them consider him an outlander and an enemy. He acts more like an unofficial general protector, preventing outside commercial exploitation, such as poaching and mining, as well as enforcing peace between tribes and serving as goodwill ambassador to friendly visitors.

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!! Ka-Zar provides examples of:

* BadassNormal: Just a normal British man who TookALevelInBadass in order to survive the wild Savage Land.
* BattleCouple: with ComicBook/ShannaTheSheDevil to whom he is married.
* BadassFamily: With Shanna and Matthew.
* CaptainErsatz: The Ka-Zar of the early comics is a shameless ripoff of Franchise/{{Tarzan}}. His own name is just two letters shy of Tarzan's own name.
* CanonDiscontinuity: The Ka-Zar stories featured in these early comics are considered non-canon to both the later Ka-Zar series, and the Marvel Universe as a whole. The Golden Age Ka-Zar was called "David Rand" and was active in Africa, while the Silver Age (and still appearing) Ka-Zar was called "Kevin Plunder" and was active in the Savage Land, a fictional region of UsefulNotes/{{Antarctica}}. Besides the shared code-name, they have little in common.
* CanonImmigrant: The Ka-Zar presented here actually started as a standalone pulp magazine character (which was also run by Martin Goodman, the head of Timely Comics) which predates this comic series by three years. The first five comic stories with Ka-Zar are directly adapted into comic form from that magazine.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The Ka-Zar presented in the early stories is not the same Ka-Zar that would appear in later Marvel stories, and they are set in a separate continuity from the Marvel universe.
* GreatWhiteHunter: The David Rand Ka-Zar once ran across a hunter named Steve Hardy who spent months capturing animals to bring to zoos or collections (but had no qualms about killing them if he had to). Ka-Zar judged him a good man and did not allow the animals to harm him, but he still foiled his attempts to take animals.

!!Tropes:

Ka-Zar is Kevin Reginald, Lord Plunder, born in Castle Plunder, Kentish Town, London, England. He is the eldest son of Lord Robert Plunder, the English nobleman who discovered the Savage Land. After his mother had died and his father was killed by the barbaric Man-Ape natives of the Savage Land, Plunder was found and raised by the sabertooth tiger Zabu, who possesses near-human intelligence thanks to a mutation caused by radioactive mists.[4] "Ka-Zar" means "Son of the Tiger" in the language of the Man-Apes. Ka-Zar and Zabu are constant partners. Ka-Zar became an expert hunter, trapper, and fisherman, living off the wild land.