Saturday 25 April 2015

Marvel Flashback: Ka-Zar & Doctor Doom in Astonishing Tales!



Astonishing Tales #5 (Marvel Comics)

Kar-Zar: Gerry Conway (w) Barry Smith (a), Doctor Doom: Larry Leiber (w) George Tuska (a)

Astonishing Tales was an attempt by Marvel Comics to revive their "double feature" comics that had been at the centre of their success back in the sixties.

Launched in late 1970, this title featured two characters, Ka-Zar, Marvel's version of Tarzan but with dinosaurs in the hidden land which is a jungle in Antarctica. Don't ask. The second feature was the nefarious villain Doctor Doom.

This issue featured the end of Ka-Zar's "Petrified Man" story line complete with  a treacherous High Priestess, a monstrous guardian and of course the tragic "villain" of the piece the immortal nameless one.

Fairly standard fair for a story set in the Savage Land and popular enough for Ka-Zar to go on and become the only feature in the book from #9 to #20.

 

Meanwhile Doctor Doom has been trying to have a bit of fun in the French Rivera but got bored so off he sets to his home nation of Latveria.

Not all is well.

The Red Skull has taken over in Dooms absence, hoping to use the small European nation as a base from which to build the Fourth Reich.

Doesn't last long though as Doom easily overcomes the Skulls useless Nazi minions in just a few pages.

Doom goes on to star in Super-Villain Team up. 

 

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