Ka-Zar was a hero originally created in 1936 for a short lived "pulp"magazine that eventually found not just his way into comics but into the Marvel Universe and was a well known supporting character who appeared in several of the comic books. A number of attempts have been made to give Ka-Zar his own book and this black & white magazine was one such effort.
Aimed at more mature readers this range of magazines was not restricted bu the Comic Codes Authority and the violence and horror was certainly more to the fore whilst this book with the appearance of SHIELD certainly meant it had connections to the mainstream MU.
Also appearing in this story was Sheena, another late thirties creation who also made it into Marvel.
The Billion Year War was one of three strips contained in this issue. A bizarre tale of a war that came to an end after a millennia of "peace" with Ka-Zar mistaken for the opponent of the monstrous Grond who is released from a capsule being used as a Totem by primitives.
What sets this apart from Tarzan is the simple fact all the jungle action takes place in Antarctica within the hidden land where dinosaurs and other mysteries exist.
Other stories included Brak the Barbarian with all the usual Conan-like wizards and monstrosities and an ancient reprint of Jann of the Jungle. The latter being well, a bit lame to be honest and not that popular if the letter writers are to be believed.
I've always had a soft spot for Ka-Zar and his companion a sabre-toothed tiger so I quite enjoyed this romp.
Savage Tales however was short-lived and lasted just 11 bi-monthly issues. Few of Marvels foray into the magazine market lasted very long, Warren Magazines were the dominant publisher in that world. However Marvel did produce some memorable magazines and the one exception to the failure of it's line was Savage Sword of Conan which ran for 235 issues!
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