Sad Dad Gets Mad in Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land #3

The Savage Land needs no master, but when techno-organic organisms spread sickness and corruption, Ka-Zar and his family must protect their home. Zac Thompson, Germán García, Álvaro López, Matheus Lopes, Matt Milla & Joe Caramagna deliver Ka-Zar: Lord Of The Savage Land #3.

Chris Eddleman: We’re back as we  crest the hump of this five issue miniseries with Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land #3. We’re really getting into the meat (pun intended) of the miniseries with this one, as we finally meet foes and suffer even more setbacks. The metaphors fly hard and fast as guilt mixes with failure. It’s a bit of a bummer, but a beautiful one, and I’m stoked to dig in.

Zachary Jenkins: One thing I appreciate about this comic, more than anything else, is that there is a clear sense of vision both thematically and artistically. We’ve crossed into the back half of this title, and the seeds planted early on have taken root and begun to blossom. Let’s see what happens next…

Technically it’s Biology

Chris: So I would like to start by really digging into some distinct lines that this comic is trying to draw, which is between biology and biotechnology. I think what this book is trying to hammer home is the distinction between simple biology and biology mixed with actual technology (like metal and electricity) but it honestly might be just “biology left to biology” vs “biology but messed with by people.” So that’s an interesting topic to get into, as things like GMOs [Ed. note: Genetically modified organisms] are considered distrusted by many, whereas “organic” food is a buzzword that seems to imply that it’s better. 

But in this comic, Shanna is in fact creating GMOs after a fashion, so clearly she is making a differentiation here. But what’s interesting to me as someone who knows a little bit about biology is the question of what is natural vs artificial? Most food we eat is in fact engineered, and has been for millennia. Corn was crafted ages ago in a process that modern genetics is still puzzled by. Brassica is at least every vegetable you’ve ever heard of in one plant. Everything on Earth exists, it’s tangible, it’s made of matter. What is nature if not everything that exists around us? But honestly, that seems to kind of be the excuse that the Polyscion core makes later. He was actually here first, a phrase spoken that we don’t really fully understand.  

I’m still slightly stuck on nature vs artificial though. In some ways, the engineering of nature was begun by humans with the move to agriculture, a move that in some ways was a terrible idea. But even before-so (and after in different parts of the world), hunter-gatherer societies used fire as a tool to sculpt the land and its inhabitants. I dunno, Zack, am I just reading too much into this? I find these interlopers (Ka-Zar and fam) talking crunchy to be fascinating.

Zachary: Your background is in biology, mine is in mechanical engineering. We have both been formed by our experiences. The engineering of nature, bending it and crafting it to our will, has been something that, as you have pointed out, has been going on for millennia. Engineering is intelligent, intentional. Biology is wild. We can try and contain it, even beat it down, but life finds a way. 

I am reminded of a book I recently read, Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn. In it, Flyn catalogues her journeys to some of the places that have been most damaged by the industrialization and intelligent design of man. Places that have since been abandoned where nature has returned. It’s the push and pull of engineering vs. biology. We humans can burn and pillage all we want. Nature has been here long before us and will be here long after.

So all that in place, the comic is chronicling the struggle between Ka-Zar, an outsider, a plunderer, but a member of this ecosystem, and Domovoy, one driving these evolutions through engineered means. Like Ka-Zar, we have benefited from a society that is destroying the ecosystem; we are part of the problem. But does that mean we should give up and not try to improve society somewhat? What Shanna is doing with her true biotech is growing, without waste and with intention, letting nature take its course. The comic makes a point that Domovoy forces nature to do what it wants, the cost be damned.

PolyScion, in the…Flesh?

Chris: So poor young Matthew has left his parents and decided he is going straight to the Domovoy, since he’s kind of a true believer in the artificial restoration that Domovoy is undertaking as the supposedly true master of the Savage Land. The bulk of this comic is the big fight between the Plunder family and the Domovoy, as Matthew made a bit of a goof and led his family to the Savage Land, only for him to be captured when he thought he and the Domovoy were buds.

I really homed in on a characteristic of the Domovoy in that it considers itself a flesh reshaper, not to mention the progenitor of the land. Matthew seems to finally notice the wrongness of the Domovoy as well, as the dinosaur guards of the technological beastie are slimy rather than scaly. It’s like the Domovoy is the uncanny valley of the Savage Land, just slightly twisted. 

While the Plunders seem to represent an attempt at regenesis (clashing with Ka-Zar’s accidental destruction of the forest last issue), the Domovoy is both all life and all death, poison and decay. He’s a lie, a progenitor that’s actually an invader, or so we currently believe. 

Also, he absolutely wrecks the Plunders, breaking Shanna’s arm and crushing Ka-Zar’s throat. It’s gnarly, and the art team sells it without relying too much on gore. It’s really nicely done. 

How do we feel about the Domovoy moving from tempter to outright rageful aggressor?

Zachary: I never trusted the guy, knew he was hiding something uncouth. He’s forcing this unnatural evolution and does not abide with anyone stepping in his path. Ka-Zar and family are just an obstacle in his way to colonize the land in his image. He claims to be older than all else here but that feels like a half truth that will be uncovered as the series closes.

You mention that this issue involves a lot of punching. I have been mostly down on punching in comics because it often feels like a requirement rather than a story beat. However here, the set piece works well. This is the fall of Ka-Zar, he needs to get beaten, and badly. What makes this sequence stand out is Matheus Lopes’ delicate colors. The scene is ethereal, almost washed out. But that unnatural element underscores that this isn’t just a superhero beat-em-up. There is something older and deeper in this story.

Chris: Yeah the Domovoy gets these odd bright blue colors that contrast heavily with the actual makeup of the area that they’re in, which is an arid orange nothing. The Cradle shown to us later (which is where young Matthew and Zabu get deposited) loses the color altogether- a dark reflection of the Domovoy outside. It’s a scene that moves quickly, but feels visceral, ending in the void. A nice difference in superhero beat-em-ups.

Sabretooth Cat’s Cradle

Zachary: There’s a genre of comics that I have grown oddly attached to. It’s the work of guys like Jeff Lemire and Tom King. It is sad dad comics. And Chris? This comic has a lot of sad and a lot of dad.

I have two boys and a chip on my shoulder from my parents’ divorce early in my life. I relate to Ka-Zar’s conflict with not becoming the parts of his father he hated, while at the same time taking care of Matthew and letting him grow. As a parent, it’s hard to watch your kid make a mistake, and Ka-Zar knows trusting Domovoy is a mistake. But he also knows his son and knows that holding him too tightly might push him down a path of resentment and anger. So he watches, from a distance, making sure his son is safe but letting him forge his own path. How did you feel about that portrayal of this sad dad?

Chris: So a key point of parenting for me at least, is to give your children a better life than the one you had. I think Kevin is doing his absolute best here, but still failing in ways that we parents do. We get the stark contrast of his childhood, in a ripped up forest being force-fed piles upon piles of meat that he doesn’t want to eat. In contrast, he’s trying to teach his boy to be NOT his father (or him for that matter), but it’s going as well as can be expected in a superhero comic, I guess. 

I think we have a pretty great portrayal of a father trying to atone for what he feels are mistakes he made as a child by instead raising a child who is above those mistakes. Matthew, in his youthful pride, thinks he’s found a better way to accomplish the Plunders’ current mission of conservation than his parents can provide. Remember when you felt smarter than your parents? Good thing it wasn’t about a horrifying eldritch thing! 

We didn’t see it much in this issue, but I also like that Matthew is savvy about things that Kevin isn’t. Matthew has only really known the Savage Land, and in many ways feels like he understands it better than his interloper father, even when he doesn’t always.

Zachary: Ka-Zar sees that Matthew is closer to the Savage Land than he is. That truth may be unsettling to him, but it is the truth, and what he has been working towards. I think parents can want more for their children without realizing what “more” means, and we are seeing that here. The great strength of this story is that it isn’t black and white. There is complexity in everyone’s actions and emotions here, and that makes it one of the most rewarding books on the stands today.

Marvelous Musings

• Garcia just rules. This comic is gorgeous. 
• An underrated part of this issue is how Ka-Zar channels animal characteristics. His face becomes unhuman, just enough to know something is different. It’s intense and it works.
• Again, the visceral nature of the injuries — wow.

Chris Eddleman

Chris Eddleman is a biologist and co-host of Chrises On Infinite Earths.

Zachary Jenkins

Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.