Daredevil # 13 - The Secret of Ka-Zar's Origin!
is a comic book published by Marvel Publishing & released on 2 / / 1966Plot Summary
Elsewhere, Ka-Zar is rescued from the monstrous venus fly trap by Zabu. Conquering the plant, Ka-Zar lets rip a war cry, that alerts the Plunderer and his crew to his location, though one crew member, Slagg, is perhaps not as loyal as the Captain one like.
Daredevil feels that it is only a matter of time before Maa-gor kills him. However, the Plunderer appears at the cave entrance and, letting off a volley of shots, chases the ape man away. Observing the hero, Slagg remarks to his captain his feeling that Daredevil is blind and suggests they do away with him. Plunder is not interested, however, remarking instead that he is more interested in finding Ka-Zar, who he reveals is his long lost brother.
Back in New York, Foggy and Karen learn that Matt is lost at sea, a revelation that causes great distress to the secretary.
In the Savage Land, Ka-Zar and Zabu race back to the cave with the magical Ju Ju berries that Ka-Zar feels will revive Daredevil. Sensing danger, Zabu races ahead of his master and falls into a trap set by Plunder. As Ka-Zar races towards the pirate captain, Plunder pulls out half a medallion and shows it to his opponent. Ka-Zar then fishes in his loin cloth and pulls out the other half. The Plunderer then reveals to Ka-Zar that this proves he is his brother, as both pieces were given to them by their parents many years before. Whilst Ka-Zar is still taking in the news, Slagg releases a cage that falls from a tree above Ka-Zar's head and traps him.
The Plunderer and his crew place Ka-Zar and Daredevil into his submarine and travel away from the Savage Land to his castle in England. Back home, Captain Plunder has a typically excessive pirate's celebration with food and grog, served up by his staff of waiters, led by the industrious Feepers. However Plunder has drugged the provisions and his pirates are also soon rendered unconscious. The Captain now turns to Daredevil and, stating that he feels that Ka-Zar trusts him the most, asks the hero to get his half of the medallion off him. Unknown to Plunder, Daredevil's enhanced senses have returned, having taken some of Ka-Zar's Ju Ju berries.
Daredevil asks the Plunderer why the medallion is so important. Plunder reveals that it was created from a mysterious, very powerful ore found by his father. The rest of the ore was then locked in a tomb, that could only then be opened by the medallion. He then split the medallion between the Plunderer and the Plunderer's brother, Kevin. The Plunderer reveals that, shortly after this, his father and Kevin returned to the Savage Land, where his father had discovered the ore, but they never came back. Having revealed his story to Daredevil, he then throws the man without fear into a pit where Ka-Zar already is.
Thinking Daredevil to be one of the Plunderer's crew, Ka-Zar attacks him. Recognising Ka-Zar to be the more powerful, DD uses his guile to trick Ka-Zar into rushing him and uses him as a springboard to pounce out of the pit and straight into Plunder.
With the pirate captain knocked out, Matt stretches his billy club into the pit advising Ka-Zar to climb out. Whilst Ka-Zar is initially uncertain, when Matt calls him by his real name, Kevin, Ka-Zar's memories are triggered and he starts to climb up. Unknown to the two heroes, Slagg is spying on these events.
Slagg, armed, demands that Ka-Zar hand over the medallion. However, he is unexpectedly shot by the butler, Feepers, who in turn wants the medallion for his own purposes. Daredevil quickly disposes of Feepers, whilst Ka-Zar makes his escape. Recognising that the jungle man is thousands of miles from home, Daredevil races after him.
Recovering, Feepers, revealing he is part of an international espionage outfit, contacts his brethren in England to be on the lookout for the medallion. When Plunder recovers and finds Slagg dead, using his title of Lord, he gives the police descriptions of Ka-Zar and Daredevil as the murderers. Meanwhile one of Feepers' colleagues spots the two heroes and fires a grenade that explodes right behind them.
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Daredevil 13
Reviewed by dmstarz on Oct. 22, 2008. dmstarz has written 360 reviews. His/her last review was for Unmasked!. 2 out of 2 users recommend his reviews. |
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Location, location, location. Having moved from New York to Antartica last month, this issue Daredevil and co are quickly transported from the Savage Land to England, DD still part of the Plunderer's crew, though discovered to be blind. One peculiarity, typical of comics at this time, occurs early on - Plunder appears to have no interest in unmasking the seemingly defenseless Daredevil, which, one must feel, that he would at least be curious about.
Plunder is actually a Lord and, as we learn, Ka-Zar's brother, both brothers having half of a magic medallion that can open a stone tomb in which is encased a very powerful ore. Plunder wants Ka-Zar's half so that he can have first dibs on these resources, presumably, and tries to provoke Daredevil into getting the medallion off his brother (real name, Kevin, which is. at least, not as bad as Parnival - no wonder Plunder is furious).
Great names for villains continues this month, when we learn the name of one of the Plunderer's crew, the unintentionally hilariously monikered Slagg. Like his name suggests, Slagg is a thoroughly unappealing character, which, as he is a bad guy, is actually quite a good thing. His introduction really amps up the potential villainy as we now have not only Plunder, Slagg, the Swamp Men and Maa-gor the ape man (and later the butler, Feepers) all seemingly at odds with Ka-Zar and DD. One of the hallmarks of Stan Lee's terrific scripting is his ability to introduce many different factions in one story, seemingly unconcerned about using up all his good ideas at once.
Slagg is a lot of fun. He's typical pirate with eye-patch, bandana and parrot on his shoulder - much more the stereotype than Plunder is. Best scene involving Slagg is when he barks orders at Plunder's waiters in the pirates' castle, calling them 'over-stuffed salamanders' and demanding food and booze. However, his comeuppance is at the hands of an unlikely source - the seemingly mild manner and subservient butler, Feepers. "I've waited for years, suffered every taunt, every indignity," Feepers wails. "I was content to be Feepers, the humble flunky, for I always knew this supreme moment would one day be mine!" It's a great speech from a minor character.
There's one bizarre panel of England towards the end of the issue, which seems to indicate that the country is made up of 'foggy, murky, mysterious moorlands.' Presumably Stan hadn't been in the UK for a while.
3 out of 5
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| Added by: | Red L.A.M.P. |
| Date Added: | June 6, 2008 |
