Issue(s): Ka-Zar the Savage #2
Cover Date: May 81
Title: "To air is human!"
Credits:
Bruce Jones - Writer
Brent Anderson - Penciler
Carlos Garzon - Inker

Review/plot:
Shanna shows up as Ka-Zar and Zabu sit miserably in the rain thinking about their lost loves. There's an accident and they both fall off a cliff, with Shanna's last words to Ka-Zar being "I love you". They wake up on top a of a huge tower called Aerie Shalann populated by the bird men that rescued them.

They inform Ka-Zar that Pangea is undergoing major ecological changes, and they don't know why. Soon, the bird men are attacked by Pterons, half-men, half-pterodactyl. Ka-Zar helps repel the attack with his sling...

...and they learn that Queen Leanne, an ally of the bird men and the woman that Ka-Zar met last issue, has been captured.

It turns out that one of the bird people, Sep, is really having an affair with Leanne, but he turns out to be a traitor, turning her over to the Pterons. Ka-Zar, Zabu, and Shanna attack, with Shanna killing the Pteron King. But they wind up in a situation where both Shanna and Leanne are hanging off a cliff, and Ka-Zar can only save one.

It's a deliberately heavy-handed scenario. Ka-Zar chooses Shanna but it doesn't really show a resolution in his torn feelings.

This continues to be a great book.

Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The first 6 or so issues of Ka-Zar are displaced from their publication dates due to Ka-Zar's appearance in Marvel Fanfare #1-2.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

i have this commic, just wondering how much they are in poor condition, i mean it is pretty good except water damage worn binding and stuff like that

Water damaged comics from the 80s always go for a high price on the secondary market. Try selling it on Amazon marketplace.

Shifting gears from some comments on cosmic characters . . .

In that triptych above, the third image, on the right, of Queen Leanne stands out in my memory as one of loveliest depictions of a woman I've seen in the comics. Brent Anderson is a really talented artist. Surprises me that over the years he hasn't done more for Marvel. Mainly associated now, of course, with "Astro City."

I have the whole Jones/Anderson run on "Ka-Zar the Savage" and definitely agree that these issues are gems -- largely underrated, it seems. And Zabu stands with Lockjaw as my two favorite non-humanoid Marvel characters.

Gil Kane and Herb Trimpe may have drawn a more ferocious Zabu, but Brent Anderson drew a more all-around expressive big cat, with facials recognizable to any pet owner. It's fun to see him not just as a member of "Team Savage Land", more importantly, he's family, and the creative team does a great job of showing this.

I agree with the general tone of approval for Brent Anderson's pencil work here. On #1 I was at first put off by Carlos Garzon's somewhat minimalist inking style, especially on the nice Pangea splash in #1, but it seems to work better for me once I get used to it. His line work is delicate where it needs to be, and he uses it to show distance well. Hard to pull off considering the print quality standards he was working within.