Kaza (Fear in the Jungle)
In one universe, a version of Kaza existed as a Tarzan-esque “jungle hero” who was also known as “the Congo King”.
Description
Physical appearance
Kaza appeared muscular, broad-shouldered, clean-shaven white man with a square jaw, dark eyes, and mid-length, slightly-curly jet-black hair. He wore a leopard-skin loincloth. (COMIC: Fear in the Jungle)
Personality
Kaza was a heroic, selfless individual who was much concerned with his role as a protector of the jungle. Though his word-choice sometimes betrayed his “wild” nature, he was articulate and even, at times, verbose and over-dramatic in his speech patterns. He did not like to lose a fight or run from one, but was occasionally willing to do so. (COMIC: Fear in the Jungle)
Powers & abilities
Though possessing no supernatural qualities, Kaza was unusually physically accomplished, capable of wrestling with big-cats and even gorillas.
Despite his lack of a formal education, he could read fluently. (COMIC: Fear in the Jungle)
Biography
This version of Kaza seemed to have been raised in the jungle, having little familiarity with European customs. In his jungle in the Congo, he acted as a protector and leader to a group of natives, hence his nickname as “the Congo King”. He was friends with the British Commissioner, who sometimes asked for his help with ongoing crises, and his existence became known in the Old World, leading to wealthy, elderly dowager Matilda Marshall becoming fixated on the idea of marrying him.
Learning that she intended to travel to his jungle in an effort to pressure him into marrying her, the Commissioner try to warn Kaza about the “threat” and tell him to lay low for a while until she lost interest, but due to being attacked by big-cats and a large water-snake on the way to the Commissioner's house, he instead happened to be there right when Matilda appeared. However, she had been followed to the Congo by her European suitor Tom Rubio, who briefly attemptied to assassinate Kaza. After realising that their interests aligned, however, Kaza pretended to lose to Rubio in a fistfight, causing Matilda to lose her fixation on Kaza and see Rubio in a new light. Meanwhile, Kaza was free to enter a romance with Matilda's attractive lady-in-waiting Dorothy Gray. (COMIC: Fear in the Jungle)
Behind the scenes
This original version of Kaza appeared in a single public-domain comic story printed in 1954 in Fantastic Fears #8, Fear of the Jungle. It was a reskinned version of a story starring the identical, more perennial character of Jo-Jo the Congo King, with character names altered.
The obscure figure was eventually resurrected in a new incarnation by Jay Epps for the webcomic Kaza's Mate, Gwenna, which replaced his original love interest Dorothy Gray with Gwenna, one of multiple love interests of the original Jo-Jo the Congo King. Though largely physically identical, Epps's Kaza has a different backstory, and his jungle is located in the fictional country of Buranda instead of the original's Congo.
External Links
| Incarnations of Kaza |
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| Reality Z-25 31-H • Fear in the Jungle |
