Astonishing Tales#3(1970)

In a wrecked New York apartment, Ka-Zar is confronted by Garokk — an immortal man whose flesh has turned to living stone — who bears the mark of the Sun God on his chest. Garokk explains his 500-year curse: a former English sailor on the H.M.S. Drake, he was shipwrecked and washed into the Savage Land, where he unknowingly drank from a sacred cup at the foot of the Sun God idol. The liquid granted him immortality but slowly transformed him into a living replica of the statue, leaving him an undying outcast who outlived everyone around him across the centuries. Now his dreams show him that Zaladane, Queen-Priestess of the Sun-Empire, is rallying her sky-warriors to wage holy war in his name to welcome the Sun King's return, and he begs Ka-Zar to help him stop it before the slaughter begins. Ka-Zar and Garokk fly south and enter the Savage Land, only to immediately encounter Tongah, a warrior whose entire village, wife, and child were massacred by Zaladane's forces. Ka-Zar holds Tongah back from killing Garokk, vouching for the ancient one and vowing that those responsible will be punished. Tongah confirms it was Zaladane herself who led the sky-beasts on that raid. The moment of reckoning arrives as Garokk senses Zaladane's army closing in — scores of pterodactyl-riding warriors darken the sky, flying north toward the Kingdom of the Lizard-Men to gather sacrifices for the Sun King's coming. Ka-Zar swears they will be stopped.