Astonishing Tales#4(1971)

Zaladane, Queen-Priestess of the Sun-Empire, leads her sky-warriors in a savage aerial assault on the City of the Vala-Kuri, raining torch-bombs on its helpless people in the name of Garokk the Sun God. Ka-Zar, riding a captured unicorn, races to stop her holy war before the peaceful city is utterly destroyed. Meanwhile, Garokk himself stalks the shadows of the Savage Land, haunted by his 500-year curse — drinking from the black pool made him immortal but slowly transformed him into a living replica of the Sun God statue, a fate he now longs to escape through death. When Ka-Zar confronts both Zaladane's forces and Garokk directly, he presses the tortured immortal to see the horror being committed in his name. The turning point comes when Garokk, having watched enough slaughter, reveals himself fully transformed and declares that the fighting must stop — commanding his followers to lay down their arms and bring peace. The warriors obey, and silence falls over the ruined city. Zaladane, furious at being denied her conquest and glory, refuses to accept this and seizes Ka-Zar, kidnapping him in the sky on her pterosaur as Garokk's ghostly form fades and Zabu and Tongah are left powerless below.