Astonishing Tales#5(1971)

The jungle lord is locked in a deadly struggle with Zaladane high above the Savage Land as the two clash atop a rampaging pterodactyl. When the creature crashes, Ka-Zar saves Zaladane instead of letting her die, and that act of mercy changes the course of the story. Zaladane reveals that the true threat is Garokk, the petrified “Sun God,” whose ancient power has curdled into madness. As Garokk surveys the violence and suffering of the Savage Land, he concludes that peace can only come through total destruction and resolves that all living things must die. Hoping to stop him, Zaladane leads Ka-Zar toward the black pool whose strange energies first gave Garokk his power, immortality, and curse, believing it may also be the only way to end his torment. Ka-Zar confronts Garokk in a savage final battle, fighting not only the stone man’s strength and energy blasts but also his despair-driven certainty that life is only pain. Their struggle brings them down into the cavern of the black pool, where Garokk’s curse is finally broken and he dies, returned at last to mortality after centuries of existence. Ka-Zar spares Zaladane despite her crimes, but the ending remains uneasy, with Zabu acting strangely and the story closing on the promise of a new threat to come.