In which the X-Men head to deepest Antarctica and discover Ka-Zar lord of the jungle. Where Angel gets captured, again and the X-Men team up with Ka-Zar to take on the Swamp Men.
Cover Story
We are in classic X-Men territory with this stunning piece of artwork introducing us to both Ka-Zar and the Savage Land. The logo is traditional red with a black drop shadow; it's placed over a white background which forms the sky of the scene below.
The captions are unusual in this issue, Ka-Zar gets star billing not once, but twice in a pair of captions of yellow and white, one on green and the other on black. He is billed as the most spectacular new character of the year, it's only March.
Zabu also gets a caption with an additional call-out image of his face, Finally a rendering of the 'Thing' version of the Merry Marvel Marching Society sticker in the bottom right, more on this most audacious of fan clubs later.
Ka-Zar himself is rendered as the muscular Tarzan-like emeny charging into battle with the X-Men. His expression is furious and he looks set to grab Beast and brawl. Beast for his part looks terrified by the oncoming threat, as dos Marvel Girl in the middle distance.
Angel is folding his wings back ready to attack Ka-Zar with a dive bomb, Iceman has hurled an ice missile which looks set to make contact while Cyclops has just missed with his Optic Blast. Cyclops and Iceman in particular are posed in a dramatic, dynamic way really bringing to like this action scene.
The background is perhaps a little underwhelming, just a rock, grass and a couple of trees set the scene, however much more detail would detract from what is going on in the foreground. It's a stunning cover that really fits the story well, cleverly setting up Ka-Zar as an enemy, when he will instead end up a long time ally of the X-Men.
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| Uncanny X-Men 010 Cover Jack Kirby, Chic Stone, Sam Rosen and Art Simek |
Zabu also gets a caption with an additional call-out image of his face, Finally a rendering of the 'Thing' version of the Merry Marvel Marching Society sticker in the bottom right, more on this most audacious of fan clubs later.
Ka-Zar himself is rendered as the muscular Tarzan-like emeny charging into battle with the X-Men. His expression is furious and he looks set to grab Beast and brawl. Beast for his part looks terrified by the oncoming threat, as dos Marvel Girl in the middle distance.
Angel is folding his wings back ready to attack Ka-Zar with a dive bomb, Iceman has hurled an ice missile which looks set to make contact while Cyclops has just missed with his Optic Blast. Cyclops and Iceman in particular are posed in a dramatic, dynamic way really bringing to like this action scene.
The background is perhaps a little underwhelming, just a rock, grass and a couple of trees set the scene, however much more detail would detract from what is going on in the foreground. It's a stunning cover that really fits the story well, cleverly setting up Ka-Zar as an enemy, when he will instead end up a long time ally of the X-Men.
The Coming of Ka-Zar
Antarctic Adventure
CreditsWritten by Stan LeeDrawn by Jack Kirby Inked by Chic Stone Lettered by Sam Rosen |
One member of the expedition was returned safely to the group by a wild man wearing a loin cloth, and a sabre-toothed tiger. The panicked crew saw the tiger and attacked, causing both tiger and wild man to flee.
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| Perhaps he got captured again Marvel Girl? Uncanny X-Men 010 P2.3 |
The X-Men are confused when they find nothing but snow and ice, until Cyclops uncovers a hidden tunnel and the X-Men explore. Angel scouts ahead as the X-Men discover the Savage Land. Angel has a close encounter with a pterodactyl before heading off to scout further ahead. The other X-Men are attacked by the Swamp Men and Marvel Girl is captured.
Enter Ka-Zar
Ka-Zar is able to repel the Swamp Men but he and Zabu cannot follow through the swamp. A misunderstanding brings Ka-Zar and Iceman to battle, but the appearance of Maa-Gor unifies them, and Ka-Zar and the X-Men soon head off to find Marvel Girl.
Angel flies into a well thrown net and is captured by the Swamp Men. He is deposited on top of a temple where he will be fed to a Tyrannosaurus along with Jean.
Storming The Citadel
First AppearancesKa-ZarZabu Maa-Gor The Swamp Men |
The team take a moment to free Beast from a precarious position before saying goodbye to Ka-Zar, Zabu and the Savage Land. Ka-Zar orders the herd of Mammoth to close over the tunnel so that the Savage Land is secluded once more.
Mutant Evolution
| Mutant | Power Evolution |
| Marvel Girl | Marvel Girl can topple a Tyrannosaur and can untie knots with her telekinetic powers. |
The Merry Marvel Marching Society
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| Advertisement for the Merry Marvel Marching Society Uncanny X-Men 010 |
Stan Lee was dedicated to getting fans immersed into the Marvel fandom, not that such a word existed then, and was not averse to using this as a way to make money for Marvel. Thus the MMMS was born, a fan club where you could pledge your allegiance to Marvel and collect some cool merchandise in exchange for a dollar; that's about £5.29 when converted for inflation and currency.
Your dollar got you a membership button and card, some stickers and a 33 1/3 record of the Marvel creative team. Yes that's right, you got a recorded welcome from none other that Stan Lee himself.along with many other members of the creative team, or the Bullpen are they are commonly known.
You can expect to pay upwards of £70 for a full set of MMMS goodies from this era today, but don't worry, here's a video of the original album recording so you can hear the voices of comicbook royalty.
The Savage Land
It's true that this age of Marvel comics is sometimes known as the age of disbelief, and it will be some considerable time before there's a reasonable explanation for why there is a tropical jungle in Antarctica; however I thought it would be a jolly jaunt to see what eras all the creatures in this issue derived from.
We firstly encounter Pterodacylus, more commonly known as Pterodactyls or Pterosaurs; they are from the late Jurassic period and, interestingly were not nearly so large as portrayed in this issue, their wingspan would have been about a third of Angel's.
Zabu and the tiny horse ancestors come from long after the extinction of the dinosaurs, between 9 and 50 million years ago in the Neogene or Palogene periods. Sabretooth Cats were around for a very long time.
The giant bird ancestors ridden by the Swamp Men could be moa, easily the largest flightless birds to ever have existed. we also see what is likely a diplodicus or a brachiosaurus, both of which are from the Jurassic age. Tyrannosaurus on the other hand is from a slightly earlier time, the Triassic age.
Mammoths roamed just 4000 years ago, long long after the dinosaurs were finished. Finally we have the Swamp-Men and Man-Apes. both of which are intended to be primative humans who took a different evolutionary path perhaps; they are from much more recent times, the quaternary period from about two million years ago
We are still in the quaternary period today, but perhaps a new evolutionary age began with the X-Men.
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| Illustration of Ka-Zar David Cooper |
Zabu and the tiny horse ancestors come from long after the extinction of the dinosaurs, between 9 and 50 million years ago in the Neogene or Palogene periods. Sabretooth Cats were around for a very long time.
The giant bird ancestors ridden by the Swamp Men could be moa, easily the largest flightless birds to ever have existed. we also see what is likely a diplodicus or a brachiosaurus, both of which are from the Jurassic age. Tyrannosaurus on the other hand is from a slightly earlier time, the Triassic age.
Mammoths roamed just 4000 years ago, long long after the dinosaurs were finished. Finally we have the Swamp-Men and Man-Apes. both of which are intended to be primative humans who took a different evolutionary path perhaps; they are from much more recent times, the quaternary period from about two million years ago
We are still in the quaternary period today, but perhaps a new evolutionary age began with the X-Men.
Whoops!
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| Psst Jean, It's the other one you fancy! Uncanny X-Men 010 P14.3 |
The errors have been coming thick and fast in the last few issues, and this one is no exception. On page fourteen, panel three Marvel Girl clearly has her mind on someone other than Warren, who she is talking to, when she calls him Scott.
One would hope after ten issues the names of the characters would be well ingrained into the creative teams' minds. Then again Stan Lee was already known for his lapses in memory by this point, so perhaps not!
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