Wrap it Up is a lot like my Provide Some Answers feature, which is about long-running comic book plots finally being resolved. This, though, is a more specific comic book occurrence where the plotlines of a canceled comic book are wrapped up in the pages of another comic book series. This would happen most frequently in Marvel Comics, but other companies did it, as well.
Today, based on a suggestion by reader Rob H., we look at yet ANOTHER Ka-Zar series that was wrapped up in another comic book (the last installment of Wrap it Up, of course, was about the 1980 Ka-Zar series being wrapped up in the pages of the Avengers). This time, we're looking at a similar situation with the 1974 Ka-Zar ongoing series.
In Ka-Zar #20 (by Doug Moench, Val Mayerik and Ernie Chan), Ka-Zar tries to defend the Savage Land from an alien invasion that involves flying sharks...
As it turned out, though, these aliens were actually from another dimension (they are also working with Klaw, for whatever that's worth)..
The bad guys had a unique "rejuvenation center" and Ka-Zar and his allies decided to storm it, but they were discovered by the bad guys and the issue ends with Ka-Zar seemingly about to die from a spaceship laser blast...
But, as the "To be continued" notes, it was not continued in that series, as the book was canceled with that issue.
A few years later, the X-Men ended up in the Savage Land following a battle with Magneto at Magneto's Antarctic headquarters.
They are seemingly attacked by Sauron in X-Men #115 (by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin), but Ka-Zar jumps in and reveals that Sauron is his ally now. Sauron then fills the X-Men in on what happened and how the Savage Land was now conquered by someone ELSE, the revived Garokk, the Petrified Man!
Now, come on, that was about as amazing of an attempt to resolve a cliffhanger in a book from three years earlier that you will ever see. Well done by Claremont.
So the X-Men and Ka-Zar team up and defeat Garokk and Ka-Zar was then free to be used by other books (and, of course, he would soon get another ongoing series).
Thanks to Rob for the suggestion! If anyone has a suggestion for a comic book series that has its plots wrapped up in another comic, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!
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