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Naza Stone Age Warrior: Issues 1-9 (1964)
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Fiction Review by The Gravedigger
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10.31.21
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In the first issue we're introduced to Naza, a loner who is part of the peaceful Gairn tribe. His parents were killed by an enemy tribe, the Borg, when he was a child and he's never let go of that. He tells the chief that they need more guards at the campfire at night and the chief tells him that he's always afraid and that he's a coward. A woman, Keena, likes him but there's a jealous man, Vang, who wants her for his own and will go to great lengths to make that happen. The Borg do attack that night and he puts up a fight but is knocked unconscious during the battle. When he awakens most everyone is slain and the dying chief tells him that the survivors, including Keena, were taken as slaves. On the way to rescue them Naza fights a "Bull Cat" (a sabre-toothed tiger) and a pack of jackals. He befriends one of them, who he names Roon, and now has an animal companion to help him survive. He's soon attacked by a giant snake, humungous ants, a giant ground sloth with a temper and a giant piranha when he swims across a lake. Then, when he's crossing a desolate rocky area a pterodactyl is awakened from dormancy by volcanic activity. On the sixth day he finally finds the Borg tribe and manages to rescue the half dozen members of his tribe that survived.
In the next issue they begin looking for a safe area to live. Vang is still mad that Naza showed up and rescued them because he secretly wanted to become a Borg and have Keena for a mate. And Keena is upset that Naza still hasn't asked her to become his mate. She thinks he cares more about his dog than her. Naza encounters a giant black bull with fangs and kills it-and also discovers the Borg are pursuing them. They travel into a desert but Vang keeps on leaving the enemy signs of their passing. Next, a giant vampire bat attacks. The Borg do catch up and are about to kill everyone except for Vang-when a large tribe of baboon men appear...
In the next seven issues the number of Gairn members shrinks and they encounter different tribes of humans and subhumans as well as ferocious prehistoric animals and natural disasters. In issue #3 there's another killer bull, vicious apes and a flash flood. Issue #5 has more vampire bats and #6 has a slew of giant animals, from wolves to crocodiles to spiders, which may have to do more with a hallucination causing gas more than anything else. #7 has tree dwelling people and giant killer birds and #9 has what looks like a plesiosaur living beneath a frozen lake.
This Dell comic is one of the better Cavemen comics, up there with TUROK SON OF STONE and Joe Kubert's TOR. Highly recommended.
Author: Unknown
Artist: Jack Sparling
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Rating: nan out of 10.0 - votes cast total
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