This is "Provide Some Answers," which is a feature where long unresolved plot points are eventually resolved.

Today, based on a suggestion from my pal Martin Gray, we look into the reason behind Ka-Zar dramatically changing his speech patterns (and, I suppose you could argue his entire personality, really).

When the modern comic book version of Ka-Zar debuted in X-Men #10 (by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and Chic Stone), Ka-Zar spoke in your standard "Me Tarzan. You Jane" sort of way.

Over the years, writers eased up a bit on the speech patterns, but Ka-Zar wasn't exactly a huge conversationalist, either.

That continued all the way up until 1981's Ka-Zar the Savage by Bruce Jones, Brent Anderson and Carlos Garzan, where now, not only was Ka-Zar in a romantic relationship with Shanna the She-Devil out of nowhere (which I covered the other day here), but he was also now not only NOT talking like Tarzan, but he was downright eloquent and philosophical!

That's been the take on Ka-Zar ever since, but where did it come from?

Bruce Jones eventually provided some answers in Ka-Zar the Savage #21 (by Joens, Ron Frenz and Mel Candido), where Peter Parker is hanging out with Shanna O'Hara while Ka-Zar is in surgery following being shot in the head. Peter wonders how Ka-Zar changed his speech patterns and Shanna both explains how she got together with Ka-Zar in the first place (which, again, had happened off-panel) and how she basically showed up and challenged him to stop talking like Tarzan, because she figured that it was all an affectation...

This was a direct market book, so they had the freedom to get a bit steamier than normal.

Anyhow, Ka-Zar has talked like a normal person ever since.

Thanks for the suggestion, Martin!

If anyone else has a suggestion for a comic book plot that got resolved after a few years (I tend to use two years as the minimum, as otherwise, you're probably just in the middle of the actual initial reveal of the storyline, ya know? But I'll allow exceptions where a new writer takes over a storyline and has to resolve the previous writer's unresolved plots or cases like this one, where it's obvious that Jones is answering the constant "what happened?" responses he had been getting), drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!