Sunday, February 14, 2010

What makes this version of KiGor different...?

When Martin Powell and I decided to go after KiGor as a story, and maybe possibly a series with Joe at Moonstone, one of the questions is what makes this Jungle man different than all the other jungle men in comics.
Me, I can settle for any old well told jungle story - that is just me. I have always been fascinated with jungle stories. I grew up watching Tarzan movies, the Jungle Jim series with Johnny Weissmuller, and just about any other jungle thing there was. What a better setting for the unexpected. The Dark Continent was the last bastion of things lost, mysterious, and strange.
But back to the difference between KiGor and the others. KiGor was always the best of the Tarzan knock-offs. I actually like some of KiGor's adventures better than some of Tarzan's. KiGor's adventures were always stranger, that is for sure. KiGor also had a very long run in the pulps. From the 30's up into the 50's in men's magazines KiGor ruled the jungle.
So again what makes this KiGor different than all the others? Well, KiGor always had a little bit different origin story. After his missionary father was killed, Robert Kilgour was adopted, or cared for, by a tribal shaman. So Martin and I decided that KiGor should have more of a mystical bent to it. Also the relationship between Helena and KiGor was always a bit more sexual than Tarzan and Jane. So we intend to work on that area too.
So to 'modernize' or make KiGor stand out a bit, we came up with the idea that when little Robert was adopted into the shaman's tribe, they gave him a totem animal to protect him. The shaman would surely have seen the Kilgour coat of arms on something of the old mans. So the dragon figure was adopted as KiGor's totem animal. Which led to the scarification on his left arm, the arm closest to his heart. Scarification was a big thing with some tribes.
So here you have the design for KiGor's scars on his left arm.
I think it is a logical update or modernization. Not like alot of them I have seen done to characters.
So join KiGor and Helena in their first jungle tale.

2 comments:

  1. Really cool, pal. Nicely thought out and rendered. He's really becoming "our" KI-GOR now.

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