Brothers Of The Spear Volume Three!

The Brothers of the Spear was something of a landmark comic series for its enlightened treatment of black characters, but it's best remembered today as the launching pad for one of comic's greatest talents -- Russ Manning. When I encountered Mannng's work for the first time in the late 60's he was a mature artist with a style that was the epitomy of modern style and was ideal for rendering the future as was amply demonstrated in his brainchild Magnus, Robot Hunter. In this third volume we see the modern Russ Manning appear in full form. He'd leave the series when he was released from the back-up pages into the lead spot on Korak, Son of Tarzan. He then moved over to the mainstay Tarzan comic and reimagined many of the great ERB stories in pristine comic book form. As for the Brothers of the Spear they ended their ongoing saga in 1966 but made a brief return in 1972 under the artistic hands of Manning's assistant Mike Royer. This was the swan song for the feature as a back-up. 

Tarzan - February 1959

Tarzan - October 1966

Also as the series rumbled along in the back of Tarzan, the page count dwindled from a hearty six pages to five then down to four. In four pages it proved taxing to get a story with two heroes set up and told, but they did it. And to make it more difficult, Dubois thought it smart to add characters to the roster. In addition to King Dan-El and his Queen Tavane we had King Natongo and his Queen Zulena. But before the saga closes Tavane will give birth to a son named Mutandwa, who like his father and grandfather bore the distinctive key birthmark. A young girl named Shala had also been added to the pages and she became a worthy caretaker for the young prince since she had some gifts for prophecy and was a clever fighter as well. 

There's no denying that the saga has at its center Dan-El and his wife Tavane. It is the kingdom of Aba-Zulu which is at the heart of the series, first in discovering and then in protecting it from an endless array of enemies from without and within. Manning's stunning skill at rendering beautiful women is on full display in his ravishing depictions of Tavane. It is notable that Tavane is never show pregnant in the comic. We are just suddenly told she's had a child. I am curious is showing a pregnant woman was seen as bad taste by some, though of course that's ludicrous. 

Likewise, Zulena is a gorgeous woman and doughty queen. She and Natongo face an existential crisis in the kingdom of Tungelu when their city is destroyed but the series really strengthens its core theme of harmony when the people of Tungelu are welcomed into Aba-Zula, lands being set aside for their benefit. There seems little or no strife about this immigration and instead there's a great graciousness and hospitality which again demonstrates human nature at its finest. These are traits modern nations would be better for noticing and employing in the face of modern forced migrations from war-torn territories. 

Dan-El and Natongo become not only Brothers of the Spear but come to share the kingdom of Aba-Zulu and defend it side by side as they have always done throughout their long history together tucked away in the back pages of Tarzan. 

The Brothers of the Spear never make a cover appearance to my knowledge before these tiny images on two Golden Digests featuring ERB's characters as interpreted by the folks at Gold Key. I had the first in my collection and still do as far as I know, though I'd be hard-pressed to put hand to it today. 

After decades of faithful service on the characters, Western lost the rights to the ERB material when they folks of that license decided to make their own comics. That enterprise fell through swiftly and then the rights were awarded to DC Comics. For Tarzan that was a grand moment because it allowed Joe Kubert to bring his talents to Jungle Lord. But for the Brothers of the Spear which were not ERB characters it proved to be an opportunity. 

The Brothers of the Spear were awarded their own comic book in 1972. At first the stories were written by Dubois as usual but the artwork was handed off to the dynamic Jesse Santos. He was a rising start at Gold Key in these years. Eventually Santos handed the artistic reins over to the ultra-reliable Dan Spiegle who drew the remaining adventures. The series ran an impressive eighteen issues until 1976 with the final one dropping out of the blue in 1982 after a near six-year hiatus. 

Here are the covers, most the handiwork of George Wilson. 

This material needs a collection to make the saga a complete one for modern readers. It's unfortunate that Dark Horse did not see fit to finish the saga, but I am happy they did what they did. It brought the enlightened story of these two "Brothers" to an audience which would benefit mightily by seeing men of two races working so well together to overcome the shared woes of this world. 

To begin reading the Brothers of the Spear online at ERBZine check out this link.

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