I disliked the retcon in Doctor Strange #19 that the destruction of the Earth had only been an illusion.  The powers-that-were seemed to have an aversion to anything interesting or potentially controversial. I think Roy Thomas had wanted to print a disclaimer that the character Doc met in the earlier Sise-Neg storyline was not really God, but Englehart had avoided that by fabricating a letter from a priest who loved that story.

Englehart reused the title of his final issue of Doctor Strange for his final issue of Fantastic Four, #333, which was pseudonymously credited to John Harkness.

Read Doc Strange#15,16. Just as good of stuff as I remember. Good work by both Englehart and Colan. And of course Clea is always a nice plus.

I like when Wong was at the supermarket and he sees vegetables in a can a despairingly remarks about the frivolous conviences of the western world.

Edit: Gotta agree #18 was pretty wordy Ricker. Not a bad story overall but that kind of bogged it down and covered up too much good Colan art. Still a fairly interesting story.

Ka-Zar
Roy Thomas/Gerry Conway/Barry Windsor-Smith

14 stories in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES 19 and ASTONISHING TALES 1-13 (1968, 1970-1972).

Writers: Arnold Drake, Steve Parkhouse, Stan Lee, Roy Thomas (7), Gerry Conway (5), Gary Friedrich, Len Wein.
Pencillers: George Tuska, Jack Kirby, Barry Windsor-Smith (5), Herb Trimpe, John Buscema, Gil Kane, Neal Adams, Rich Buckler.
Inkers: Sid Greene, Sam Grainger (4), Frank Giacoia (3), Bill Everett, Herb Trimpe, Tom Sutton, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Dan Adkins.

• My Father, My Enemy! - AD/SP/GT - 2/10
  
• The Power of Ka-Zar! - SL/JK - 6/10
  
• Frenzy on the Fortieth Floor! - RT/JK - 6/10
  
• Back to the Savage Land - GC/BWS - 6/10
  
• The Sun God! - GC/BWS - 9/10
  
• Rampage! - GC/BWS - 9/10
  
• ’Ware the Winds of Death! - GC/BWS - 4/10
  
• Deluge! - RT/HT - 4/10
  
• The Legend of the Lizard Men! - SL/JB - 9/10
  
• The Battle of New Britannia! - RT/GF/HT - 6/10
  
• To End in Flame! - GC/RT/BWS - 6/10
  
• A Day of Tigers! - RT/GK - 6/10
  
• Terror Stalks the Everglades! - RT/LW/JB/NA - 9/10
  
• Man-Thing! - RT/JB/RB - 6/10
  

Average: 6.3/10

My Father, My Enemy! (#19)
Messy tale, which jumps around without much rhyme or reason.
Every few scenes the story takes a jump of some sort (a new location, some new characters, or time passing) which breaks the flow and takes the reader out of the events.
Feels like a cut-and-paste job, as if it were a multi-issue saga and we are only seeing every fifth scene.
Unsatisfying.
2/10

The Power of Ka-Zar! (#1)
Basic story, but it works.
The engine driving the story is the goal of the villain, and it’s a goal perfectly in keeping with his established character.
After that, it’s action all the way as (first) Ka-Zar and Zabu are attacked and (then) Ka-Zar takes off on the trail of the villain tor rescue his ‘brother’ and save the day.
Ka-Zar is impressive in the action sequences. Seems quite unstoppable most of the time.
One might quibble about how easy it seems to be for anyone and everyone to find the Savage Land, but that’s a minor point here. All that matters for now is that this is an enjoyable action comic.
6/10

Frenzy on the Fortieth Floor! (#2)
Enjoyable, but not quite as strong as part 1. This is really just one long fight between Ka-Zar and the villain from last issue.
They are evenly matched, the dialogue is good and the second half of the battle takes place high over the city. All making for a fun read.
6/10

Back to the Savage Land (#3)
Most of this is devoted to a guest character and his backstory.
And an entertaining tale it is, setting up the next storyline.
6/10

The Sun God! (#4)
Villain - Here we get a villain who isn’t seeking revenge, or wealth, or a simple thing. Instead, we get a leader taking an army on a mission of conquest and destruction. Very different to the usual Marvel stuff.
Battle - The battle scenes look like war. Graphic and unpleasant, as unarmed citizens are mowed down.
Pace - The pacing is good, constantly alternating between scenes of the carnage and scenes of the Garokk character’s personal journey.
9/10

Rampage! (#5)
Top quality stuff here.
The Petrified Man story arc reaches a conclusion, where we find the formerly sympathetic character driven to the brink of madness. And destruction. Now he is the foe Ka-Zar must defeat. And Zaladane (formerly the villain of the tale) is now the one who provides our hero with a solution to the problem.
Always impressed with storytellers who can pull off reversals like this.
9/10

’Ware the Winds of Death! (#6)
Setting - It was a dark and stormy night. No, really, it was. And it really adds mood and atmosphere.
Fight - Ka-Zar and his buddy get into a fight soon after the trouble starts. Why? Hard to say. Ka-Zar’s motivations for stopping his friend aren’t made clear. So, it’s just a random fight.
Villain - The backstory is elaborate, but the villain himself is bland.
Art -Terrible. Frequently couldn’t make out what was happening, even after close scrutiny.
4/10

Deluge! (#7)
Story comes to frustrating, unsatisfying ending.
Suddenly the disaster is averted by the return of the villain’s true love. Seems he forgot she could easily be resurrected. How he forgot this vital fact - or exactly how it works - is never explained.
The ending leaves a sour taste also because an innocent has died to save everyone. And Ka-Zar and her brother are fine with it. Well, it’s what she wanted, they say. Really?!
4/10

The Legend of the Lizard Men! (#9)
Good story, plenty of mystery and action.
Plus Ka-Zar comes across as quite the impressive warrior.
9/10

The Battle of New Britannia! (#8)
Far-fetched, yes, but it’s certainly an inventive piece of fun. And it’s action-packed, too.
Visitors - Once again the engine driving the story is the arrival of visitors from the outside world. Honestly, once can’t help but feel that the Savage Land is the number one holiday destination for characters in the Marvel Universe!
Coincidence - And we can’t help but assume that the Savage Land must be rather small. Visitors arrive seeking Ka-Zar and… Ka-Zar sees their plane arriving and is within running distance of the crash site.
Story - The revelation of what is going on here is a hoot. It kinda unravels if you think about it too much, but if you go with it: it’s fun. And it’s certainly a different kind of Ka-Zar story.
Action - The big dumb lug is impressive here, it must be said, wading into battle to rescue a pilot from predators, etc.
6/10

To End in Flame! (#10)
Enjoyable, if preachy, conclusion.
Plenty of action, and Ka-Zar impresses as he escapes caged confinement.
6/10

A Day of Tigers! (#11)
Enjoyable origin story.
The framing sequence continues on from recent issues while the vast majority of the pages are a flashback for the hero as he stares into the fire at night.
It zips along, covering his dad, his brother and his main enemy as well as a look at his superhuman abilities and bond with Zabu.
6/10

Terror Stalks the Everglades! (#12)
Ka-Zar arrives in the Everglades in search of the Man-Thing.
First third is devoted to the jungle hero (and very impressive he is).
Middle-third (by different writer/artist) is a (suitably) murky back-story on the muck monster.
Final third brings them together for a cliff-hanger.
9/10

Man-Thing! (#13)
Ka-Zar and Man-Thing battle AIM in the Everglades.
It’s a packed issue.
Some of the action is off-panel for some odd reason, and there are twists and turns in the story.
Man-Thing is quite impressive here.
6/10

More info on ASTONISHING TALES can be found if you log into comicbookdb.com and then click this link. 

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Black Knight - Lee/Maneely (55) 7/10
Black Widow - Friedrich/Thomas/Colan/Heck (70-1) 4.3/10
Captain Marvel - Thomas/Colan (67-8) 5.5/10 - Drake/Heck (68) 4.8/10 - G. Friedrich/Thomas/Kane (69-70) 4.1/10 - M. Friedrich/Starlin (72-4) 5.3/10 -
Daredevil - Conway/Colan (71-2) 6.7/10 - Gerber (73-4) 6.5/10 -
Deathlok - Moench/Mantlo/Buckler (74-6) 8.8/10
Doctor Strange - Fox (71-2) 9.3/10 - Englehart/Brunner (73-4) 8.9/10 - Englehart/Colan (75-6) 8/10 - Wolfman/Starlin (76-7) 6/10 -
Ghost Rider - Friedrich (72-3) 2.6/10 - Isabella (74-6) 5.4/10 - Shooter/Heck (77) 6.7/10 - McKenzie/Perlin (78) 8.9/10 -
Iron Man - Brodsky/Heck (70) 7/10 -
Ka-Zar - Thomas/Conway/Windsor-Smith (70-2) 6.3/10 -
Living Mummy - Isabella/Mayerik (73-5) 7.6/10
Luke Cage - Goodwin/Englehart/Tuska/Graham (72-3) 7.1/10 -
Night Nurse - Thomas/Mortimer (72) 6.3/10
Tales of the Zombie - Gerber/Marcos (73-4) 6.5/10