Zembla (comics) - Character

Character

Zembla is a typically powerful jungle lord who has the ability to communicate with the beasts of the African jungle. His companions include the white lion Bwana, Petoulet the kangaroo, Satanas an irritable wildcat, Wombo the gorilla, a grouchy and inept circus illusionist named Rasmus, teenager Ye-Ye and the beautiful Queen Takuba, who might see Zembla as more than a mere friend. This cast of characters remained unchanged over the life of the series. Zembla’s adventures pit him not only against ordinary villains but also mad scientists, world conquerors, intelligent gorillas, lost civilizations, guns and drugs smugglers, poachers, etc.

Zembla's origins were revealed in a story published 1972. It turned out that Zembla is the child of Paul Marais, a French adventurer who was forced to flee into the jungle to escape the police after a tragic brawl. Injured, Paul was rescued by Ula, a native princess. Unfortunately, her father wanted his daughter to marry Thudor, so Ula and Paul had no choice but to elope. Eventually, their son, Zembla, was born. However, an enraged Thudor managed to find the two lovers and killed them both. Thudor would have also murdered the baby if a lioness whose cub he had previously killed had not leapt to his defence. The baby was then raised by the lions and became known as Zem-bla, meaning the Lion-Child in their language.