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.
Read more about this topic: Zembla (comics)
Famous quotes containing the word character:
“When I think of some of the Persians, the Hindus, the Arabs I knew, when I think of the character they revealed, their grace, their tenderness, their intelligence, their holiness, I spit on the white conquerors of the world, the degenerate British, the pigheaded Germans, the smug self-satisfied French.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. Observe the ass, for instance: his character is about perfect, he is the choicest spirit among all the humbler animals, yet see what ridicule has brought him to. Instead of feeling complimented when we are called an ass, we are left in doubt.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Whoever has character also has his typical experience, which returns over and over again.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)