Bwana Beast?

[gentlesatirist]

OK, here's another one : What's the name of the African-American character on the cover of Showcase #s 66-67 (featuring Bwana Beast)?


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[foxley]

That's obscure but I think it's Rupert Zambesi Kenboya.

[Cei-U!]

That's obscure but I think it's Rupert Zambesi Kenboya.

That's really close. He's Commissioner Rupert "Ken" Kenboya of the Zambesi Game Preserve.

Cei-U!
Yeah, I like B'wana Beast! Wanna make something of it??? :tongue:

[foxley]

Interesting. The Grand Comic Book Database gave his name as Rupert Zambesi Kenboya. I'm wondering if the detail of middle name might have come out somewhere (one of the Freedom Beast stories, perhaps?).

[gentlesatirist]

...for the info!

Who in the heck was Freedom Beast?


- FE

[dan bailey]

Some sort of occasional character in Animal Man, apparently, or so Wikipedia says. I haven't read my AM trades yet, so the name meant nothing to me, either.

[foxley]

From Wikipedia:

A South African by birth, Freedom Beast was born Dominic Mndawe. His first appearance was in Animal Man #13. That issue takes place during the rule of apartheid in South Africa; Dominic was under arrest for taking pictures of racially motivated acts of violence being committed by white Afrikaner policemen. In a cell, Dominic was about to be killed by his captors when he is rescued by Animal Man and B'wana Beast (Mike Maxwell), Mndawe's predecessor and future mentor.[1]

After the rescue, Maxwell gives Mndawe the elixir and helmet that confer powers on their owner. Those powers include mind control and the ability to fuse two or more animals into one hybrid beast under the control of Freedom Beast.

Animal Man and Freedom Beast then prevent the massacre of a group of peaceful demonstrators by Afrikaner police. Animal Man returns to the USA, while Maxwell and Freedom Beast stayed in South Africa.

Mike Maxwell returns in Animal Man #47 (May 1992). He had been taken over by an evil force called the Antagon and transformed into the Shining Man. He perishes in the ensuing battle.

Animal Man and Dominic team up once again during the Day of Judgement incident, protecting African wildlife from the murderous intentions of demon invaders.

Freedom Beast's most recent appearances were in the Day of Vengeance Infinite Crisis Special, where he is possessed by Rage, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and in Green Lantern #11, where he is introduced as one of the members of the new Global Guardians.[2] He has also made several cameo appearances in the Justice League Unlimited comic book.

He is also seen at the gathering of mystics at Stonehedge in Infinite Crisis #6

[holeycrullers]

Not really concerned with Freedom Beast, but I always dug B'wana Beast and I'd love doing a series with him (actually with a ton of the "lesser" heroes of the 60s).

Burma Tiger Man FTW!

[Cei-U!]

I suspect the Zambesi reference has nothing to do with Freedom Beast and everything to do with sloppy or indifferent indexing of those Showcase issues (and I say this as someone who contributed to those entries, specifically identifying Bob Haney as the scripter/co-creator). The GCD is an awesome resource but an awful lot of it needs serious revising.

Cei-U!
I summon the caveat!

[kozmo]

Bwana Beast as a concept could have worked, especially as a backup character. it's the absolutely atrocious costume (and name) that made him a joke. I read those books when I was a wee tyke, and I wanted to read more -- they worked for the target audience.