"Brothers of the Spear" was a long-running backup feature in theTarzancomic-book series created by American companyWestern Publishing and published first throughDell Comics and then throughGold Key Comics. Though published as part of a licensedEdgar Rice Burroughs franchise, this original series was owned by Western.[1]
The Brothers of the Spear were Dan-El and Natongo. Natongo was the son of a Zulu chieftain in the land that would become Botswana, and Dan-El was his adopted brother. They became sub-chiefs, swore brotherhood and had adventures together. They learned Dan-el was king by right, whose throne had been usurped. What was notable was that Dan-El was white, and his kingdom was that of a lost white tribe in Africa (Aba-Zulu), while Natongo was black (later ruling neighboring Tungelu). The first two years of the series dealt with them winning their thrones. By that time, they had individually gotten married. But even being kings and husbands, they continued to have adventures together, many times with their wives.
The feature was created by writerGaylord Du Bois and artistJesse Marsh inTarzan #25 (1951), and ran continuously through #156 (1966).[2] ArtistRuss Manning did some of his earliest comics work on this series, beginning inTarzan #39 (Dec. 1952).
The ending of the series generally coincided with Russ Manning's being assigned to illustrate Tarzan (Jesse Marsh, had been going blind from diabetes; he retired from the assignment) beginning #154. Before he died, Marsh did illustrate Jon of the Kalahari, a Korak back-up feature created and written by Gaylord Du Bois. That strip was killed upon his death.
Three issues after Tarzan #154, even with Mike Royer sharing the labor doing inks, the Brothers of the Spear strip was suspended. Manning continued as the Tarzan illustrator for the series. A new back-up feature, created and written by Du Bois, "Jungle Girl", illustrated by Dan Spiegel, replaced Brothers of the Spear.
New Brothers of the Spear stories appeared in Tarzan #158, 160, and 161 (illustrated by Manning), and later in #202 and 203 (illustrated byMike Royer).
An additional story, "Treachery in Aba-Zulu" (illustrated by Manning), had appeared inDell Giant #51 (Tarzan, King of the Jungle) in 1961.
DC Comics licensed the rights to Tarzan in 1972. The rights to Brothers of the Spear were retained by Western Publishing.
Western's Gold Key line published the 17-issueBrothers of the Spear series (June 1972 – Feb. 1976). Western's Whitman line published issue #18 in May 1982, with reprinted material only. Du Bois wrote the series beginning with issue #2.Jesse Santos did the artwork for the first 12 issues, followed byDan Spiegle.
In 2012,Dark Horse Comics started a hardcover archive series. The first volume reprints strips fromTarzan #25–67. The second volume reprints strips fromTarzan #68–109. The third volume reprints strips from "Tarzan" #110-156, #160-161 and #202-203.
The Manning-illustratedBrothers of the Spear story "Tembo! Tembo!" in Tarzan #158 was reprinted inGolden Comics Digest #9 (March 1970).
The 12 page story, "Treachery in Aba-Zulu", inDell Giant #51, has been reprinted three times (per Grand Comics Database online), but not in the United States.