Writer Paul Jenkins and artist Pascal Alixe are bringing us a 5-issue miniseries following the adventures of Ka-Zar as he defends the sacred Savage Land against mysterious soldiers determined to burn the whole thing down. A mythical tribe is also prepared to defend the land against the soldiers leaving Ka-Zar and Shanna stuck in the middle of a brewing war.

We have some early art from issue 1 of the miniseries for you to check out.

Ka-Zar #1 issue 1 hits store shelves on June 6, 2011. Check out the preview here below.

In addition to their franchise and tentpole films such as Spider-Man, Avengers, and Iron Man, Marvel is looking to develop some of their lesser-known characters for movies with lower budgets in the $20-$40 million range. Currently, Marvel is taking meetings with directors regarding B-list characters such as Luke Cage, Dazzler, Ka-Zar, Doctor Strange, and Power Pack.

I am hugely in favor of this idea. First of all, there is a greater chance of one of my favorite heroes, Luke Cage, reaching the big screen or being in a direct-to-DVD film. Lower budgets mean lower financial risks and an opportunity to take chances. Ka-Zar could be a really graphic action-adventure film. Luke Cage could have some Blaxploitation elements in the film. Heck, Dazzler could be set in the 70s disco era and be awesomely cheesy. As much as I love these characters, I am a realist. None of these characters mentioned really have the name recognition to headline their own big budget, tentpole films. The only property that I don’t want to see take this route is Power Pack. I still dream of seeing a Disney/Pixar animated Power Pack film, but I understand if they go the low-budget route.