Oddball of the Week: B'wana Be(ast) Startin' Somethin'?

It’s time once more for the celebration of the bizarre and wacky members of the comedian world, and there’s no odder than B’wana Beast.

Basically, since time started, individuals have imagined what it could be like to mix totally different animals. The Ancient Greeks had all kinds of mashups of their legendary tales. The most well-known was the Chimera, which was a fire-breathing lion mixed with a goat that had a toxic snake for a tail. There additionally was the Persian Manticore, which was a Sphinx-like creature that had a human head on a lion’s physique with fowl wings. It’s solely becoming that comedian books keep it up that high quality custom of making tremendous creatures because of B’wana Beast.

With comics historically taking inspiration from mythology, it’s no surprise B’wana’s fundamental energy is combining animals. Yes, mixing and matching animal components into some unholy abomination is about as attention-grabbing and disgusting because it sounds.

In honor of the butt of so many jokes over the years, let’s pull again the curtain on B’wana Beast as right now’s Oddball of the Week.

The first time readers met the odd B’wana Beast was in 1967’s Showcase #66. Here, followers had been handled to his origin story as Mike Maxwell’s aircraft crashed, and he was stranded on Mount Kilimanjaro. He was then taken prisoner by a crimson gorilla, however some kind of magical water (this was the Silver Age, so…yeah) gave him enhanced measurement and power. Maxwell laid the smackdown on that ape so dangerous that it bribed the man with a magical helmet. The new helmet gave Maxwell management over animals, and he proclaimed himself B’wana Beast, the superhero of selection for Africa, which didn’t age nicely in any way.

Like most Oddball picks, Showcase #66 hasn’t been in demand in, nicely, ever. The highest grade bought this 12 months has been the 5.0, which introduced $60 in May. There aren’t any data for any 9.8s being traded on-line, however a 9.6 bought went for $552 in June of final 12 months.

Of course, there can be a hyperlink between Animal Man and B’wana Beast. These two have too many similarities to not be paired up. In 1989, famous person author Grant Morrison introduced the characters collectively and launched the second B’wana Beast. When Maxwell was able to retire, he handed on the magical helmet and the bizarre energy set to a South African activist, Dominic Mndawe. Instead of B’wana Beast, Dominic assumed the title of Freedom Beast.

Of course, it wasn’t a everlasting change, which is the customary components for moniker transfers. When Freedom Beast was corrupted and turned evil, Maxwell took up the helmet once more and returned to his position as B’wana Beast.

Since there’s no film or streaming speak about B’wana Beast (or Freedom Beast, for that matter), this subject is filth low cost. There’s solely been one graded sale in the previous two years, and that was when a 9.2 bought for $14 in 2020. Odds are you’ll find this subject in the greenback bin at your native comedian retailers.

JUST ANOTHER B’WANA BE

As we noticed in Cartoon Network’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold, B’wana Beast has actual potential on the huge or small display screen. This is an age of distinctive, tongue-in-cheek characters that aren’t taken too significantly, and B’wana Beast suits that mould.

Since we all know Peacemaker survived the funds cuts of ‘22, I would not be surprised to see either Maxwell or Mndawe appear in the show’s second season.