frak-tarzan-ttw5-fullfrak-tarzan-ttw4-face FRAK

Real Name: Frak

Identity/Class: Alien dimension (Kal-Dan) ape-man

Occupation: Prince

Group Membership: A group of his people (including Alak, Dchak, Frakson, Klar & Madak)

Affiliations:
    formerly Jane Porter, Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke), Troopers, Wom'Cha

Enemies: Jane Porter, Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke), Troopers, Wom'Cha, liberated slaves (including Alak and his mother and Klar); his unidentified father, the king

Known Relatives: Frakson (son), unidentified father

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: At least formerly the extreme northern latitudes of Kal-Dan

First Appearance: Tarzan the Warrior#3 (June, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Some sort of simian-humanoid, Frak was large and strong, with long arms, nearly reaching the ground as he stood.

    Intelligent and speaking his alien language, Frak sought to take over his father's kingdom or at least rule his own kingdom, and he enjoyed using slaves as cheap labor and sacrificing them without a second thought. 

    He was presumably experienced and reasonably skilled in hand-to-hand combat and with weapons such as a sword.


Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'4")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 300 lbs.)
Eyes: Dark (likely brown)
Hair: Gray/silver/brown (including full body fur; the hair color seemed to vary somewhat)frak-tarzan-ttw4-frakson

History:
(Tarzan the Warrior#3 (fb) - BTS) - <According to Frak> - Frak's father had been the greatest king ever known, both father and hero to his son. However, as he aged, the father grew fearful of his own people, and when Frak tried to show him he was wrong, his father saw that as an attack. Frak and his father fought, and Frak and his followers lost. 

    Exiled, Prince Frak and his followers -- along with his son, Frakson, and numerous others, including Madak -- wandered the frigid land, seeking a land of his own. They brought with them at least four saber-tooth tigers, and they set up temporary bases with their multiple caravans. 

    However, Frak's father still feared them, and Frak was concerned that his father would not allow them a peaceful escape. 

(Tarzan the Warrior#2 (fb) - BTS / Tarzan the Warrior#3 (fb) - BTS) <May, 1988 (relative Earth time) - Damaged engines from her wrecked spacecraft warped the fabric of dimensional space, transporting Wom'Cha, as well as Tarzan and Jane to the extreme northern latitudes of Kal-Dan ("Earth's sister dimension"). They were followed by the Troopers (Wom'Cha's shape-shifting former servants), whom Tarzan brought under his command after slaying one of their number who had been in the form of one of Earth's Mangani apes.

frak-tarzan-ttw4-prof(Tarzan the Warrior#3) - Observing Tarzan's actions, Frak had his agent Madak check the "slave" and confirm that it was dead, after which he told his son, Frakson, that that had been an impressive for a "no-hair," and he further advised Frakson, "That is how a man kills a slave, my son."

    Frak then approached Tarzan and told him that he would like to hire him to train his son in the art of fighting and asked him to join his people as a warrior; he further urged Tarzan to decide quickly as he and his exiled people sought a land of their own. He added that they had provisions and that Tarzan's group would be due an equal share. Wishing to provide safety and shelter for Jane and Wom'Cha, Tarzan accepted the offer.

    Frak then led Tarzan and his associates back to his people's caravans, where Jane and Wom'Cha enjoyed baths from slaves, but Tarzan released Alak from serving him.

(Tarzan the Warrior#3 - BTS) - After some training, Frakson ambushed Tarzan from beneath the snow and proudly proclaimed that the first fall was his that day. Tarzan was pleased and joked that maybe it was time for Frakson to begin teaching him, but he was less pleased when Frakson ordered a slave to get hot grog for his masters.

(Tarzan the Warrior#3) - Before Tarzan could give Frakson a lesson about slavery, Frak approached asked if this was his warrior son, and Frakson told him that things were great, and he had two fathers, the best in the world. Frak smiled as he acknowledged this, but he told his son that he had Tarzan had some scouting to do, and when Frakson asked to accompany them, Frak forbade it.

    On their subsequent journey, Frak told Tarzan about his history and his concerns regarding his father. He further noted that it was hard to watch as a father grew old and destroyed all he had ever built. When Tarzan told him that he had never known his father, Frak replied that he should envy him.

    As they continued their trek, Frak told Tarzan that they had better find a new land soon, as his people were growing weary, but they were interrupted by the cries of Frakson, who had followed them and had lost his balance and was hanging from a narrow passageway. While Frak chided his son for disobeying him, Tarzan slid down the hill and rescued Frakson. When Frakson apologized, Frak replied only "Hrumph," Tarzan suggested that the boy just wanted to be like his father.frak-tarzan-ttw4-dumdum

    Soon after, they found a verdant land that Frak considered to be the land for which they had been looking. Frak assured Tarzan that for saving his son, he would have the best this land had to offer.

    The following day, as slaves carried their supplies up the mountain pass, Tarzan advised Frak that his slaves were overloaded for this climb and that it was the same spot where Frakson had trouble, but Frak told him that the slaves were brutes with muscle in their bodies and in their heads. When a slave woman carrying her baby began to slip down, Tarzan rushed down and saved her, frustrating Frak when he let loose her pack of supplies in order to be able to lift her up. Tarzan told Frak that supplies could be replaced, but Frak replied that so could slaves. Tarzan further angered Frak when he advised him that he was a prince and now the king of a new country, but that didn't make him God. When one of Frak's men advised him that the forest was home to wild slaves, Frak told his men to go round them up, as they must not be allowed to think that their new king did not know how to treat slaves. Jane stopped Tarzan from interfering, which apparently did not escape Frak's notice.

    Later, in the forested valley of the new kingdom, Frak's people celebrated with the first "dum-dum" (presumably a party of revelry) of a new kingdom. Frak told his people that they would roast the flesh of their enemies and eat the fruit of this generous land, and someday they would have dum-dums more splendid than his father ever gave. He further exclaimed that this land was rich in slaves, and that their endless numbers made their lives cheap. Tarzan excused himself, telling Frak that it had been a long day; as he departed, Frak told him that he did not know how to have fun.

(Tarzan the Warrior#3 - BTS) - Tarzan subsequently excused the guard Dchak and sent him to go enjoy the dum-dum while he took over his shift. Tarzan instead set the slaves free.

(Tarzan the Warrior#3) - Alerted of the slaves' escape, Frak appreciated that this was Tarzan's doing, and vowed that Tarzan would pay with his life.

(Tarzan the Warrior#4) - Frak ordered his warriors to bring back the traitorous slaves.
frak-tarzan-ttw4-vengeful
(Tarzan the Warrior#4 - BTS) - Seeking to lead the former slaves to new land, Tarzan and his associates encountered Frak's father and his warrior forces. The slave people advised Tarzan of a route of escape and, appreciating that even with the Troopers they would have no chance against Frak's father's army as well as sensing/smelling an interdimensional portal, Tarzan agreed that escape was their best option.

(Tarzan the Warrior#4) - As Tarzan, his associates and the slaves fled under heavy fire (with Klar taking an arrow), Frak's forces arrived and joined his father's forces in battle.

(Tarzan the Warrior#4 - BTS) - As Tarzan guided his allies through the rift, Frakson confronted him, cursing Tarzan as a coward and having betrayed them, and he grabbed and threatened Jane and little Alak. Ultimately, Tarzan convinced Frakson to let them go, and he returned to the battle, certain his father would be the new king.

    Tarzan and his people passed to another world where they joined up with Wom'Cha's people.

Comments: Created by Mark Wheatley and Neil Volkes as part of Malibu Comics, in agreement with Semic International.

      It's not clear to me how long Tarzan and his associates were in Kal-Dan. It seems like days, but Frakson grew from what looked like a young boy to an adult during that time. Tarzan and Jane were unaging, and Wom'Cha and the Troopers were alien, so they did not seem to age during their time there, and time likely moved differently on Kal-Dan than on Earth, as it was certainly only days that they were gone from Earth.
    It wasn't clear to me, but I thought Kal-Dan was an alien world, rather than an alternate Earth. Similarly, check out Loki's comments below, but it's not clear to me that this Tarzan series had to take place on an alternate Earth.

    In Tarzan the Warrior#4, Tarzan referred to the slave people as Mangani. Maybe he just called them that because they were ape-people, or maybe the slaves (and their masters) were the Mangani

    Courtesy of Wikipedia:

    Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a a feral child raised in the Congo Basin by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.

    Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan first appeared in the novel Tarzan of the Apes (magazine publication 1912, book publication 1914), and subsequently in 23 sequels, several books by Burroughs and other authors, and innumerable works in other media, both authorized and unauthorized.

    Tarzan is the son of British aristocrats who were marooned on the coast of West Africa by mutineers. When Tarzan was an infant, his mother died, and his father was killed by Kerchak, leader of the ape tribe by whom Tarzan was adopted.

    Soon after his parents' death, Tarzan became a feral child, and his tribe of apes is known as the Mangani, great apes of a species unknown to science. Kala is his ape mother. Burroughs added stories occurring during Tarzan's adolescence in his sixth Tarzan book, Jungle Tales of Tarzan.

    Courtesy of Loki, who suggested Frak to represent Malibu's Tarzan:

    Marvel's Tarzan is set in the late 1920s or early 1930s, as evidenced by the presence of biplanes and the mention of Charles Linbergh's 1927 trans-Atlantic flight. The first Malibu series starts with a note stating that it is 1988. Tarzan (and presumably Jane) being supposedly immortal and over a hundred years old is a plot point in the story, which means it could in theory be the same timeline as Marvel, even if that probably wasn't intended at the time.

   This profile was completed 04/05/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Frak should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Tarzan the Warrior#3, pg. 6, panel 2 (fullish);
          panel 5 (upper, with young Frakson);
       pg. 7, panel 2 (face, partial);
       pg. 12, panel 8 (upper right profile, slight oblique);
       pg. 21, panel 3 (seated at the dum-dum);
    #2, pg. 1, panel 1 (full, ordering the slaves' recapture)
Appearances:
Tarzan the Warrior#3 (June, 1992) - Mark Wheatley (writer), Neil Volkes (penciler), Marc Hempel (inker), Henning Kure (editor)
Tarzan the Warrior#4 (August, 1992) - Mark Wheatley (writer), Neil Volkes (penciler), Marc Hempel (inker), Henning Kure (editor)

First posted: 09/21/2026
Last updated: 04/04/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

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