AK
Real Name: Ak
Identity/Class: Human/Shaggy Ones (see comments); pre-Cataclysmic era (circa 50,000 BC)
Occupation: None
Group Membership: Shaggy Ones
Affiliations: Rhaya
Enemies: Gholla, Goreks, Gru, Kag
Known Relatives: Tuk (adoptive son)
Aliases: "Old One," "Wise Ak" (nicknames used by Tuk)
Base of Operations: Prehistoric wilds of 50,000 B.C.
First Appearance: Captain America Comics#1/6 (March, 1941)
Powers/Abilities: Ak was the last of the Shaggy Ones, predecessors of the human race. Like all the other Shaggy Ones, he was covered in thick, brown hair. Ak had lost an eye under unrevealed circumstances. Ak could talk and was intelligent enough to raise Tuk in a conscious way.
Height: 5'3" (by approximation)
Weight: 100 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Black (left eye missing)
Hair: Brown (head and body)
History:
(Captain America Comics#1/6 (fb) - BTS) - Ak was being hunted by the wooly rhinoceros Gholla. After he'd been chased since dawn, Ak finally found refuge in a tree.
(Captain America Comics#1/6 (fb)) - From his tree, Ak witnessed how an unfamiliar construct (a ship), dropped off three hairless creatures. They were Phadion, Rhaya and their baby, delivered there after they were banished from Attilan
(see comments). Having smelled the hairless ones, Gholla attacked. During the battle, Gholla killed Phadion before dying himself. Ak watched the woman grieve over the loss of her husband, just as the famed lion-wolf Kag tried to attack her. Ak couldn't help but intervene, saving Rhaya and her child by sweeping by on a vine and taking them out of harm's way. The three of them fled to the safety of the rock country, finding refuge in a cave.
Believing them to be gods, Ak took care of Rhaya and the baby, going on food forages to make sure they'd survive the harsh conditions. During one of these food runs, the lion Gru discovered the cave and attacked and killed Rhaya. When Ak
returned, he grew so enraged he was finally able to conquer his fear of Gru and attacked him directly. Ak managed to move a giant boulder,
causing it to crush Gru. In the aftermath, Ak took care of the baby boy, raising him as his own,
and naming him Tuk, meaning "Avenger."
(Captain America Comics#1/6) - By the time Tuk became of age, Ak had grown old and weary. Feeling his end was approaching, he told Tuk of his origins. Shortly after sharing the story, Ak died.
Comments: Created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (see comments).
According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe HC#14: Circa 50,000 BC, early humanity existed as the thick-haired Shaggy Ones, the apish Hairy Ones, the brain-eating Goreks, and the Hairless Ones, progenitors of the Cro-Magnons.
Unless the Shaggy Ones were some sort of pre-human race
dwelling on many of the Marvel Multiverse's Earth's, they would most likely
equate to Neanderthals, who were around from some 350,000 to 30,000 BC (some
sources say as early as 600,000 BC and as late as 30,000 BC)
--Snood
The reference to Attilan as the place
from which Tuk, Phadion, and Rhaya had been banished has led to speculation that
they were Inhumans. The big problem is that the Inhumans were first developed by
the Kree roughly 25,000 years ago, or 23,000 BC...which would be 25,000-27,000
after the time of Tuk's adventures. Maybe they were banished backward in time?
--Snood.
Here's how the Golden Age Captain America Omnibus HC credits the Tuk stories in Cap Comics #1-5 (information courtesy of Jeph York):
#1 - by Jack Kirby
#2 - art by Al Gabriele* & unknown
#3 - art by Mac Raboy*
#4 - art by unknown with Al Gabriele*
#5 - title page pencils by Jack Kirby, title page inks by Joe Simon, pencils by Al Avison*, inks by Al Gabriele** It was not industry standard in the Golden Age of comics to provide detailed credits for each strip. The artists worked with an ever-changing studio of assistants and secondary artists, while writers often did not sign their name to their work. The stories in this volume were produced by the Simon & Kirby studio and may have included varying levels of work by the creators cited as well as others:
Al Avison, Fred Bell, Martin Burstein, Reed Crandall, Howard Ferguson, Harry Fisk, Al Gabriele, Fred Guardineer, Ernie Hart, Chu Hing, William Clayton King, Bernard Klein, Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Gustav Schrotter, Syd Shores & C.A. Winter
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ak has no known connections to
The Goreks were a pre-historic tribe of cannibals who worshipped stone and feasted on brains. Two of the Goreks encountered Tuk the young cave boy during one of their hunts. Tuk was on a quest to find Attilan and decided to hide out in a giant tree. The Goreks still chased him, but Tuk managed to throw one of the them to the ground. The other remaining Gorek was about to smash Tuk's head with his knotted club when he was killed by an arrow, courtesy of Tanir a cro-magnon who happened to be there.
--Captain America Comics#1/6
images: (without ads)
Captain America Comics#1, p58, pan2 (main image)
Captain America Comics#1, p58, pan3 (close up)
Captain America Comics#1, p60, pan7 (rescues Rhaya)
Captain America Comics#1, p62, pan3 (Goreks)
Appearances:
Captain America Comics#1/6 (March, 1941) - Jack Kirby & Joe Simon (writers),
Jack Kirby (pencils) - see comments
Last updated: 05/31/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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