BUKA

Real Name: Buka

Identity/Class: Human (South African) (1940s era)

Occupation: Witch doctor

Group Membership: Mari tribesmen

Affiliations: Ridley

Enemies: Black Marvel (Dan Lyons), Chisholm

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Vool-Kan" (see comments); "you double-crosser" (as called by Ridley)

Base of Operations: Mari village, somewhere in South Africa

First Appearance: Mystic Comics I#8/1 (March, 1942)

Powers/Abilities: The shaman of the Mari tribe, Buka demonstrated no paranormal abilities; he exploited the superstitious beliefs of his countrymen and disguised himself as a local deity (see comments). He was armed with a knife.

Buka coated a large rock in a diamond mine with an unspecified poisonous substance that made the rock gleam like a diamond--upon contact with skin, the substance brought instant death to anyone who touched the "Diamond of Death".

Height: 6' (by approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History:
(Mystic Comics I#8/1 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Buka is largely unrevealed, but he partnered with Ridley in a scheme to swindle Chisholm out of his diamond mine.

   Buka went down into Chisholm's mine and covered a large rock with a poisonous substance that made the rock gleam like a diamond.

(Mystic Comics I#8/1) - In Chisholm's mine, an excited crowd of miners gathered around following the discovery of a giant "diamond"--after two of the men touched it and instantly dropped dead, Buka stepped out of the darkness and warned the miners that the earth-core god Vool-Kan had placed a curse upon the mine and had decreed death to all who worked there. As the miners fled up to the surface in stark terror, Buka followed and stirred up fear amongst the other native mine-workers, warning them that the mine was taboo; although Chisholm attempted to convince the fearful natives otherwise, they refused to work, so Chisholm was forced to shut down his operation.

   When the Black Marvel arrived in South Africa to investigate the mysterious deaths, he was hit with a poison dart and captured by Mari tribesmen--the unconscious hero was carried to Buka in the Mari village.  The cannibalistic natives threw the drugged hero into a cauldron, and Buka commanded the tribesmen to perform a ceremonial dance before the "feast". But the heat of the cauldron's boiling water caused the effects of the drug to wear off, and the Black Marvel regained consciousness; leaping from the cauldron, the Black Marvel fought off the Mari tribesmen and made his way through the jungle and back to Chisholm's office.

(Mystic Comics I#8/1 - BTS) - Meanwhile, Buka went into Chisholm's mine and put on his disguise.

(Mystic Comics I#8/1) - Since Chisholm was unable to get any men to work in his "cursed" mine, he offered to sell his operation to Ridley at a reduced price; but the Black Marvel--having apparently figured out Ridley's scheme--entered the office and put a stop to the transaction before it could be completed.  Ridley pulled out his handgun to end the hero's interference, but the Black Marvel punched him and knocked him senseless; the hero then asked Chisholm to accompany him into the mine so he could show him "something very interesting"--the stunned Ridley recovered and secretly followed behind them.

   The Black Marvel and Chisholm walked down into the mine and came upon a startling sight--"Vool-Kan," who threatened them with death!  Ridley arrived just as "Vool-Kan" lunged at the Black Marvel with a knife, but the hero punched the "god," who fell stunned to the mine floor. As the Black Marvel was about to pull off the mask to see who the "god" really was, "Vool-Kan" pointed at Ridley and accused him of instigating the whole plot, so Ridley shot and killed the double-crossing "god" in a fit of rage--the Black Marvel retaliated and punched Ridley, knocking him unconscious.

   After removing the mask from the dead "Vool-Kan" and revealing him to have been Buka, the Black Marvel explained the rest of the details of Ridley and Buka's swindling scheme to Chisholm, and thus closed the case of the "Diamond of Death".

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and George Klein (artist).

In regards to Buka's disguise: The "real" earth-core god Vool-Kan never actually appeared in this story--perhaps he was really the Sub-Earth Man, who claimed to be a god, and whose name was apparently "Volcan".

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Buka has no known connections to:

Vool-Kan has no known connections to:

Chisholm has no known connections to:

>Ridley has no known connections to:

The Mari tribesmen have no known connections to:

The "Diamond of Death" has no known connections to:

"Vool-Kan"

Vool-Kan, the earth-core god, was apparently a deity worshiped by some of the tribes of South Africa (see comments).

In a scheme to swindle Chisholm out of his diamond mine, Ridley partnered with the witch doctor Buka in an attempt to force Chisholm to sell his mine at a reduced price.  Buka evoked the legendary name of Vool-Kan and claimed that the god had placed a curse on Chisholm's mine to frighten off all the workers.

Later, Buka wore a brown robe and golden wooden head-dress to disguise himself as Vool-Kan; but the Black Marvel saw through Buka's disguise and put an end to the plot.

--Mystic Comics I#8/1

Chisholm

Chisholm (first name unrevealed) was the owner of the Chisholm Diamond Mine Company in South Africa (apparently, it was the largest diamond-mining operation in the location).  He employed natives of the area as mine-workers.  Earlier, Chisholm's rival Ridley offered to buy his mine, but Chisholm refused to sell.

Chisholm's troubles began after a giant diamond was discovered in his mine--Buka the witch doctor warned the mine-workers that the diamond belonged to the earth-core god Vool-Kan, and therefore the mine was cursed, so the natives refused to work for Chisholm, and he was forced to shut down his operation.

Chisholm was about to sell his mine to Ridley at a reduced price when the Black Marvel stopped the transaction; the hero revealed that Chisholm's troubles were really the result of an elaborate swindling scheme enacted by Ridley and Buka.

With the case solved, Chisholm tried to reward the Black Marvel, but the hero declined and told Chisholm that seeing justice carried out was all the reward he needed.

--Mystic Comics I#8/1

Ridley

Ridley (first name unrevealed) was the owner of the second largest diamond mine in South Africa (apparently, Chisholm's operation was the largest); he was  armed with a semi-automatic handgun.

Ridley had earlier expressed interest in purchasing Chisholm's mine, but Chisholm refused to sell, so Ridley partnered with the witch doctor Buka to frighten off all of Chisholm's mine-workers.

Since none of the natives would work for him, Chisholm was about to sell his mine to Ridley at a reduced price, but the Black Marvel stopped the transaction before it could be completed because the hero had figured out Ridley's scheme.

Ridley later shot and killed Buka when the witch doctor implicated him in the plot, but the Black Marvel retaliated and punched Ridley, knocking him unconscious.

--Mystic Comics I#8/1

Mari tribesmen

A cannibalistic tribe of natives, their village was somewhere in the jungles of South Africa; Buka was their witch doctor.

When the Black Marvel came to South Africa to investigate mysterious deaths in Chisholm's diamond mine, some Mari tribesmen used a blowgun to hit the hero with a poison dart.  The tribesmen carried the unconscious Black Marvel to their village, where Buka commanded them to throw the hero into a boiling cauldron, then the tribesmen performed a ceremonial dance before their "feast".

But the heat of the cauldron neutralized the effects of the poison dart, and the Black Marvel revived; leaping out of the cauldron, the hero fought off the Mari tribesmen and escaped into the jungle.

--Mystic Comics I#8/1

"Diamond of Death"

Embedded in the wall of Chisholm's diamond mine in South Africa, it appeared to be a giant gem with an estimated value in excess of $3 million. 

But it was actually only a large rock that the witch doctor Buka had covered with an unspecified poisonous substance which made it gleam like a diamond--the poisonous substance was absorbed through a person's skin, and it instantly killed anyone who touched it.  The "diamond" would be responsible for the deaths of three individuals (two miners, and an attempted thief).

The "Diamond of Death" was used in a scheme by Buka and Ridley in an effort to swindle Chisholm out of his mine.  To frighten off the mine-workers, Buka claimed the "diamond" belonged to the earth-core god Vool-Kan, and that Chisholm's mine was cursed.

But the Black Marvel eventually solved the case, and he used the butt of Ridley's gun to knock the big gleaming rock to the mine floor.

--Mystic Comics I#8/1

images: (without ads)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p3, pan1 (Main Image - Buka)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p3, pan4 (Headshot - Buka)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p6, pan7 (Buka (right) plans to have Black Marvel (left) for dinner)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p7, pan7 (Buka orders Mari tribesmen to perform ceremonial dance)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p11, pan1 ("Vool-Kan" (left) threatens Black Marvel (right))
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p11, pan3 ("Vool-Kan" (left) attacks Black Marvel (right))
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p12, pan4 (dead "Vool-Kan" revealed to have been Buka)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p4, pan1 (Mr. Chisholm tries to convince native mine-workers that there is no curse on his mine)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p4, pan3 (Mr. Chisholm)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p10, pan6 (Ridley (center) reaching for his gun; Black Marvel and Mr. Chisholm (background))
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p11, pan7 (Ridley in mine)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p6, pan6 (Mari tribesmen carry unconscious Black Marvel to their village)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p7, pan3 (Mari tribesmen perform ceremonial dance)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p8, pan5 (Mari tribesmen thrown into each other by Black Marvel)
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p1, pan3 (miner discovers giant "diamond")
Mystic Comics I#8/1, p12, pan7 (Black Marvel (left) explains truth about giant "diamond" to Chisholm (right))

Appearances:
Mystic Comics I#8/1 (March, 1942) - unidentified writer, George Klein (pencils), Howard Jones (inks), Stan Lee (editor) 

First Posted: 10/12/2018
Last updated: 10/12/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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