The Wild Lands is an uncharted island located in the Pacific Ocean between the continental United States and Hawaii.
History
During the 1940s, the island was used as a staging ground for a top secret research facility called Project Moreau. Project Moreau was a precursor to the modern age Project Cadmus. One of their scientists, Doctor Grant, was responsible for conducting experiments that evolved normal animals into higher-order life forms colloquially known as "Furries". The Furries eventually developed their own culture and social/political hiearchy. The project went bad when the Furries were apparently going to be used for violent means, which lead to the so called "Beast Wars". Grant managed to hide all knowledge of the island from the rest of the world and entrusted the serpentine Sacker to use his serum on any humans that arrived on the island.
The dominant race of Furries were the Tigers who established the capital city of Roam. Over the course of several decades, the Roaman monarchy was dominated by the tiger bloodline. In the modern era, the Wild Lands was governed by Great Caesar, a veteran of the Beast Wars. Caesar's nemesis was the evil bat-woman known as Nosferata, who operated in secret from within her private cave, and implanted one of her own agents, the treacherous, Ratsputin, into Caesar's royal council.
Over the span of several years, Sacker established a trading post for himself and maintained a stock of human slaves. He used a special serum that made the humans mute, and diminished their intellect. Because of this, everyone in the Wild Lands thought that humans were by nature, dumb, savage animals.
A few years ago, Sacker sold an old energy weapon to some gorilla soldiers. They tested it by firing it into the sky and the blast struck the teen-hero Superboy, who had just happened to have been flying near that area. The blast temporarily took away Superboy's powers and memories. He was captured by Sacker and put to work as a slave, but he soon escaped and came into the possession of Prince Tuftan, son of Great Caesar.
Superboy's memories and powers quickly returned and he aided Tuftan and the Wild Men against the forces of Nosferata, Sacker and the gorilla soldier known as Killa. Nosferta however, succeeded in having Great Caesar murdered, and blackmailed Prince Tuftan into marrying her, thereby making her queen of the Wild Lands.
Points of Interest
- Roam
- Roam is the capital city of the Wild Lands and the base of operations for the Tiger Empire. Patterned in the style of the ancient city of Rome, its denizens are referred to as Roamans. This was where Superboy was brought after he escaped Sacker's trading post. Superboy was forced to endure a battery of tests to prove that he was the "Might One" spoken of in Roaman prophecy. The royal palace was where Ratsputin turned against Great Caesar, murdering him by stabbing him in the heart with a dagger.
- Doomsday
- Doomsday is the name of a volcano at the northern tip of a mountain range, just outside the city of Roam. One of the many tests that Superboy was forced to endure was to survive being dropped into the volcano. The name for the volcano was taken from the Articles of Faith and was named after the legendary monster that once killed Superman.
- Sacker's Territory
- Sacker's territory is located several miles north east of Roam in a dense forrest. Here, he maintains his trading post and human slave grounds. Sacker's assistant is a small monkey responsible for patrolling the outer gates of the building. It was here that Superboy and the Wild Men liberated Adam Winterbourne and Lee St. Lawrence.
- Gorilla Fortress
- This heaviliy fortified instillation was the base of operations for Killa and his gorilla army. It's located in the southern quadrant of the island beneath the Doomsday volcano mountain range.
- Dragon's Black Reef
- A ring of dangerous reefs that encircles the entire island.
- Glowing Swamp
- The Glowing Swamp is located at the northern tip of the island. Superboy and the Wild Men circumnavigated this region while trying to escape from the island aboard a sailing vessel.
- Nosferata's Caverns
- Located in the northwestern quadrant, this was where Nosferata and her henchbat Batrok resided.
- Glass Beach
- Literally, a beach made of glass. This thin strip of shoreline is located at the soutern tip of the Wild Lands.
Residents
Notes
- The culture of the Wild Lands is an homage to the works of Jack Kirby and his 1970s adventure hero, Kamandi - the Last Boy on Earth. Kirby's stories, in turn, were a pastiche on the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes.