History
M'Tuba was a tribal elder who lived in the Congo during the 20th Century, he was the law keeper of his people. When a a fellow tribes man named Kabuli attempted to hunt and kill the sacred white pig, M'Tuba saw that the law breaker was exiled from the tribe for his crimes. However, Kabuli attempted to get revenge against M'Tuba and forced him to "change" the laws to allow him to return to the tribe and then took the elder out into the jungle to slay him. M'Tuba was saved by Numa the lion who respected M'Tuba's lack of fear and slew Kabuli. M'Tuba then returned to his people and informed them of Kabuli's plot.
Over the years M'Tuba left his tribe and took a monkey for a pet, naming it Mikki and training the intelligent ape to follow commands. He also befriended a man who ran a trading post in the area over the past 35 years and his young daughter Lorna. In 1953, Lorna's father was seriously wounded fighting off Numa the lion. M'Tuba tried to aid Lorna's father but was forced to amputate his leg. When Lorna's father died soon after, M'Tuba agreed to teach her everything he knew about surviving and hunting in the jungle. After his training M'Tuba believed that Lorna's skill surpassed even his own. Shortly thereafter the pair were captured by the Wafisi, a tribe of head hunters and were set to be sacrificed. Tied to a post along with Lorna, M'Tuba ordered Mikki to free the girl, who then tricked the Wafisi into thinking that she freed herself with magic. She then defeated the leader of the Wafisi's replacing him as their leader. Lorna, now dubbed the Jungle Queen, decided to go into the jungle to help those in need and left M'Tuba in charge of the Wafisi. As a parting gift, M'Tuba gave her Mikki as a constant companion.[1] Apparently, M'Tuba trained Lorna as part of a prophecy which foretold that she would have to face a being called the Mask of Doom, a being bent on her destruction.[2]
While out on the hunt for a leopard, M'Tuba found a coin belong to the so-called Lost City in the creatures belly. Showing it to Lorna, he told her of a story his grandfather used to tell him of this lost city. Lorna became determined to find it, despite M'Tuba's warnings that it was too dangerous. M'Tuba then rushed to his village where he had his people beat their drums to send out a message to Lorna's friend Greg Knight informing him of Lorna's quest. As a result, Greg went after Lorna and saved her from being executed by the people of the lost city. Later a drought struck the area leaving the animals restless and M'Tuba's people facing famine. M'Tuba had his people play their drums to try and appeal to their gods, but this apparently was to no avail until the day that a pair of poachers lit the jungle on fire in order to eliminate Greg Knight. As Lorna saved Knight, M'Tuba's people apparently succeeded in appealing to the gods and a much needed rain fell across the jungle revitalizing its water supplies and putting out the fire.[3]
M'Tuba later warned Lorna against trying to find the dangerous Lost Kingdom when Greg Knight went missing on an expedition to find its location. Lorna ignored M'Tuba's warnings and ended up saving Greg.[4] Not long after, M'Tuba was poisoned by the deadly Morta plant. To save the life of M'Tuba, Lorna and Greg Knight searched for the antidote in the so-called Lost World.[5] After Greg was bitten by the snake known as Fang, Lorna captured the snake so M'Tuba could make a cure from its venom.[6] M'Tuba's leadership over the tribe was soon in jeopardy when an apparent ghost was stalking the people of the tribe. Due to tribal custom the ghost attacks were seen as the spirits dissatisfaction over the tribal leader. However, Lorna and Agu the Giant revealed the ghost to be Baku, M'Tuba's nephew who was attempting to discredit his uncle in order to take over the tribe.[7] M'Tuba later treated Greg Knight who was put in a state of shock following an encounter with angry gorillas. M'Tuba fears that Mount Inferno would erupt turned out valid when the volcano erupted releasing the Monster from the Deep. As M'Tuba evacuated his people, Lorna and Greg destroyed the creature.[8]
After a time apart, M'Tuba returned to Lorna's life again when the prophecies which led him to train Lorna appeared to come true when a being calling himself the Mask of Doom appeared in the jungle. Telling these prophecies to Greg Knight, the pair attempted to stop Lorna from facing the Mask of Doom alone. However Lorna managed to break free and clash with the "Mask", revealing him to be nothing more than a criminal seeking to defeat Lorna by capitalizing on the fears people had of the prophecy.[2] Later, M'Tuba assisted Lorna in saving Greg Knight from a herd of rampaging elephants who were protecting their mates during the birthing season.[9]
M'Tuba was a regular ally of Lorna throughout her tenure defending the Congo.