A superhero published by DC Comics. B'Wana Beast first appeared in Showcase #66.

Michael Maxwell was the son of successful business man Gilbert Maxwell. When the younger Maxwell graduated from college, his father expected him to take over the family business, but he surprised his father by declining the position. Michael informed his father that he intended to take a job as a game warden in the African nation of Zambesi, working to protect the wildlife in that nation's game parks.

Maxwell and his friend, a native from Zambesi, flew to the African nation on a small plane. The duo encountered a violent storm and their plane was damaged, crashing into the side of an isolated mountain. The two were injured and sought refuge in a cave on the mountain. Maxwell drank from a spring within the cave, which unbeknownst to the pair had been endowed with special properties by the minerals in the cave walls. Maxwell found himself becoming more muscular and taller as a result of the water.

As the two sought to recover, the inhabitant of the cave, a large, red, mutant ape returned and attacked them. With his new size and strength, Maxwell overcame the beast. The ape recognized Maxwell's superiority and gave him a helmet that was hidden deep in the cave. With the helmet, Maxwell found that he could communicate with the ape whose name was Djuba, and that he could command and control the animals around him. The helmet also allowed Maxwell to combine two animals into a single animal with the strengths of both of the individual animals. Deciding to use his powers for good, Maxwell dubbed himself B'wana Beast and fought against those who would exploit his new home. Maxwell traveled the land of Zambesi with Djuba, who always carried a supply of the special water around her neck, rather like a bizarre version of a Saint Bernard.

In the early 1990's, Maxwell passed the torch to another hero. A South African national who had undergone oppression under apartheid was given the helmet and the mystic water. Renaming himelf from B'Wana Beast to just Freedom Beast, the new hero began to use his powers not only to protect the animals, but the people as well.

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