Avengers Annual #21
Kang’s World
This story continues from Fantastic Four Annual #25…
The Avengers (Black Knight, Hercules, Crystal, and Sersi), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing) and Doctor Druid have ventured into Chronopolis, the time spanning domain of Kang the Conquer in order to stop his current attempts at conquest. Here, they are opposed by Kang’s elite guard, the Anachrononauts which consist of the Serpent Man known as Sssth, Apocryphus the so-called last Eternal, the cyborg Deathunt 9000, Raa the cave man, the Spartan warrior Tyndar, Wildrun the Red Wolf of the 1700s, and Sir Raston the Black Knight of the Dark Ages.
In order to rescue the missing Captain America, Vision, and Thor, the group puts up a good fight until Doctor Druid gives them the order to intentionally throw the fight so they might be captured and brought to Kang.[1] After a prolonged battle rendered in some of the worst Herb Tremp artwork I have ever seen, Doctor Druid orders everyone to surrender. As planned, the captured heroes are taken to Kang thanks to a portal opened by Apocryphus that will bring them directly to the time master’s throne room.
There, Kang imprisons them in a “Hyper Cube” prison so they will not escape. Then, in typical super-villain fashion, Kang then details his master plan. He explains that he created Chronopolis as his beachhead as he subtly influenced events in the 20th Century in order to conquer the Avengers era. He then teleports Captain America, Vision, and Thor into the cube and informs the heroes that the Hyper Cube will slowly shrink in size until it crushes them to death. As Kang outlines his masterplan, he is unaware that the Terminatrix is hiding behind his throne preparing to get her ultimate revenge against Kang. She then activates her Phase Shifter to suit up in her armor and ambushes Kang with one of her vibra-knives.
Kang fends off his attacker, he has been waiting for her to strike at him since she was calling herself Nebula and infiltrated the Council of Cross-Time Kangs some time ago.[2] Using one of his devices to reveal the true identity of the Terminatix, he is shocked to discover that she is none other than his one-time love interest, Ravonna. They recall how Ravonna was the princess of a future kingdom that Kang sought to conquer. However, he gave up his desire for conquest for her love and helped defend her kingdom from mutineers in his army. In the final battle, one of Kang’s former lieutenants attempted to shoot him in the back and Ravonna lept in the way, taking the shot meant for him.[3] Kang then put her in suspended animation until he found a way to save her life, but can’t understand how she is alive and walking around. Ravonna has Kang recall how the Grandmaster once approached him for a contest, offering to give him the power over life and death. When the Avengers interfered with his goals, Kang chose the power of death in order to destroy them rather than choosing to restore her to life.[4]
She then reveals that the Grandmaster took pity on her and used his power to restore her to life, then left a bio-duplicate in the cryochamber so that Kang would be none the wiser. Learning how Kang gave up the opportunity to heal her, she became bent on getting revenge against him. Kang admits that he lost all interest in the Ravonna he once knew because she was too timid and weak. However, seeing the woman she has become has renewed his interest in her and offers the Terminatrix a place by his side. She refuses, instead wishing to fight him to the death, a challenge that Kang openly accepts.
While the two fight each other, Raa the Caveman appears to free the Avengers and the Fantastic Four and they engage the Arachronauts in battle. As it turns out “Raa” was simply Sersi in disguise, as she used her transmutation powers to take his place in the earlier battle. With Kang and the Terminatrix still fighting it out under a protective dome, Thor tosses Mjolnir into the arena in an attempt to stop the fight. Thrown off course, the enchanted hammer is poised to fatally strike the Terminatrix. Kang, however, leaps in the way and takes the blow himself in a unexpected reversal of his last encounter with Ravonna. With Kang fatally injured, the Terminatrix refuses to be denied her revenge and vows to restore him to full health so they can finish their final battle. With the threat posed by Kang now passed, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four recover their Quinjet and Time-Sled and head back to their own time.
Meanwhile, Ravonna places Kang in a life support system and muses over the irony that she is now keeping the man she hates alive.[5]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Sersi, Crystal), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Doctor Druid, Terminatrix, Kang the Conqueror, Anachronauts (Apocryphus, Ssith, Deathhunt 9000, Black Knight, Tyndar, Raa, Wildrun)
Continuity Notes
Captain America and the Vision went missing in Captain America Annual #11, while Thor went MIA in Thor Annual #17.
Nebula’s past attempts at obtaining power enough to destroy Kang was chronicled in Avengers #291-297, Fantastic Four #337-341, and Avengers Spotlight #37.
Ravonna’s sacrifice was chronicled in Avengers #23-24.
Kang’s contest with the Grandmaster, aka the Game of Galaxies, happened in Avengers #69-71.
Kang doesn’t remain in this state for very long. Kang will be restored to his former glory in Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1-4.
Topical References
The present day is referred to as the 20th Century in this story. That should be considered a topical reference. This is because the Sliding Timescale has bumped the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time that it no longer begins until after the start of the 21st Century.
The Avengers’ Top Ten Villains
About to enter the Avengers training room to run a simulation, the Black Knight decides to go through the database and compile a list of potential opponents based on the Avengers top ten villains. This list includes the Zodiac, Aarkon, the Grim Reaper, the Space Phantom, the Collector, the Masters of Evil, Immortus, Kang, Ultron, and finally Thanos. After going through the list the Black Knight is joined by Captain America who suggests that they run a simulation where they have to fight all of these foes at the same time. The Knight isn’t so sure about this, but Captain America assures him that they’ve been in tougher spots before.
Recurring Characters
Black Knight, Captain America
Continuity Notes
While giving off the top ten list, the Avengers computer gives some facts about each foe. The details:
The Zodiac: The computer states that the current version of the group consists of a human Scorpio and an army of Life Model Decoys. This is not correct actually. The Scorpio it is referring to is Jake Fury, who the Avengers were led to believe was the man behind the mask. However, as Secret Warriors #25, the Jake Fury Scorpio was always a LMD as part of a cover identity for Jake who was actually posing as the leader of the terrorist organization called Leviathan. Even then, the facts here are wrong since the “real” Jake Fury appeared to commit suicide in Defenders #50 and was replaced by yet another LMD, this one was not pretending to be real however, as seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #26-28.
Arkon: It is stated that Arkon has been both enemies and alies to the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men. This is because Arkon had either come to Earth to destroy it or seek the aid of its heroes as doing so would save his own world from destruction. See Avengers #75-76, 84, Fantastic Four #160-163, as well as X-Men Annual #3 and 5.
The Grim Reaper is identified as an undead ghoul that needs the life forces of others in order to survive. The Reaper committed suicide in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #2. He was subsequently resurrected with voodoo in issue #12 of that series, but only started needing the life forces of others since Avengers West Coast #65. This will remain the status quo until he is restored to life in Avengers (vol. 3) #10-11.
Space Phantom: Here it is stated that the Phantom is “presently” allied with Immortus. The Avengers were led to believe this in Thor #281-282. It’s later revealed in Avengers Forever #8 that he has always been a minion of Immortus.
Masters of Evil: The team roster given here is of the version of the Masters that laid siege to Avengers Mansion in Avengers #273-277.
Immortus: Is cited as the future incarnation of both Rama-Tut and Kang the Conqueror. This was confirmed in Giant-Size Avengers #3. The evolution of Rama-Tut to Kang the Conqueror was revealed in Avengers #8.
Kang: Is said to be the descendant of Nathaniel Richards, the father of the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards. This was first hinted at in Fantastic Four #273. It has been called into question many times, but it will finally get confirmed once and for all in Fantastic Four (vol. 6) #35.
Ultron: Is said to have a body made out of adamantium. This has been the case since Avengers #67-68.
Boy’s Night Out
After a training session at Avengers Headquarters, Hercules suggests that the Black Knight, aka Dane Whitman, join him for a night of drinking. The pair end up a local bar where some of the patrons are giving a server a hard time. Hercules convinces Dane to step in come to her defense. Whitman reluctantly does so and gets into a fight. Although Whitman wins the brawl, he is annoyed that Hercules has remained on the sidelines. The server, on the other hand, is unimpressed at having a man come to her rescue, saying that she can handle rowdy customers on her own. When Hercules defends her, she thanks him for not getting in the middle of something that wasn’t his business. She then agrees to join Hercules for a drink when she punches out. Dane tells them to go off and have fun on their own. Dane doesn’t know how, but he fells like he has been had.
Recurring Characters
Hercules, Black Knight
The Puzzle
This story continues from Fantastic Four Annual #25…
Following the defeat of Kang the Conqueror, Ravonna, aka Nebula, aka the Temptress, aka the Terminatrix, has taken over Chronopolis. Deciding to find out what Kang knew about her revenge scheme, she has his robotic records keeper go over his personal files with her.
She goes back to the point where Kang was last defeated by his future self, Immortus.[1] As it turnes out, during that time he was already aware that Nebula was looking for him when one of his counterparts was brought before the Council of Cross-Time Kangs.[2]
Ravonna stops the recording and asks for clarification as to who the Council actually was. The recorder explains that they were usurpers who defeated a Kang counterpart or one of the robot duplicates Kang put in place. In fact, the Prime Kang actually formed the council, a secret none but the ruling council knew about. He goes on to explain that the Prime Kang was not present during any of her dealings with the Council as Nebula, not when she sought to obtain a powerful weapon from the Time Bubble,[3] and not the version of Kang that fought the Avengers during the Inferno crisis on present day Earth.[4]
Curious as to what the real Kang was doing this whole time, she is shown that he had surrounded himself with alternate reality versions of Ravonna and grew bored with how placated they were. Deciding to pursue the Celestial Madonna once more, Kang returned to the present in an attempt to capture Mantis but was thwarted by the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer.[5] Kang had grown sick of women by that point and returned to Chronopolis to begin plotting new schemes.
Ravonna then stops the playback a second time and decides to find out when Kang first created Chronopolis. As it turns out, Kang began building his domain following his first defeat at the hands of the Avengers.[6] He decided that in order to conquer the 21st Century, he would first need to sow the seeds of conquest in the previous on. He traveled back in time to January 1, 1901 and set up a base of operations in the town to Timely, Wisconsin. There, he established a cover identity of Victor Timely, a brilliant inventor and used his knowledge of future technology to rival the work of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. He began building primitive robots centuries before such technology would begin.
Chronopolis was accessable through a portal on his worship. While it originally only existed in that era, Kang’s influence soon caused Chronopolis to grow and intersect with many different time periods via interconnected portals. As time progressed, Kang would “kill off” Victor Timely and take on the identity of his “offspring” Victor Timely, Jr. By 1929, this new persona had took on inventor Phineas Horton as an employee. The skills Horton learned from his time working for Timely would later lead to his creation of the android Human Torch in 1939.[7] By the 1980s, Kang was posing as Victor Timely III and Timely Industries became the leading inventor of robotics and computers in that era. The technologies that Kang slowly introduced to the present day would trickle down and end up as the computer technologies used in the super-computers used by the likes of Walter Langkowski and Reed Richards, as well as the robotics and cybernetics tech that would create the prosthetic arm of Misty Knight,[8] and the creation of the cyborg known as Deathlok.[9]
Ravonna wonders how Kang planned on taking over this technology in the long run, but there are no records on how he planned on accomplishing this. Instead, the recorder offers to show her the records of Kang’s first meeting with his ancestor, Doctor Doom.[10] This comes as shock to the Terminatrix, as she always believed that he was descended from the Richards family, pointing to the time that the Fantastic Four of an alternate reality first confronted Kang — prior to his becoming Rama-Tut — and doing a DNA test.[11] The recorder explains that his master was possibly aware of what was going on and “confirmed” his Richards DNA in an effort to obfuscate his origins, but cannot say for sure.
The records then jump ahead to Kang’s final entry before his defeat. It recorded his involvement in the Infinity War and how he teamed up with Doctor Doom.[12] He was amused that Doom was unsurprised that Kang survived their last encounter. However, it ends short of explaining his next plans as Kang was planning to deal with the threat posed by Nebula. She is furious that Kang didn’t record his final plans before his near fatal injury. When she demands the recorder reveal a means of healing Kang, it tells her that it cannot. This who experience leaves the Terminatrix frustrated over the true nature of Kang the Conqueror: Was he a heartless warlord or a gallant rescuer?
Little does the Terminatrix know that her tribulations are being observed in Limbo by Immortus and a version of herself from an alternate reality.[13] Ravonna feels badly for her counterpart even though she knows that Kang isn’t dead for good. Immortus explains that people living moment are seldom see the truth, pointing to the fact that many believe him to either be dead or their enemy.[14] He explains that every person is the potential of many, pointing to all of his past counterparts from Rama-Tut, to the Scarlet Centurion,[15] to Kang, to Victor Timely. He concludes by saying that Kang and that version of Ravonna have so much more to learn about themselves and each other.
Recurring Characters
Terminatrix
Continuity Notes
The battle between Kang and Immortus in question was the one waged in Avengers #267-269. That story ends with Kang absorbing the memories of all of his counterparts and being driven mad. It’s not explained how he overcame this madness. Avengers Forever #9 clarifies, explaining that Kang triggered his time device creating a new pair of divergent Kangs in order to make himself sane again. One version went to his native 40th Century timeline on Other-Earth (aka Reality-6311, per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1) The other Kang however….
… was the one that Ravonna recruited into the Council of Cross-Time Kangs in Avengers #293.
Nebula and the Council of Cross-Time Kangs attempted to breach the Time Bubble (Reality-8810) in Avengers #291-297.
The Kang that fought the Avengers during Inferno appeared in Avengers #300.
Kang’s attempt to recapture Mantis was chronicled in Fantastic Four #323-325.
Kang’s first battle against the Avengers took place in Avengers #8.
Phineas Horton would go on to create the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1. It wasn’t just Kang’s influence that led him to his creation, he also got assistance from the Scientist Guild, who later became the Enclave, as explained in Marvel Comics #1000.
Misty Knight lost her arm trying to toss an active bomb away from innocent people,as first told in Iron Fist #6.
This Deathlok would be Michael Collins, who was transformed into the cyborg in Deathlok #1.
Doctor Doom and Kang (as Rama-Tut) first met in Fantastic Four Annual #2.
The time pre-Kang Nathaniel Richards met the “Fantastic Four” was during the Timequake event in What If? (vol. 2) #35-39. The situation with Kang’s family lineage has is an obfuscation here. The details:
The concept that Kang might have been related to Doctor Doom stems from Fantastic Four Annual #2, when Rama-Tut suggested that they might be the same person.
However, Fantastic Four #273 presents the idea that Kang is a descendant of Nathaniel Richards, the father to Reed Richards. Something that seemed to be confirmed via DNA test in What If? (vol. 2) #39.
While this tale tries to suggest that Kang is actually descended from Doctor Doom, this is later proven to be false when the truth is definitively answered via DNA lock to Kang’s time portal that was keyed into his family DNA. Since Reed Richards was able to circumvent it himself, it proves that he is a descendant of Nathaniel Richards, as seen in Fantastic Four (vol. 6) #35.
For the record, the individuals who test Kang’s DNA here are not the Fantastic Four, but rather the Richards Rocket Group, a version of the FF that never got their powers. They first appeared in What If? #36. They hail from Reality-8212 per Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
Kang later teamed up with Doctor Doom in Infinity War #1-6. His reference to Kang’s demise during their last encounter was when Doom had Ultron kill him in Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #2. Kang states that Doom seem unsurprised to see Kang alive after their last encounter, seemingly forgetting the fact that Doom resurrected Kang with the power of the Beyonder in issue #11 of Secret Wars.
The Ravonna here is an alternate version of her that Kang plucked moments before her original injury circa Avengers #23-24 in issues #267-269. This version of Ravonna is a divergent belonging to Reality-8657.
The Scarlet Centurion is another Kang identiy he took on after being Rama-Tut. This version first appeared in Avengers Annual #2. While rhyming off his past counterparts, Immortus omits his time as Iron Lad (first seen in Young Avengers #1) and Kid Immortus (first seen in FF (vol. 2) #8). These omissions are due to the fact that these past iterations of Immortus only started appearing in publications after this story.
Supplimentary Materials
This Annual also features a pin-up of the Anachronauts, a map of Chronolpolis, and a two page feature explaining how the Avengers Comunicard works.
