Avengers Forever #9
Break: Reflections of the Conqueror
Kang the Conqueror is in the midst of a war with his future self, Immortus, for the fate of the all time and space. With the destruction of Chronopolis, Kang has fled to a purgatory dimension to recuperate.[1] Removing his helmet and ordering his computers to play back his diary, Kang the Conqueror admits to himself that he feels incredibly old.
The recording plays back to the very beginning and is an autobiography made by Kang himself. He recounts he comes from a world that was ravaged by war until the arrival of a scientist named Nathaniel Richards. Richards became known as the “benefactor” as he helped rebuild this world after all the devastation.[2]
Born into the 30th century, Kang was a bored young man who could only find enjoyment watching videos of past eras. Seeking adventure in his life, he explored his family genealogy and discovered that he might be related to either Victor Von Doom, aka Doctor Doom, or Nathaniel Richards, the benefactor himself.[3] It was through this investigation that he uncovered one of the benefactor’s time machines. Repairing it, the man who would become Kang the Conqueror traveled to the distant past. Reinventing himself as the Rama-Tut, he became pharaoh for many years until his rule was disturbed by the time traveling Fantastic Four.[4] Fleeing through time, Rama-Tut arrived in the present day and rescued Doctor Doom from outer space. At the time, Tut led Doom to wonder if they might be the same man from two different points in history, thinking he might need Doom as an ally some day.[5]
Pausing his recording, Kang reflects on how he learned about divergent timelines on this trip and his brief foray as the Scarlet Centurion, a divergent of whom went on to become a powerful foe in his own right in a parallel universe.[6]
The recording continues by saying that — as Rama-Tut — he overshot his return to the future and ended up in the war torn 40th century. It was here that he reinvented himself as Kang the Conqueror and used his knowledge to conquer the Earth and then the known universe in this era.[7] However, it was never enough, Kang craved a challenge and as such he returned to the Age of Heroes where he fought and was defeated by the Avengers.[8] Returning to his own era, Kang kept tabs on the Avengers over time.[9] His conquest of the future continued unabated as he’d take over the Kosmos dimension and force its people to create his Growing Men for him.[10]
However, of all the kingdoms he conquered the realm ruled by King Carelius was different as Kang fell in love with the king’s daughter, Ravonna and offered to spare the kingdom if she married him. Ravonna rejected his advances and his affections toward her resulted in his minion Boltag staging a revolt. Kang was forced to recruit the Avengers to help him defeat Boltag. The liberation of King Carelius’ kingdom was enough to convince Ravonna that she did love Kang. However, she was mortally wounded by Boltag, forcing Kang to keep her in stasis until he could find a cure to restore her with.[11] He continued his conquests, but Kang didn’t have the heart for it after losing Ravonna. When one of his Growing Men was revived in the present day, Kang went to investigate, getting into a conflict with Thor. Defeated by the thunder god, Kang tried to fleein to the time stream. However, Thor would use Mjolnir to try and trap him in an infinity vortex.[12]
Instead, Kang found himself sent to Limbo where he found the remains of Immortus whose identity he didn’t know at that time. He studied the time master’s equipment and used his machines to pluck Ravonna out of the time stream at the moment she was about to be injured. This created a divergent timeline where Kang got shot instead. This is how Kang became aware of divergent timelines and he witnessed countless variants of himself hatching many other schemes.[13] On variant would go on to create the domain of Chronopolis,[14] while another tried to invade Camelot only to be stopped by the Human Torch and the Thing,[15] yet another challenged the Grandmaster in a game of cosmic chess,[16] another perished when he was lost in the timestream following a battle with the Hulk.[17] This later version of himself, he had learned, created a means of cheating death that would download his mind into a cloned body in the 40th century upon his demise.
Yet another divergence gave up on Ravonna and sought to find mate with the Celestial Madonna instead. He went to the present where he kidnapped the three likely candidates: The Scarlet Witch, Mantis, and Agatha Harkness. This led to a clash with not only the Avengers but two of his future selves: A renewed Rama-Tut and Immortus.[18] Prevented from obtaining the Celestial Madonna, this Kang attempted to conquer the present day via the 19th century, only to be destroyed in a battle with Thor.[19] This version of Kang also cheated death thanks to a similar mind transference device.
Observing all of these failures, the Prime Kang sought to eliminate all the variants he deemed failures and formed the Council of Kangs to do the job, intending to betray the others once he was the only Kang left. The Avengers got involved and that’s when Immortus appeared and revealed that he had manipulated these events to occur to ensure that Kang would continue on his path to becoming Immortus. Kang was then tricked into taking a Psycho-Globe, a device that had the collective memories of all of his variants. This drove Kang mad and he fled into Limbo. In order to save himself, the Prime Kang — who had since also adopted the mind transferrance machine — triggered his time circuits killing himself and creating two divergent selves to split the stress of madness between two minds.[20]
While on divergent returned to Chronopolis to recouperate, the other got involved in the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. This group were impostors who took up the Kang identity after murdering a variant and stealing his identity. This divergent ended up perishing when he dissipated in the time stream.[21] The only Kang left standing, then sought to get revenge against Mantis. Although he was defeated by the Fantastic Four and vowed to return, Kang stopped going after her.[22] This was when the bureaucracy of ruling over countless galaxies and timelines began taking its toll. Kang found most of his time governing than conquering making him long for the excitements of old.
Kang first teamed up with Doctor Doom in order to steal a number of Cosmic Containment Units from Adam Warlock and the Magus.[23] He underwent this mission not because he desired the units, but because he couldn’t think of anything else to do. This led to Kang’s most humiliating defeat yet. Engaging in a war with another version of Ravonna, which included the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, ended when Kang ironically stepped in the path of Mjolnir taking a blow that was meant for Ravonna.[24]
Pausing the recording again, Kang recounts how Ravonna was able to restore him with the help of the Avengers and he was also able to be rid of the Council of Cross-Time Kangs.[25] After his restoration he and Ravonna returned to the 40th century where Kang once again grew listless. Longing for an earlier time, he decided to return to ancient Egypt where he resumed his rule for a time. However, his thoughts would always return to how he was destined to become Immortus and this bothered him. He decided to head to the present and interfere with his past self’s attempt to claim the Celestial Madonna in the hopes of ultimately breaking that cycle. However, everything happened as it originally planned and so Rama-Tut returned to the time stream.
There he wandered for years and eventually he decided that there was no way of avoiding the inevitable. However, before he could cross over into Limbo and embrace his destiny as Immortus, he caught a glimpse of his own future. Here he saw Immortus bowing down in servitude to the Time Keepers. Furious to see himself bowing to another, Rama-Tut vowed never to allow that to happen.[26] Resuming the guise of Kang the Conqueror, he then set about dealing with his various foes. He set the Time Variance Authority, the Delubric Consortium, Revelation, Alioth, and the Congress of Realities against one another.[27] Seeing his mind transference device as a crutch, Kang destroyed it so that he had no short cuts this time.
He then began investigating Immortus looking for every means of avoiding his ultimate fate. This led to him investigating the Time Keepers and learning their origins. He learned that they were created at the end of time by the last director of the TVA, “He Who Remains”. Since their birth, the Time Keepers have become guardians of the timeline to ensure that the universe ends with them and them alone.[28] It was through these observations that Kang learned how the Time Keepers sought to contain the planet Earth. Not liking this in the slightest, it led him to working with the Supreme Intelligence and Libra to protect Rick Jones and the Destiny Force. The recording concludes by recounting the destruction of Chronopolis at the hands of Immortus and the loss of the Forever Crystal.
Kang ends the recording and feels exhausted all over again. He struggles to figure out what his purpose is and what he continues to fight for. That’s when he is contacted by the Supreme Intelligence who tells him to return to the Blue Area of the Moon. Transporting himself there, Kang discovers Rick Jones waiting for him. He explains that the Avengers have been captured by Immortus. Faced with the prospect of having to save the Avengers and the entire universe fills Kang with a sensation he hasn’t felt in a long time: excitement. He finds the stakes excellent and suggests that they get to work…
Recurring Characters
Kang, Supreme Intelligence, Rick Jones
Continuity Notes
Kang’s recent conflict with Immortus was chronicled in Avengers Forever #1-3.
Nathaniel Richards is father to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. He traveled from his native Earth-616 to a parallel timeline designated Earth-6311 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1. See Fantastic Four #272-273.
This questionable lineage was first brought up in What If? (vol. 2) #39. At the time of this story, the mystery had yet to be settled. However, in Fantastic Four (vol. 6) #35 it was confirmed that Kang is descended from the Richards family. However, it could still be both if a descendant of a Richards and a descendant of a Von Doom got busy with one another than that union later spawned Kang down the line.
Rama-Tut’s first encounter with the Fantastic Four was chronicled in the classic Fantastic Four #19. This tale was expanded upon in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #23-24, Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #53, Rise of Apocalypse #1-4, and Captain America Annual #11.
Rama-Tut’s encounter with Doctor Doom was in Fantastic Four Annual #2.
The Scarlet Centurion incarnation of Kang first appeared in Avengers Annual #2. As explained in Captain America Annual #11, his defeat at the hands of the Avengers created a divergences of himself. One Nathaniel Richards deemed the Scarlet Centurion identity a failure and the other found himself in another reality where he became a regular foil to the Squadron Supreme, as seen in Squadron Supreme #2. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1, this parallel world has been designated Reality-712.
Rama-Tut’s transformation into Kang was first told in Avengers #8. In Avengers #269 reveals that Immortus created the time storms that led to Rama-Tut’s evolution into Kang. This was in order to ensure that Kang would eventually become Immortus.
This was in Avengers #8 (again), a story that has been expanded upon in Captain America Annual #11, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #4 and Captain America: Man Out of Time #4-5.
We first saw this in Avengers #16 as Kang monitored the Avengers first roster change.
The first Growing Man was utilized by Kang in Thor #140. It was first revealed that he enslaved the people of Kosmos to do this in Thunderbolts #13-14.
Kang’s attempted conquest of Carlius’ domain and the wounding of Ravonna occurred in Avengers #23-24. It had been expanded upon in Thor Annual #17. It’s later revealed in Kang the Conquror #1-5 that after Ravonna was incapacitated Kang built a device that sent her consciousness across time and space where she would be reborn over and over. Talk about not being able to let go!
Kang’s clash with Thor happened in Thor #140. This conflict was also expanded upon in Thor Annual #17.
Kang’s arrival in Limbo was chronicled in Avengers #269. The divergent reality he created by saving Ravonna has been designated Reality-8657 as per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3.
The creation of Chronopolis would give Kang a beachhead to plot against conquering the Modern Age. Its creation was chronicled in Avengers Annual #21.
The Kang divergent that fought the Torch and Thing in Camelot was seen in Strange Tales #134. This was expanded upon in Thor Annual #17.
A variant Kang challenged the Grandmaster to the so-called Game of Galaxies that pit the Avengers against the Squadron Sinister. This happened in Avengers #69-71. What’s glossed over here was that Kang entered this contest in exchange to gain power to save Ravonna’s life. However, Kang instead tried to use the power to kill the Avengers instead. This was expanded upon in Thor Annual #17.
Kang sought to eliminate the Hulk as a threat by sending the monster back in time to World War I to try and trick the Hulk into killing his ancestor. This failed as seen in Incredible Hulk #135. This was expanded upon in Fantastic Four Annual #25.
The Celestial Madonna affair occurred in Avengers #129-135 and Giant-Size Avengers #2-4. This was expanded upon in Fantastic Four Annual #25.
Kang’s attempt to conquer the old west and his apparent demise at the hands of Thor happened in Avengers #142-143. This was expanded upon in Fantastic Four Annual #25 as well as Avengers Forever #4-6.
The Council of Kangs incident happened in Avengers #267-269. This was expanded upon in Fantastic Four Annual #25.
Kang really glosses over the whole Cross-Time Kangs thing. This group sought to obtain what they thought was a powerful weapon hidden in a Time Bubble that existed in Reality-8810. See Avengers #292-297, 300, and Fantastic Four #338 for the fate of this alternate Kang. This story was expanded upon in Avengers Annual #21.
Kang’s attempt at revenge against Mantis happened in Fantastic Four #323-325. This story was expanded upon in Avengers Annual #21.
Kang’s alliance with Doom was chronicled in Infinity War #1-5 and Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #4.
This was the Citizen Kang event which took place in Captain America Annual #11, Thor Annual #17, Fantastic Four Annual #25, and Avengers Annual #21. Here it is stated that Kang went to war against an alternate Ravonna. In reality, it was the original Ravonna. As Citizen Kang explains, after losing the Game of Galaxies, the Grandmaster took Ravonna and replace her with a bio-duplicate. He healed this Ravonna, and she went through the time stream to try and get revenge against Kang for not using the power over life and death to restore her. For Ravonna’s travels through time see Avengers #291-297, Fantastic Four #337-341, Avengers Spotlight #37, and the above mentioned annuals.
Kang’s recovery and the destruction of the Council happened in Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1-4.
As revealed in Thor #280-281, after the Celestial Madonna affair, Rama-Tut eventually ended up in Limbo where he became Immortus. Here, we see Rama-Tut reject this. Ultimately, this will prove to be a divergence point that is caused when Kang and Immortus manage to split apart from one another in Avengers Forever #12. The divergence being while one Rama-Tut went to Limbo, the other rejected serving the Time Keepers and went his own way. Neat huh?
Yeah there are other time travel and other dimensional organizations out there. Let’s break it down:
The Time Variance Authority are a group of multiversal bureaucrats who try to maintain order to the multiverse. They first appeared in Thor #371-372. See also Fantastic Four #346, 352-354, Annual #24 and 27, as well as What If? (vol. 2) #35-39.
First mentioned in Fantastic Four Annual #27, they are only known as competition against the TVA. This is the first time we see what they look like. As of this writing (December, 2022) they haven’t been seen or heard from since.
Revelation is an alternate version of Ravonna who exists in the year 9999 of Reality-93091. She works to ensure that her future, one where she is independent of Kang. See Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1-4.
Alioth is a supreme time being that gobbles up entire timelines. We also saw him in The Terminatrix Objective.
The Congress of Realities: Are a group that maintain order in the multiverse. They were first seen in Fear #19 and again in Man-Thing #1 and Quasar #50.
This end of time was first visited by Thor and his allies in Thor #245. There are actually two competing realities that fight for dominance for the true end of time. Reality-761243 a reality where the Time-Twisters try to break the past and Reality-794282 a realm where He Who Remains births the Time Keepers instead.
Topical References
References to the present day taking place in the 20th century should be considered topical. The Sliding Timescale has pushed the Modern Age forward so that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st century.
