A Villain Who Gets Around (left) Kang as Rama-Tut in Fantastic Four #19 (Oct. 1963). Cover by Jack Kirby and Paul Reinman. (right) And he’s back, as Immortus, in The Avengers #10 (Nov. 1964). Cover by Kirby and Chic Stone. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
SECOND FOLD: As Kang: Avengers #8 (Sept. 1964) – Stan Lee and Jack Kirby “Kang, the Conqueror!” Kang encounters the Avengers for the first time. Motive: To conqueror the 20th Century Weapons: Anti-gravity rays, anti-matter screen projector, attractor rays, paralysis rays, radiation, time machine Reprinted in Avengers Annual #5 (Jan. 1972) At this point Stan and Jack are developing him into a major Marvel villain, someone to equal Doom and cross series titles whenever necessary. THIRD FOLD: As Immortus: Avengers #10 (Nov. 1964) – Stan Lee and Don Heck “The Avengers Break Up” The first appearance of “Immortus.” Motive: Defeat the Avengers and conquer our time Weapons: Ability to manipulate people and time Reprinted in Marvel Triple Action #5 (Sept. 1972) It’s pretty obvious that Stan had no intention of tying this character to the Kang persona. There were neither hints, nor any telltale clues, that they were connected, other than their common goal of subjugating our century and their ability to move through time. Later writers would use their commonalities to create this fold. As Kang: Avengers #11 (Dec. 1964) – Stan Lee and Don Heck “The Mighty Avengers meet Spider-Man” Kang attacks the Avengers through the use of an android. Motive: Defeat the Avengers Weapons: Atomo-duplicator, iso-nuclear duplicator, Spider-Man robot, time machine, master control panel Reprinted in Avengers Annual #5 (Jan. 1972) How do you build the Marvel Universe? By having the heroes interact across multiple titles… How do you get heroes to battle heroes? Create a misunderstanding or come up with a contrivance that pits them against each other. This story seemed like filler that Stan came up with at the last minute.
44 • BACK ISSUE • Heroes Out of Time Issue
As Kang: Strange Tales #134 (July 1965) – Stan Lee and Bob Powell “The Challenge of … the Watcher!” The Watcher, concerned by Kang’s meddling with medieval England during King Arthur, sends the Human Torch and the Thing back to make corrections. Motive: To change the events of time to remove the very existence of the FF and the Avengers Weapons: Time machine, armor, energy deflector, power lance, energizer Reprinted in The Essential Human Torch #1 (2003) This was a pretty typical Human Torch/Thing story for their run in Strange Tales, but Thing makes a reference to knowing who Kang is and wanting another shot at him, when to this point they had only encountered him as Rama-Tut. I guess super-teams in New York brief each other on their battles. As Kang: Fantastic Four Annual #3 (Summer 1965) – Stan Lee and Jack Kirby “Bedlam at the Baxter Building!” Kang makes two cameo appearances among the many villains and heroes that populate the story of Reed and Sue’s wedding. No new information is revealed. Motive: To disrupt the Richards wedding Weapons: None revealed Reprinted in: Fantastic Four Annual #9 (Dec. 1971) with pages 7 and 8 missing Fantastic Four Annual #10 (Mar. 1973) with the pages returned but page 20 missing (one of Jack Kirby’s photo/ art collages) Marvel Visionaries: Stan Lee (2005) in its entirety A throwaway appearance. As Kang: Avengers #23 (Dec. 1965) – Stan Lee and Don Heck “Once an Avenger” Kang captures part of the Avengers and brings them to his own time. We also learn about Kang’s lost love Princess Ravonna. Motive: Defeat the Avengers and convince Princess Ravonna to be his bride.