Kang the Conqueror’s Wackiest Schemes

Revisit some of Kang the Conqueror’s strangest plans before his next adventure in Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa’s ‘Avengers’ #1 this May.

Since his introduction in the 1960s, Kang the Conqueror has used his advanced technology and knowledge of the future to make trouble for the Avengers and other heroes. However, as is so often the case with time travel, things can get very weird, very fast. Here are seven of Kang’s wackiest stories from over the decades.

A KANG IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT

While most Kang stories have focused on his attempts to conquer present day Earth, STRANGE TALES (1951) #134 illustrated his desire to take over everywhen. In that story, Uatu the Watcher transported Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch, and Ben Grimm, AKA the Thing, back to Camelot to stop Kang, who used his advanced technology to utterly defeat people still fighting with swords and shields.

THE SCARLET CENTURION WAS AN ABJECT FAILURE

Following his defeat at the hands of the Marvel’s First Family in FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #19, the Rama-Tut version of Kang tried to flee into the timestream and go back to his own time. Instead, he ended up on Earth-616, where he met Doctor Victor Von Doom and modeled a new version of himself after the villain: the Scarlet Centurion.

So, in AVENGERS ANNUAL (1967) #2, the Scarlet Centurion created a divergent reality, where he attempted to defeat the Avengers with an alternate version of the team. His plan didn’t succeed, and he still considers his time as the Scarlet Centurion something of a failure.

AVENGERS ANNUAL (1967) #2 page by Roy Thomas, Don Heck, and Werner Roth

KANG RELEASES THE INCREDIBLE HULK ON THE PAST

After failing to conquer the 20th century on several occasions, Kang tried to stop the Avengers from ever forming in INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) #135. He set his sights on Phantom Eagle, a hero and World War I-era fighter pilot, believing his death would stop Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from assembling in the first place.

Since Kang was unable to go back to the past himself, he tricked the Hulk into helping him. Soon, the comic revealed that Hulk’s actions and attack on the Phantom Eagle were meant to kill Bruce Banner’s ancestor, thus taking away the catalyst for the Avengers forming in the first place. However, Hulk failed to kill the Phantom Eagle, who went on to indirectly save the life of Bruce’s ancestor, and Hulk was transported back to his proper era, leaving the timeline intact.

INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) #135 page by Roy Thomas and Herb Trimpe

KANG AND THE GRANDMASTER STEAL EARTH’S MONUMENTS

In AVENGERS (1963) #69, Kang made a bet with the Grandmaster. If Kang won, the Grandmaster would revive his longtime love interest, Ravonna Renslayer. However, if Kang lost, the Grandmaster would destroy Earth. To ensure his victory, Kang recruited the Avengers to his cause and pit them against the Grandmaster’s Squadron Sinister in a game that saw both teams trying to steal such monuments as the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben.

AVENGERS (1963) #69 page by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema

KANGAROO THE CONQUEROR TEAMS UP WITH SPIDER-HAM

Thanks to the Multiverse, there are countless variations of popular characters, including Kang. One of those characters, Kangaroo the Conqueror, is undoubtedly one of the strangest versions of the villain so far. After he was introduced in the ’80s, Kangaroo played a key role in SPIDER-HAM (2019), where he teamed up with Peter Porker against another version of Kang for a truly weird, wild, and funny story.

PETER PORKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-HAM (2019) #4 cover by Will Robson and Erick Arciniega

KANG ABDUCTS THE CELESTIAL MADONNA

The “Celestial Madonna Saga” was both one of Kang’s best storylines and one of his weirdest. In that arc, he kidnapped several members of the Avengers in search of the Celestial Madonna, with whom he hoped to have an heir, as that person’s child was destined to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe. His plan got especially complicated when it was revealed that Immortus, another Avengers villain, was a version of Kang from the future. The story then saw Kang fight not only the Avengers, but both the Immortus and Rama-Tut versions of himself.

AVENGERS (1963) #129 cover by Ron Wilson

KANG THE KIDNAPPER

UNCANNY AVENGERS (2012) #5 introduced the Apocalypse Twins, Uriel and Eimin, who were the children of Archangel and Ichisumi, the Horseman of Pestilence. Kang kidnapped the two as babies, believing they’d help him in his conquering endeavors.

To condition them, Kang left them to grow up under the most brutal circumstances he could find, so that they suffered greatly. As a result, the Apocalypse Twins eventually—and understandably—turned on Kang. As such, he was forced to take on the two people whose lives he’d irreconcilably altered for the worse.