This August, it’s time to tell the definitive origin story of one of Marvel’s greatest villains: Kang the Conqueror! Announced earlier today on the This Week in Marvel podcast, the Avengers and Fantastic Four foe will star in his first ever solo series that will tackle the complex saga behind the universe’s most fearsome time-travelling menace. KANG THE CONQUERER will be written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, the popular writing duo known for their work on Joyride, Green Arrow, and Star Trek: Year Five, with art by Carlos Magno (Avengers Mech Strike). Together, this all-star creative team will unravel Kang’s enormous legacy from his expansive backstory to his various alternate selves, tying everything together and catapulting him into his biggest era yet.
The new series will be a love letter to True Believers who treasure the complicated tapestry behind the saga of Kang, while also serving as a perfect entry point for fans eager to learn the fascinating lore behind one of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s most iconic creations. Like many other series starring villains, it’s bound to be intriguing, offering a new look into a complicated character!
The man called Kang the Conqueror has been a pharaoh, a villain, a warlord of the space ways, and even—on rare occasions—a hero. Across all timelines, one fact seemed absolute: Time means nothing to Kang the Conqueror. But the truth, like with many Marvel villains, is more complex. Kang is caught in an endless cycle of creation and destruction dictated by time and previously unseen by any but the Conqueror himself. A cycle that could finally explain the enigma that is Kang. And a cycle that begins and ends with an old and broken Kang sending his younger self down a dark path.
“Time may mean nothing to Kang, but Kang means everything to us. This is the book we’ve been wanting to write for years,” Lanzing said. “It’s a total dream come true for Collin and I to be making our Marvel debut, we’re best friends who first met through a mutual love of Young Avengers, Runaways, and Ultimate Spider-Man. But to make our first mark with a character as storied as Kang the Conqueror, on a very personal pitch we never in a million years thought would be greenlit, is a genuine honor. Carlos Magno is delivering jaw-dropping work that recalls the exacting detail and operatic emotion of Kang’s co-creator Jack Kirby. We’re genuinely stunned by every new page. Add the brilliant colors by Espen Grundetjern, letters by the Marvel master Joe Caramanga, and the insightful leadership of our editor Alanna Smith, and you’ve got a team worthy of one of Marvel’s greatest unsung characters.”
“Kang has been a nefarious force in the Marvel Universe nearly as long as it’s existed, but the true crime here is that he’s never had a solo series. The fact that we’re the ones who get to bring Kang’s complete story to life for the first time is an incredible honor,” Kelly added. “KANG THE CONQUEROR isn’t just an origin story; this is a life story. When young and jaded Nathaniel Richards discovers the ancient lair of his Latvarian ancestor Victor Von Doom, his life is changed forever by a man he should never have met: Kang himself! From the last days of the Cretaceous to the war-torn world of Jack Kirby’s year 4,000, from ancient Egypt to the stars themselves, KANG THE CONQUEROR is a story that unpacks the told, and untold, moments of Kang’s life through a human lens. Powered by his love of the enigmatic Ravonna Renslayer, and fueled by the hatred of who he will become, this is a cross-time epic for everyone who has ever rejected who they were supposed to be.”
KANG THE CONQUERER hits stands on August 18th! For more information, click HERE.
