Kang the Conqueror

Background

Kang is a descendant of Doctor Doom, born in the year 3000. Bored by the peacefulness of his era, he uses his ancestor's time travel technology, to journey back to ancient Egypt where he becomes the Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Defeated there by the Fantastic Four, he travels to the 20th Century and meets Dr. Doom, which inspires him to put together an armored and masked outfit. Then, he tries to return home but overshoots his time period and ends up in AD 4000, a time of constant war. There, he puts together an army and carves out an empire. He combines his own scientific talents with 40th Century weapons to become Kang the Conqueror. Then he travels back to the 20th Century, proclaims himself "Kang the First" and is promptly defeated by the Avengers.

From there, Kang's history gets complicated. He falls in love with Ravonna, a Princess from his era. When she is seriously wounded, Kang keeps her in suspended animation hoping to someday return her to life. He conquers the earth as the Scarlet Centurion in what becomes an alternate timeline. He seeks the Celestial Madonna in an attempt to rule all life. With his son Marcus the second Scarlet Centurion, he destroys much of Washington D.C. and forces the Earth to surrender to him but is finally defeated after great losses of life. All of the time traveling creates countless alternate versions of Kang. One of those versions gives up his conqueror role at the age of seventy-five and rules the realm of Limbo under the name Immortus.

Spider-Man twice becomes involved in Kang's schemes though never confronts the Conqueror directly.

In the first instance, Kang creates a Spider-Man robot, sends him to twentieth century Manhattan and has him apply for membership in the Avengers. When his application is rejected, the robot tells the Avengers that he knows where to find their missing colleague Iron Man. He sends them down to the Temple of Tirod in Mexico, which Kang has set up with various death traps. There the robot defeats Giant-Man, the Wasp, Thor and Captain America. But he is in turn defeated by the real Spider-Man who has followed the robot there. (But don't ask me how.) Spider-Man hits the robot's deactivation switch and puts an end to Kang's scheme.

In the second instance, Spidey learns that a strange force field has surrounded Avengers Mansion. He joins Iron Man in an investigation. The two heroes enter a hole into time and are picked up by Zarrko The Tomorrow Man who tells them that the Avengers have been kidnapped and are being held prisoner in his own 23rd century by an invader from the future. Iron Man and Spidey enter the well- guarded citadel of the invader and come up against Kang, who blasts them with a paralysis gun. With the guards all occupied, Zarrko sneaks in the back door and gets the drop on Kang. Zarrko announces that he has sent three "time bombs" to the Avengers' time. These bombs will regress the entire world to a more primitive time; all except a weapons depot in western North America. Zarrko plans to take this depot over and use the weapons to rule the regressed world. While he blabs about this, Spidey sneaks off to a room marked "Time Portal" and travels back to his own time. Seconds after he leaves, someone breaks into the room to disrupt the stalemate between Kang and Zarrko.

Back in the present, Spidey teams up with the Human Torch to disable the three "time bombs". The Torch notices that the time bomb radiation is similar to the negative zone that surrounds the Great Refuge, home of the Inhumans. So, Spidey takes one of the bombs with him to the Great Refuge and gets the Inhumans to turn it into a time machine. He and the Inhumans use it to get back to the 23rd century just at the moment that Zarrko is sneaking in the back door. The web-slinger and Inhumans break in just as Zarrko finishes telling his scheme to Kang. They are, of course, the mysterious intruders who enter shortly after Spidey uses the time portal to disrupt the stalemate. (It all works nicely except that Iron Man should still be lying on the floor as he was when Spidey left but is somehow imprisoned with the other Avengers now instead.) Spidey and the Inhumans defeat Zarrko and Kang only to discover Kang's body armor is empty. The Conqueror was never really there at all. He used a puppet and watched from a distance.

”Time and the Conqueror”

Eddie Brock met Kang after Brock defeated Knull and became the new King in Black. (Venom was left behind on earth and was bonded to Brock’s son, Dylan.) Brock had the ability to communicate with any symbiote anywhere in the universe at any time and he could sense that Dylan and Venom were in danger. Brock was based in a cosmic garden that existed outside of time as humans know it but the feeling of danger for his son shook him out of the garden. He found himself back on earth but in the 602nd century and on the flagship Nathaniel in Kang’s fleet.

Once Brock found Kang, the Conqueror explained that the two of them were going to be partners and made a good team. For Eddie, this was the first time they’d met but for Kang, they’d known each other for eons. (“To me, you’re just another mook the Avengers fight.”) Brock was wearing a standard issue “warstar class” symbiote, which are apparently sticklers for protocol but still gave him the ability to copy what weapons that Kang created. The fight was more like a lesson and Kang was satisfied with the start. Brock didn’t trust him but his abilities as a time traveler would be useful to get him back to Dylan. Kang reported back to Meridius that Brock was suspicious but hadn’t guessed that Kang was baiting Meridius’s trap. (Venom #208)

Image Gallery

Appearances

Cover Date	Appearance Information
Oct 1963	App: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #19
	First appearance as Rama-Tut.
Sep 1964	App: Avengers (Vol. 1) #8
	First appearance as Kang.
Dec 1964	App: Avengers (Vol. 1) #11
	First "meeting" of Kang and Spider-Man.
May 1973	App: Marvel Team-Up #9
	Spidey and Iron Man vs. Kang and Zarrko.
Jun 1973	App: Marvel Team-Up #10
	Spidey and the Torch defuse "time bombs".
Jul 1973	App: Marvel Team-Up #11
	Spidey and the Inhumans. Kang revealed as puppet.