The book marks Kelly and Lanzing’s Marvel debut. The two said, “Time may mean nothing to Kang, but Kang means everything to us. This is the book we’ve been wanting to write for years. 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.”
Kang first appeared in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s “Fantastic Four” #19 (October 1963) as the pharoah Rama-Tut, before making his debut as his more familiar, masked alter-ego in “Avengers” #8 (September 1964). But despite being an integral villain in many comic books (including “Young Avengers,” where the young Nathaniel debuted as Iron Lad), animated series, and the video game LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2, this will mark the first time Kang has starred in his own book.
The writers joked, “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. ‘Kang the Conqueror’ isn’t just an origin story; this is a life story […] 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 Conqueror” #1 releases August 18.
