Kang Dynasty
| "Kang Dynasty" | |
|---|---|
The Kang Dynasty. Cover to Avengers v3, #49. Art by Kieron Dwyer
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| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Publication date | June 2001 – August 2002 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) |
Avengers (vol. 3) #41 - 55 Avengers Annual 2001 |
| Main character(s) |
Avengers Kang the Conqueror |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Kurt Busiek |
| Artist(s) |
Alan Davis Kieron Dwyer Ivan Reis Manuel Garcia |
"Kang Dynasty", sometimes called "Kang War", is a 16 part comic book storyline which ran through Avengers (vol. 3) #41 - 55 and Avengers Annual 2001 between June, 2001 and August, 2002. It was written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by a number of artists including Alan Davis, Kieron Dwyer, Ivan Reis and Manuel Garcia. The story features Kang the Conqueror, warlord from the 30th century, one of the deadliest and oldest Avengers foes, arriving in the early 21st century with his son Marcus intent on conquering the planet.
Although Kang is temporarily successful, the first villain in Marvel Comics to physically take over the world (as opposed through mind control, as Doctor Doom once accomplished by amplifying the powers of the Purple Man) he is opposed and eventually defeated by the Avengers.
The story is noteworthy for its length, as well as depicting the destruction of the United Nations headquarters building (though without loss of life, as Kang saved them all to make a point) and the death of the entire population of Washington, D.C.; it had been planned before the events of September 11, 2001 but was published afterwards as Marvel Comics decided not to alter the storyline. Many politicians and high-ranking government officials had been evacuated before the population was killed.
Kang the Conqueror appears with his son Marcus, the new Scarlet Centurion in front of the U.N, after Marcus is barely defeated by Goliath, Triathlon, Iron Man, Vision, Wasp, and Warbird, and destroys the building using a blast from a space base, Damocles, which is shaped like a giant sword, but when Wasp talks of the murders he has committed, he shows none of the occupants have been killed. Kang creates a force-field around the group, and shows many visions of the Earth's possible futures, all of them dark and horrific. At first it is thought he intends to help the Earth, but then he announces that he wishes to conquer it in order to save it. Kang tells the UN that he will strike at France first. He then announces that any who conquer land in his name will have a place in his new order. Several groups and foes—including the Presence, the Deviants, and Attuma's Atlanteans, attack across the world. Kang knew that against an invading army the Earth would unite but against their own, they would be fractured. He then teleports away with the Centurion, by threatening to strike with lethal force if they make another attack. Meanwhile, the Presence is attacking Russia with a group of radioactive ghost-like creatures that most of the Soviet-Super Soldiers have been turned into and who several Avengers member meet.
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