ASK BALLADEER: KANG THE CONQUEROR AND IMMORTUS

In the past handful of days Balladeer’s Blog’s 2017 blog posts examining the Marvel Comics villain Kang the Conqueror and some of his other selves like Immortus and Rama Tut have been getting incredible amounts of hits. I looked into it and it turns out that when the latest Marvel streaming miniseries, Loki, ended, the cliffhanger involved Kang and Immortus at Immortus’ castle in Limbo, the realm outside the time stream.

I thought that people were just going to my 2017 blog posts because they had no idea who Kang and Immortus are. Instead, I started getting comments from readers expressing thanks for the clarity of the “Timey-Wimey” nature of Kang’s labyrinthine saga. They said that the people writing the Loki miniseries plopped everything into the far later stages of the Kang/ Immortus stories, bypassing the earlier tales that would help people understand it.

So, in the style of an FAQ, here are the links to my articles which let people in on the Kang storyline from the beginning, through his eventual metamorphosis into Immortus by way of Rama Tut II, the Scarlet Centurion and others. Think of Kang’s various selves like you’d think of the Doctor’s various regenerations on Doctor Who to simplify it. Anyway, here are the links for my reviews of early Kang stories up through the Celestial Madonna Saga. (And with The Eternals movie coming, Marvel may well work the Celestials into their movie universe, too.)

Originally, Immortus wasn’t overseeing a “Sacred” Timeline as much as he was making sure events played out properly to bring on the Celestial Madonna.

ONE: BID TOMORROW GOODBYE – Kang wants the Celestial Madonna (Mantis, who started out as an Avenger in the 1970s) and reveals she has been the reason he frequently targeted the 20th Century. Agatha Harkness guest-stars, from the years when she was the Scarlet Witch’s mentor. CLICK HERE.

TWO: A BLAST FROM THE PAST – The actual, REAL death of an Avenger as the team tries to stop Kang from obtaining the Celestial Madonna, whose offspring would grant Kang control of all time and space. CLICK HERE

THREE: THE REALITY PROBLEM – The funeral for that first Avenger to be killed in action, plus further investigation into Mantis’ mysterious past to learn how she became destined to be the Celestial Madonna. CLICK HERE.

FOUR: LEGION OF THE UNLIVING – Kang the Conqueror imprisons his future selves Immortus and Rama Tut II, then uses Immortus’ technology to pluck assorted supervillains from the timestream at the moment of their deaths. He then abducts the Avengers and pits them against this Legion of the Unliving  in Castle Limbo, where no other superheroes can come to their aid. CLICK HERE.

FIVE: KANG WAR TWO – Kang and his Legion of the Unliving clash with the Avengers throughout the labyrinthine catacombs beneath Immortus’ castle, with the fate of all time and space at stake. CLICK HERE.

SIX: WHAT TIME HATH PUT ASUNDER – The final battle with the Legion of the Unliving reveals the reasons behind the Vision’s recent malfunctions and sets the stage for the manifestation of the Celestial Madonna. CLICK HERE.

SEVEN: YESTERDAY AND BEYOND – The Scarlet Witch continues to improve under Agatha Harkness’ tutoring. Meanwhile, the Hooded One’s identity is revealed as the Avengers learn about the Vision’s past and the secret incident which caused the Kree-Skrull War to break out. CLICK HERE.

EIGHT: THE TIMES THAT BIND – A seemingly possessed Scarlet Witch clashes with Moondragon at Agatha Harkness’ bidding, while the cosmic events behind Mantis’ destiny as the Celestial Madonna continue to unfold. CLICK HERE .

NINE: THE COMING OF THE CELESTIAL MADONNA – The reasons behind the parallels that Mantis and Moondragon share are dealt with, the Vision learns how Ultron created him and the Day of the Coming of the Celestial Madonna arrives. CLICK HERE .

TEN: … LET ALL MEN BRING TOGETHER – SPOILERS – The fate of all time and space is on the line! This is the jam-packed finale to the Celestial Madonna Saga, as Mantis assumes her destiny plus marries her mate in a double-ceremony as the Vision and the Scarlet Witch finally get married, too. Kang the Conqueror’s final gambit unfolds, the Titanic Trio show up and Dormammu wants revenge on the Scarlet Witch. Immortus reveals another surprise, too. CLICK HERE .

EPILOGUE: MANTIS MEETS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE – Two years later, Steve Englehart was working at DC and did this tale featuring a thinly-veiled Mantis manifesting in the dimension of the Justice League to give birth to her child the Celestial Messiah, with an Ultron/ Thanos pastiche pursuing her. CLICK HERE.

(If you want the first meeting between Wanda and Agatha Harkness in the comic books CLICK HERE )