Kang the Conqueror #1

Kang, The Conqueror #1

Marvel Comics 2021

Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly

Illustrated by Carlos Magno

Colour Assists by Espen Grundetjern

Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna

THE ORIGIN OF KANG!

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 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…

To be honest I’m surprised this book took this long to come out. I would have thought that the iron would’ve been much hotter when the Young Avengers debuted and Nathaniel left the team to do his first solo limited-series. Sure better late than never and I’m surely not going to complain because Carlos on the interiors here is a dream come true! Time travel, devices, science you name it this book has it all and he gets to bring this to life in own immutable way.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to flesh these characters out beautifully. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the characters and the world they live in takes us on a much anticipated journey.

I’m really impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers emerge and grow. These layers are phenomenal and I really do like the way we see how so much depth, dimension and complexity is added to the story. I do wish we’d have seen Nathaniel get to explore Doom’s library before being interrupted, that kind of treasure trove clearly ignited some passion within him. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved incredibly well.

The interiors here are mindbogglingly brilliant. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the attention to detail that we see is astonishingly well rendered. How we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments as they create the mood, tone and feel so eloquently. When Nathaniel is underground in Doom’s library there’s one panel that’s eerie, ethereal and simply stunning. How they also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is phenomenal. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is equally as brilliant to see here. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows such a master colourist at work. I’m stunned by the sheer brilliance and complexity of the work and how the depth and dimension it’s all able to bring to the page.

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This is the kind of book I want to see from Marvel. The writing is spectacular and the characterisation is astronomically good wrapped in some of today’s best interior artwork make this a must have for everyone!