Kang The Conqueror #3

Kang the Conqueror #3

Marvel Comics 2021

Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly

Illustrated by Carlos Magno

Coloured by Espen Grundetjern

Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna

Young Kang stalks his future self to the site of his first major battle with the Avengers, hoping to change the course of his destiny once and for all. But the fate of the villainous Doctor Doom has long been entwined with Kang’s—and no one interferes with Victor Von Doom’s timeline but Victor Von Doom. It’s Kang vs. Kang vs. Doom—with the future of the universe on the line!

This is one hell of a great series thus far. I’ve always been aware who Kang is and or was depending on your point of view and to see this spotlight on him and giving him that proper backstory timeline has been a real eye opener. I know he’s been a foe of the Avengers and of Richard Rider and the New Warriors in his various incarnations but seeing him and Doctor Doom going at it this issue takes him to a whole new level in my book. This is the kind of stuff that really makes him seem like a more universal threat than simply fighting heroes and this is as exciting as it gets in my humble opinion.

I absolutely 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 immaculately rendered. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter is utterly marvellous. How this brings their personalities to the forefront is extraordinarily well achieved. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story is so amazingly well rendered that it makes the reader want to see and know more. From the different eras and incarnations, from Apocalypse to the Avengers everyone we see him encounter helps to shape the man he’s going to become and it’s glorious.

I adore the way we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. The layers do a marvellous job in opening up avenues to be explored and while some are and some aren’t they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

The interiors here are bloody mindbogglingly brilliant to see. I’ve been a fan of Carlos’ for quite some time and he’s an unsung master in the industry. The linework is epically brilliant and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the attention to detail is simply bewitching. How strongly we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments perfectly. 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. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a master colourist in action. The creativity and imagination that we see is utterly stupendous, that sarcophagus for example is mind blowing.

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While I wouldn’t advocate for this to be an ongoing monthly I do believe that a yearly six issue arc would be a truly marvellous thing to see. He’s got such a mad rich history and with time at his disposal the past, present and future are rife for exploration. Also spending more time with the Young Avengers wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Regardless this is exactly the kind of book I’d regularly seek out from Marvel because of how well this is being written and how strong and dynamic the characterisation is and these bloody brilliant interiors are the proverbial icing on the cake.