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Quote1 Though my own century fears me as the most ruthless conqueror of all time, my triumph is a hollow one so long as the twentieth century escapes my tyranny! Quote2
Kang the Conqueror

Appearing in "Once an Avenger..."

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Synopsis for "Once an Avenger..."

Captain America gets a job as a boxer as Steve Rogers. Meanwhile, Kang the Conqueror plans to attack the Avengers yet again. Adding a fourth floor to the Avengers HQ, Kang lures the remaining three Avengers into an inescapable room and transports them to the future.

Kang tries to show his power to the future Princess Ravonna but she doesn't care. Meanwhile, Steve gets worried after hearing about the Avengers' mysterious disappearance. The Avengers attempt to make an escape, but the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye are recaptured, leaving Quicksilver on his own.

Captain America then appears, sending himself to the future using the Recreater. There, he meets up with Quicksilver with a little help from Princess Ravonna. They confront Kang, and are joined by Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, who have managed to escape. Ravonna still denies Kang marriage, so his armies move in to destroy the city.

Notes

  • All the Avengers appeared in last issue, Avengers #22, where they concluded their battle against Power Man and Enchantress. Captain America had left the team but would come to their rescue and rejoin at this issue's end.
  • While there is a Captain America story that features all the members of the Avengers in Tales of Suspense #72, chronologically it occurs after Avengers #25.
  • Kang was last seen in Fantastic Four Annual #3 where he was manipulated by Doctor Doom into crashing Reed Richards and Sue Storm's wedding. He was defeated by a number of New York's heroes who were all attending the reception.
  • This is Ravonna's first appearance.
  • In an editor's note, "Smiley" admits the creative team lost track of when the Recreater device was last used by Iron Man. It is possible it was a non-Avengers issue or it was confused with another device, such as the image projector used in issues 3 and 12.
  • Stan Lee gives an annotated apology to Omar Khayyam, who was a Persian poet/mathematician/philosopher/astronomer and was historically famous for his poetic Quatrains. The words spoken by Kang is possibly a variation, or liberally translated verse from one of Khayyam's quotes or poems, altered to fit Kang's insults being hurled at Quicksilver. This is alluded to in a footnote.
  • The Avengers, Kang and Ravonna are all seen next in Avengers #24.

Trivia

  • The Heavyweight Champion of the World in 1965 was disputed due to a technicality, but was universally held to be Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay). "The Champ" in this issue is Caucasian. Clay/Ali is African American. One would assume that Captain America would box "Heavyweight" as he meets the weight requirement (200 lbs. and over).

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