“Avengers 24 p 18 ” (January 1966)
by Don Heck (1929-1995) and Dick Ayers (1924-2014)
13 x 22 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

‘From The Ashes of Defeat–!’
Written by Stan Lee – back in the day.

Kang the Conqueror is likely to show up in the movies, one day, just because he’s a nemesis with mastery of time-travel as a weapon, and his origins are a complex mix of incarnations from to the present day to the past to the future.

This issue is the second part of a two-part story.

In the future, Kang tries to show his power to the future Princess Ravonna by capturing the Avengers… but she doesn’t care. As troops advance on the city, Kang escapes. Although hopeless, the Avengers decide to put up a fight against the never-ending army of Baltag, the city’s ruler.

Although Kang’s law states that monarchs conquered are to be executed, Kang wants to marry Ravonna. Drama!

On this page, we see that Kang is forced to team up with Captain America, Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch to save Ravonna and liberate her civilization from Baltag.

Note how well the page is balanced and how this narrative is carried along. Top of the page (lengthwise pause): Kang enacts a plan. Middle of the page (chop/chop/chop): three fast scene shifts with the heroes, being heroes. Bottom of the page (another lengthwise pause): the consequence of Kang’s actions, and the uneasy alliance with the heroes is established.