"Realm of Kings" is a crossover comic book storyline published in 2010 by Marvel Comics. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, it is a follow-up to the 2009 storyline "War of Kings" and introduced the setting known as the Cancerverse.

"Realm of Kings"
Cover of Realm of Kings 1 (January 2010 )
Featuring Quasar (center, front) and an alternate version of the Avengers, art by Clint Langley
PublisherMarvel Comics
Publication dateNovember 2009 – March 2010
Genre
Title(s)
Realm of Kings (one-shot)
Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1-5
Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1-5
Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #20-24
Nova (vol. 4) #31-35
Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #1-4
Main character(s)Shi'ar
Inhumans
Kree
Guardians of the Galaxy
Starjammers
Nova
Darkhawk
Creative team
Writer(s)Dan Abnett
Andy Lanning
Son of Hulk
Scott Reed
Artist(s)Realm of Kings
Mahmud Asrar
Leonardo Manco
Nova
Andrea Di Vito
Imperial Guard
Kev Walker
Penciller(s)Guardians of the Galaxy
Brad Walker
Inhumans
Pablo Raimondi
Son of Hulk
Miguel Munera
Inker(s)Guardians of the Galaxy
Victor Olazaba
Inhumans
Andrew Hennessy
Son of Hulk
Terry Pallot
Realm of Kings ISBN 0-7851-4809-4
Guardians of the Galaxy ISBN 0-7851-4543-5
Nova ISBN 0-7851-4067-0

Publication history

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The series started with a Realm of Kings one-shot that establishes the setting and is followed by a number of separate series or storylines which focus on how the different characters, Imperial Guard, Inhumans, Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova, deal with this situation.[1][2][3]

The storyline also includes the limited series Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk by Scott Reed, with art by Miguel Munera. This focuses on Hiro-Kala and his journey into the Microverse.[4]

Plot summary

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A giant time-space tear called the Fault had been created by Black Bolt's T-Bomb, killing both himself and the Shi'ar leader Vulcan. The Fault becomes an immediate concern for both the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova Corps. They sent Wendell Vaughn, the first Quasar, into the Fault to scout it, given that his energy form would be able to survive its treacherous storms. Quasar soon finds that the Fault is actually a tunnel, leading to another universe which reeked of corruption, ruled by evil organic masses that had consumed their universe like a cancer. It is described as a Cancerverse, where "Life has won, Death has lost." He is captured by that universe's Avengers (called the Revengers), who plan on imposing their Earth on his, to enable their gods, the Many-Angled Ones, to continue to spread.[5][6]

Titles

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Collected editions

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Title Material collected Published date ISBN
Realm of Kings Realm of Kings, Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1-5, Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #1-4, Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1-5 August 2010 978-0785148098
Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard Realm of Kings Imperial Guard #1-5 June 2010 978-0785145974
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 4: Realm of Kings Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #20-25, Realm of Kings June 2010 978-0785145431
Nova Volume 6: Realm of Kings Nova (vol. 4) #29-36 June 2010 978-0785140672
War of Kings Aftermath: Realm of Kings Omnibus Realm of Kings, Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1-5, Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #1-4, Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1-5, Nova (vol. 4) #29-36, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #20-25, Thanos Imperative #1-6, Ignition, Devastation, Annihilators #1-4, Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4, Thanos Sourcebook, material from I am an Avenger #3 February 2017 978-1302904470

Aftermath

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Both the Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy series were put on hiatus following the conclusion of "Realm of Kings" and the events in the storyline lead directly into "The Thanos Imperative".[7][8][9]

Also the conclusion of Son of Hulk intersects with the end of the back-to-back Hulk storylines "Fall of the Hulks" and "World War Hulks" in the story arc "Dark Son", partly written by Scott Reed.[10][11][12]

References

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  1. ^ Richards, Dave (August 9, 2009). "CCC09: DnA's "Realm of Kings"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  2. ^ McGloin, Matt, Luoma, Mike and Meneese, Bill (August 19, 2009). "Interview with Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Bill Rosemann". Cosmic Book News. Retrieved October 31, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Richards, Dave (November 17, 2009). "DnA Map Out Their "Realm of Kings"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  4. ^ Smith, Zack (January 10, 2010). "The SON OF HULK Gets Puny in the Microverse". Newsarama. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  5. ^ Realm of Kings one-shot
  6. ^ Curtis, N. (2015). Sovereignty and superheroes. Manchester University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-78499-638-3. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  7. ^ Beard, Jim (February 12, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: The Thanos Imperative". Marvel.com. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  8. ^ McGloin, Matt & Brewer, Byron (February 23, 2010). "DnA Crank Things Up: The Thanos Imperative: Ignition". Cosmic Book News. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  9. ^ Richards, Dave (March 4, 2010). "DnA Issue "The Thanos Imperative"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
  10. ^ Beard, Jim (June 11, 2010). "Incredible Hulks: Dark Son". Marvel.com. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  11. ^ Pepose, David (June 11, 2010). "DARK SON Rising As The Other Son of HULK Hits Earth". Newsarama. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  12. ^ Phegley, Kiel (June 11, 2010). "Pak Teams Up The "Incredible Hulks"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
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