"Realm of Kings" is a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

storyline published in 2010 by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. Written by

Dan Abnett Dan Abnett (born 12 October 1965) is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, sinc ...

and

Andy Lanning Andy Lanning is an English comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett. Career Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker. He has also pencill ...

, it is a follow-up to the 2009 storyline "

War of Kings "War of Kings" is a comic book Fictional crossover, crossover storyline written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, published by Marvel Comics, and set in Marvel's main shared universe, shared Marvel Universe, universe. The six-issue limited series w ...

" and introduced the setting known as the Cancerverse.

Publication history

The series started with a ''Realm of Kings''

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

that establishes the setting and is followed by a number of separate series or storylines which focus on how the different characters,

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, in ...

Inhumans The Inhumans are a fictional superhuman race of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family, and many peop ...

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

and

Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

, deal with this situation. 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 Hiro-Kala is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary of the Hulk. Created by writer Greg Pak and artist Ron Garney, he first appeared in '' Skaar: ...

and his journey into the

Microverse The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

Plot summary

A giant time-space tear called the Fault had been created by

Black Bolt Black Bolt (Blackagar Boltagon) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appears in '' Fantastic Four'' #45 (December 1965). Black Bolt is the ...

's T-Bomb, killing both himself and the

Shi'ar The Shi'ar ( ) are a fictional species of aliens appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Shi'ar Empire (or Imperium), is a vast collection of alien species, cultures, and worlds situated close to the Skrull and Kree Empi ...

leader

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

. The Fault becomes an immediate concern for both the

and the

Nova Corps The Nova Corps is a fictional intergalactic military/police force appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman, the Corps first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #205 (April 1979). They have since appe ...

. They sent

Wendell Vaughn Quasar (Wendell Elvis Vaughn) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is one of Marvel's cosmic heroes, a character whose adventures frequently take him into outer space or other dimensions. How ...

, the first

Quasar A quasar is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a m ...

, 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 Lloigor is the name of a fictional deity and a fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos. The entity first appeared in August Derleth and Mark Schorer's short story "The Lair of the Star Spawn" (1932 in literature, 1932), and has been used in subsequent ...

, to continue to spread.

Titles

* ''Realm of Kings'' (one shot) * ''Realm of Kings:

'' #1-5 * ''Realm of Kings:

'' #1-5 * ''

'' (vol. 2) #20-24 * ''

'' (vol. 4) #31-35 * ''Realm of Kings:

Son of Hulk A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current co ...

'' #1-4

Collected editions

Aftermath

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 ''The Thanos Imperative'' is a six-issue comic book limited series published in 2010 by Marvel Comics. It was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and was bookended by two one-shot comics, ''Ignition'' and ''Devastation''. The story focuses on ...

". Also the conclusion of ''Son of Hulk'' intersects with the end of the back-to-back

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

storylines "

Fall of the Hulks "Fall of the Hulks" is a 2010 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics. It ran throughout the ongoing ''Hulk'' and ''Incredible Hulk'' series, as well as a self-titled limited series; featuring the Hulk and various members of his ...

" and "

World War Hulks "World War Hulks" is a comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics that ran in 2010 following the "Fall of the Hulks" storyline. The plot builds on the depowering of Bruce Banner by Red Hulk during the " Dark Reign" storyline and ...

" in the story arc " Dark Son", partly written by Scott Reed.

References

External links

* * {{Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning Comics by Andy Lanning Comics by Dan Abnett Space opera comics