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Karnak
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Karnak

298 appearances Β· Silver Age Β· 1965–2025 Β· 11 key issues
Who is Karnak?

Karnak Mander-Azur is an Inhuman born in Attilan who, unlike most of his people, never underwent Terrigenesis. Instead, his father sent him to the Tower of Wisdom, where years of rigorous physical and mental training honed his unique ability to perceive the fatal flaw in anything.

Few characters can claim a Silver Age debut as storied as Karnak's β€” stepping onto the scene in Fantastic Four #45 in 1965, conjured by the legendary partnership of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby at the height of Marvel's creative golden era. A proud member of both the Inhumans and the extended Fantastic Four family, Karnak has spent six decades sharing pages with royalty like Black Bolt, Medusa, and Gorgon across landmark titles including Fantastic Four, The Inhumans, and Amazing Adventures. With 247 catalog appearances and 11 recognized key issues to his name, this is a character whose presence in a longbox signals something special. If you're tracing the deep roots of Marvel's Inhuman mythology, Karnak is essential company.

Identity

Real name. Karnak Mander-Azur

Teams & affiliations
InhumansFantastic Four
β˜… First appearance
Fantastic Four #45
Dec 1965

Trivia

  • Karnak landed one of Marvel's rare solo ongoing series in 2015, a title that deliberately sidestepped conventional superhero action in favor of a philosophical, near-absurdist reimagining of the character.marvel.fandom.com
  • Warren Ellis wrote that series, pitching Karnak as a figure consumed by the compulsion to locate the flaw in everything he encounters β€” ideas and systems very much included, not merely physical objects.marvel.fandom.com
  • Stan Lee has written more of Karnak's comics than any other writer in our catalog β€” 33 issues.

Top series

Covers through the years β€” 1965–2021

Fantastic Four #45 β˜… 1965
Fantastic Four #45
Amazing Adventures #3 β˜… 1970
Amazing Adventures #3
The Incredible Hulk #175 1974
The Incredible Hulk #175
Fantastic Four Annual #12 1978
Fantastic Four Annual #12
The Incredible Hulk #279 1983
The Incredible Hulk #279
The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #24 1987
The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #24
Marvel Comics Presents #68 1991
Marvel Comics Presents #68
Fantastic Four #416 1996
Fantastic Four #416
Inhumans #1 2000
Inhumans #1
Black Panther: The Bride #[nn] β˜… 2006
Black Panther: The Bride #[nn]
ClanDestine #1 2008
ClanDestine #1
FF #6 2013
FF #6
Deadpool & the Mercs for Money #7 2017
Deadpool & the Mercs for Money #7
Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection #3 2021
Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection #3

Appearances (151–298 of 298, oldest first)

Fantastic Four (1998)
Wizard Ace Edition: Fantastic Four #48 (2002)
Marvel Elite (2001)
Marvel : Les origines (2002)
#2
Inhumans 2099 (2004)
#1
X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David (2005)
#1
Essential Fantastic Four (1998)
#4
Best of Marvel : Fantastic Four - Retour aux sources (2005)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Teams 2005 (2005)
Hercules (2005)
#3
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Fantastic Four 2005 (2005)
Marvel Knights 4 (2004)
#20
Best of Marvel : mariages Marvel (2006)
Marvel Visionaries: Roy Thomas (2006)
Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby (2004)
Son of M (2006)
#3
All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z (2006)
#4
The Thing (2006)
#4
Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four (2003)
Black Panther: The Bride (2006)
Essential X-Factor (2005)
#2
Beyond! (2006)
#6
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days (2007)
New Avengers: Illuminati (2007)
#3
What If? Annihilation (2008)
#1
ClanDestine (2008)
The Mighty Avengers (2007)
Secret Invasion: Inhumans (2008)
X-Men: First Class (2007)
#15
Essential Hulk (1999)
#5
Marvel Zombies 3 (2008)
War of Kings Saga (2009)
Marvel Universe (2007)
Marvel Masterworks: The Inhumans (2009)
War of Kings: Warriors (2009)
X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic (2007)
#4
Realm of Kings Inhumans (2010)
New Avengers Finale (2010)
#1
Women of Marvel (2011)
The Thanos Imperative: Devastation (2011)
#1
Onslaught Unleashed (2011)
#1
FF (2011)
Mighty Avengers: Dark Reign (2011)
Infinity Gauntlet (2011)
Evolutionary War Omnibus (2011)
Avengers: The Contest (2012)
Infinity (2014)
Deadpool (2013)
#27
Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus (2014)
Marvel Classic (2015)
#1
Inhuman Megaband (2015)
#1
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse - Dawn (2016)
All-New Inhumans (2016)
#1
Uncanny Avengers (2015)
#6
Uncanny Inhumans (2015)
Black Panther (2016)
Daredevil (2016)
Civil War II (2017)
Black Panther by Reginald Hudlin: The Complete Collection (2017)
Deadpool & the Mercs for Money (2016)
Monsters Unleashed (2017)
#2
Extraordinary X-Men (2016)
Silver Surfer Epic Collection (2014)
#7
Uncanny X-Men: Superior (2016)
#4
Secret Warriors (2017)
Inhumans: Once and Future Kings (2017)
X-Men Epic Collection (2014)
#19
Daredevil: So finster die Nacht (2018)
Avengers Epic Collection (2013)
#7
X-Factor Epic Collection (2017)
#7
Black Widow Epic Collection (2019)
#1
Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection (2018)
Heroes Reborn Omnibus (2019)
Marvel Comics (2019)
Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection (2020)
#3
Marvel Comics 1000 (2020)
Thanos - Thanos wint! (2020)
#1
Marvel Masterworks: Dazzler (2020)
#3
X-Factor by Peter David Omnibus (2021)
#1
Nous sommes les Γ‰ternels (2021)
The Death of Captain Marvel Gallery Edition (2021)
Hulk (2022)
Hulk by Donny Cates (2022)
#1
Daredevil Collection von Charles Soule (2022)
She-Hulk by Rainbow Rowell (2022)
#1
Fantastic Four No. 52 Facsimile Edition (2022)
Marvel: The End Omnibus (2024)
Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace (2024)
Ms. Marvel: Mein Leben als Mutantin (2024)
Dazzler Omnibus (2024)
Marvel Origins (2023)
Giant-Size Marvel Omnibus (2025)
Marvel Heroes (2025)
#4
Imperial (2025)
#4
Marvel Must-Have (2020)