Fantastic Four Annual #25

History

The 'Citizen Kang' storyline was one of six interlocking annual crossovers Marvel orchestrated for its 1992 annual season, a format the publisher used throughout that decade to tie multiple titles into single overarching events. The main 'Twice Upon a Time' chapter was scripted by Mark Gruenwald — longtime Avengers writer and the architect of much Kang lore — with pencils by Herb Trimpe, who also supplied the cover. Three additional backup stories were written by Tom DeFalco (editor-in-chief at the time), Peter Sanderson, and Sonja Ratcliffe, reflecting the anthology format Marvel used to fill out the extra page count of its annuals. Ralph Macchio served as editor on the Gruenwald-scripted material.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First cameo team appearance of the Anachronauts — Kang's personal guard composed of warriors from across time and alternate realities — members: Apocryphus, Deathunt 9000, Raa, Sir Raston, Ssith, Tyndar, and Wildrun.
• First appearance of Chronopolis, Kang's time-spanning fortress city that connects to the modern era through the town of Timely, Wisconsin.
• Part 3 of the four-part 'Citizen Kang' 1992 annuals crossover; continues from Thor Annual #17 and concludes in Avengers Annual #21.
• The issue contains five distinct stories: the main 'Twice Upon a Time' (script: Mark Gruenwald, art: Herb Trimpe); 'This Monster!' (script: Tom DeFalco, art: Kirk Jarvinen); 'Duel of Pride!' starring Moondragon and Mantis (script: Sonja Ratcliffe, art: Herb Trimpe); 'A Hall of Mirrors,' a Kang origin retrospective told in flashbacks (script: Peter Sanderson, art: Rich Yanizeski); and 'The Top Ten Villains of the Fantastic Four' (text: George Caragonne, art: Larry Alexander).
• The 'A Hall of Mirrors' backup is a standalone origin summary of Kang covering his identities as Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, and Immortus, with flashback appearances by the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, and Pharaoh Rama-Tut.
• Cover by Herb Trimpe; released July 21, 1992 with an October 1992 cover date.
• The full crossover — including this issue — was collected in a 2006 Marvel trade paperback (softcover, 232 pages) and later in Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 22: This Flame, This Fury (2021).
• The issue contains several noted continuity errors: the Vision is depicted in his red-and-green form rather than the all-white body he had at the time of the story, and the Four Freedoms Plaza is shown intact despite having been damaged in Infinity War #3.

Cast · 40 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Fantastic Four Annual

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#6 1st appearance — Annihilus

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#5 1st appearance — Psycho-Man

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#1 Key event — Johnny Storm

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#26 1st appearance — Wildstreak

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#4 1st appearance — Quasimodo

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#7 1st appearance — Cynthia von Doom

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#2 1st appearance — Werner von Doom

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#23 1st appearance — Kosmos

Variants (1)