KING ARRKAM

Real Name: Arrkam

Identity/Class: Alternate reality/extratemporal (25th Century of Earth-6676) human technology user

Occupation: Ruler of an undefined territory

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: His kingdom

Enemies: Executioner (Skurge), Hulk (Bruce Banner), unidentified warriors

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His palace

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#75/2 (January, 1966); (named) Tales to Astonish I#76/2 (February, 1966)

Powers/Abilities: Apparently possessing no paranormal abilities, Arrkam ruled a kingdom; he was served by a loyal army possessing weapons with the advanced technology of the 25th Century.

When traveling the rough terrain outside his palace, Arrkam rode upon a mobile throne with tank-treads.

Among the weapons utilized by Arrkam's soldiers were: a snare weapon which fired entrapping metal bands, exploso-ray guns (take a guess), the Delta missile (one of their most destructive weapons), and the Captivator.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (220 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed (covered by headdress)

History:
(Tales to Astonish I#75/2 (fb) - BTS) - An inhabitant of one of the potential future Earths of the 25th Century, Arrkam was the king of an undefined territory within the ruins of what was once Washington, D.C.

   But Arrkam's rule was challenged by the unexpected arrival of the Asgardian warrior Skurge the Executioner, who had traveled forward in time. Leading an army of adversaries of Arrkam who were equipped with giant war-machines, the Executioner opposed Arrkam's kingdom and became known as the "Evil One."

(Tales to Astonish I#75/2) - The Hulk was sent to Arrkam's reality by the T-Gun. Arriving amidst the rubble of post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C., the Hulk was soon attacked by Arrkam's soldiers, who believed him to be some sort of throwback from the past; but Arrkam recognized him as the legendary Hulk.

(Tales to Astonish I#76/2) - Arrkam attempted to have his men stop the Hulk, since he could not have a rampaging brute running amok in their land, especially while they were faced with the threat of the Evil One. But when assault after assault by his soldiers' weaponry failed, Arrkam realized that the jade giant might be able to stand against the Evil One, so he instead ordered for the Hulk to be captured for study; he called for his men to bring forth the Captivator, which stunned the Hulk long enough for him to be taken to Arrkam's palace, and then locked in the dungeon.

   Some time later, Arrkam had the Hulk brought to his throne-room, where he tried to recruit him in his war against the Evil One. But wanting only to be returned to his own era, the Hulk had no interest in participating in Arrkam's war, so he refused ("The Hulk don't care who's the good guys or the bad guys!!"). Then the Hulk menacingly advised Arrkam that if he had a machine to send him back to his own time, then he'd better use it on him, otherwise the Hulk would cause more damage than a hundred Evil Ones!

   However, Arrkam wasn't intimidated by the threat, and he defiantly ordered his soldiers to attack the Hulk, confident that his men would be able to overwhelm the green goliath by sheer weight of numbers. But the Hulk fought his way past the soldiers and smashed out of Arrkam's palace, only to run smack dab into the Executioner and his armies.

(Tales to Astonish I#77/2) - While the Hulk fought the Executioner to a standstill, the Executioner's forces attacked Arrkam's city with their war-machines' heat rays; the Executioner turned his attention to directing his warriors in the assault. At first, the Hulk only watched the destruction indifferently, because it wasn't his fight; but then the Hulk suddenly had a change of heart--he couldn't just stand back and watch an entire city get destroyed--so he leaped into action. After the Hulk smashed three of the tripod walkers, the Executioner's warriors realized they were outmatched, so they turned their remaining war-machines and retreated (see comments).

   With the menace of the Evil One and his army over, Arrkam and his soldiers emerged from the palace; but rather than seeing the Hulk as an ally, they assumed that he had fought the Executioner only so that he could conquer the kingdom for himself. Arrkam confronted the Hulk and delivered the ultimatum for him to surrender or die, because the green giant was too powerful to be permitted to roam free.

   But then, before King Arrkam's stunned eyes, the Hulk began to fade away, as if the primitive brute possessed a magical power -- the effects of the T-Gun were wearing off, and the Hulk was now returning to his own era...

Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee, Jack "King" Kirby, and Mike "err...the Tyrannosaurus of Pencils?" Esposito.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#17: Executioner entry (fb) - BTS) - ...and with his own warriors having deserted him, the Executioner abandoned his plans of conquest and also returned back to his own time and reality. -- Ron Fredricks

When the Hulk went to the future, everyone in the modern era believed him to have been killed. Thinking there was no longer any reason to keep his secret, Rick Jones revealed that the Hulk and Bruce Banner were the same guy. The fact that Arrkam and his world were so poorly fleshed out leads me to believe that they were just a plot device to occupy the Hulk and make Rick reveal his secret.

Profile by Snood. Expanded by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
King Arrkam has no known connections to:

King Arrkam's tank-tread throne has no known connections to:

The Captivator has no known connections to:

King Arrkam's palace and kingdom

In the 25th Century of Earth-6676, it was located near the post-apocalyptic ruins of what had once been Washington, D.C.

The fortress was the home of King Arrkam, and included a throne-room and a dungeon; the surrounding buildings were presumably the city where his royal subjects lived.

The city was mercilessly attacked by a rival army led by the Executioner, and their tripod war-machines used heat rays to inflict great damage.

But the kingdom was saved when the attackers were forced away by the Hulk (who had been transported to this future world by the T-Gun).

--Tales to Astonish I#76/2 (Tales to Astonish I#76/2 - 77/2

Captivator

The product of Earth-6676's 25th Century science, it was one of the weapons employed by King Arrkam's soldiers.

The Captivator was a walking two-legged robot operated by wireless remote control. It was equipped with a pair of units that projected concentrated gravity waves which temporarily immobilized its living targets.

When the time-traveling Hulk appeared in Arrkam's kingdom, the Captivator was eventually used after all the soldiers' other weapons proved to be useless against him.

Before the Hulk had a chance to destroy it, the Captivator emitted gravity waves that overwhelmed him; the temporarily paralyzed Hulk was then transported to the dungeon of Arrkam's palace.

--Tales to Astonish I#76/2

unidentified warriors

On Earth-6676 of the 25th Century, they were adversaries of King Arrkam's kingdom. They were equipped with giant tripod walker war-machines (at least ten), which were armed with stun beams and heat rays.

When the Asgardian Skurge the Executioner traveled forward in time to their world, he led these warriors to oppose Arrkam's rule.

Operating their war-machines, the warriors attacked Arrkam's palace and surrounding kingdom with the walking tripods' heat rays.

But they came into conflict with the Hulk (who had been transported through time by the T-Gun) -- although he was initially indifferent to the war, the Hulk felt that he couldn't just stand back and watch them destroy an entire city, so he took action.

After the Hulk smashed three of their war-machines, the warriors realized they were outmatched, so they deserted the Executioner and turned their remaining tripods around to retreat.

(Comment: The first image was the only panel where we actually saw what these warriors looked like, and only four were depicted -- since another panel depicted a word-balloon coming from a tripod, I'm assuming their war-machines were directly operated, and not remote controlled.)

--Tales to Astonish I#76/2 (Tales to Astonish I#76/2 - 77/2

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#76/2, p8, pan3 (Main Image - in his fortress, King Arrkam speaks to Hulk (foreground))
Tales to Astonish I#76/2, p3, pan5 (Headshot - King Arrkam)
Tales to Astonish I#76/2, p2, pan2 (King Arrkam, seated upon his mobile tank-tread throne, surrounded by his soldiers)
Tales to Astonish I#77/2, p10, pan2 (stunned King Arrkam watches as Hulk vanishes back to his own era)
Tales to Astonish I#76/2, p6, pan1 (exterior of King Arrkam's palace and kingdom; Arrkam's soldiers and Hulk (foreground))
Tales to Astonish I#76/2, p7, pan5 (interior of palace; King Arrkam (rear view) seated in his throne-room; Arrkam's soldiers and Hulk (background))
Tales to Astonish I#76/2, p4, pan1 (Captivator; Hulk (foreground); two of  King Arrkam's soldiers (background))
Tales to Astonish I#76/2, p4, pan2 (Captivator fires concentrated gravity at Hulk)
Tales to Astonish I#77/2, p4, pan5 (unidentified warriors watching Executioner battle Hulk on view-screen)
Tales to Astonish I#77/2, p6, pan3 (unidentified warriors' tripod war-machines attacking King Arrkam's kingdom)

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#75/2 (January, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (layouts), Mike Esposito (pencils/inks), Sam Rosen (letters)
Tales to Astonish I#76/2 (February, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (layouts), Gil Kane (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Artie Simek (letters)
Tales to Astonish I#77/2 (March, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (layouts), John Romita Sr. (pencils/inks), Sam Rosen (letters)

First Posted: 08/27/2002
Last updated: 04/05/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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