ANKH DIMENSION
Type: Mystic realm
Environment: Evidently Earth-like; desert plains and mountains have been seen
Known Aliases: 13th Dimension
Usual means of access: Magic
Dominant life form: alien creatures, scorpion creatures
Significant Inhabitants: "Brotherhood of Ankh", Lawholder (Most High Priest of Ankh) (disguised forms of the alien creatures)
First Appearance: (Behind
the scenes) Iron Man I#35 (March, 1971--this story was supposed to
precede Daredevil I#73))
Daredevil I#73 (February, 1971)
History:
(Avengers III#60 (fb) - BTS) - The Ankh dimension was created by the
In-Betweener as a "sanction" (sanctum?), a place for reflection, but it
grew a life all its own.
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(Daredevil I#73 (fb) - BTS) - The Brotherhood worshiped Ankh: "Ankh, the Wind-Giver; Ankh, the Sun-Holder; Ankh the Cosmic All of Our Dimension" (see comments). (Daredevil I#73 (fb) - BTS) - Many, many cycles ago, what would become known as the Zodiac Key was fashioned from the carved stone of the earth and the spilled blood of a lamb, and thus, by its origins, it was bound into the lifeblood of the All-Creator. For many years, the Brotherhood held sole possession of the Key, and through its use they struck the eternal balance between Order and Chaos. The Key served as the mystic valve through which the power of Ankh was siphoned to its bearer. |
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(Daredevil I#73 (fb) - BTS) - In the fourth generation of the Century of the Leopard (see comments), something happened to the Key, causing it to weaken. (Daredevil I#73) - The Lawholder discovered that as the world of the Brotherhood had grown calm and still, there was no longer a struggle between Order and Chaos. Without the energies they obtained through the Key, the Brotherhood's power-flames began to grow dim, signaling their dying might. The Lawholder decided that the Key must be sent from their world to Earth, which was still struggling under the eternal battle. (Avengers III#59 (fb) - BTS) - <18th century> The secret society of the Illuminati (the historical version) got hold of the Zodiac Key, but all failed to understand the true meaning behind its gift. (Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD I#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Key found its way into the hands of Scorpio (Jacob Fury), who used it as part of the Zodiac Cartel. |
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(Iron Man I#35 / Daredevil I#73) - The Lawholder apparently
spoke through the Key, entrancing Nick Fury, and forcing him to grab the
Key, using it to transport himself, Daredevil, Iron Man (Tony Stark),
Madame Masque (Whitney Frost), Kevin O'Brien, Spymaster, and the Zodiac
Cartel's Aquarius,
Capricorn
and Sagittarius
to the Dimension of Ankh. There, the Lawholder reclaimed the Key, and
explained its origins and purpose. When Kevin O'Brien questioned the
Brotherhood's right to deal in the lifeblood of men, the Lawholder
banished him back to Earth. (Iron Man I#36 - BTS) - Back on Earth, the struggle was indeed renewed, as Daredevil joined the efforts to capture the villains, though Spymaster escaped. (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#20: Zodiac - BTS) - The Zodiac Key returned to Earth and re-created Jacob Fury as a Life Model Decoy (LMD). |
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(West Coast Avengers#28 (fb) - BTS) - After the LMD Zodiac captured Hawkeye and Tigra, they were replaced by Sagittarius and Leo, re-created to duplicate the Avengers' appearances and abilities. The real Hawkeye and Tigra were sent to the Ankh Dimension, where the Brotherhood told them they wouldn't kill them if the two would hunt the Brotherhood. The two Avengers proved to be a match for the dozen or so of the Brotherhood, establishing the conflict that they so desired. (West Coast Avengers#28) - Scorpio forced the Key to
transport the LMD Zodiac and the Avengers to the Ankh dimension, despite
the Key's desires to the contrary. However, upon their arrival, all of
the LMDs collapsed, inert. The Key then explained that each of the
Zodiacs was aligned with a particular zodiacal energy, and that energy
only existed in the Earth dimension. The Key then traveled to the
Brotherhood's side, at which point the Brotherhood called the conflict
to a halt, as the power of the Key would have made the struggle too
one-sided. (Iron Fist III#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Brotherhood sent the Key back to Earth. (Avengers III#59 (fb) - BTS) - The Zodiac Key decayed into dust. |
(Avengers III#59 (fb) - BTS / 60 (fb) - BTS) - A new Zodiac Key was forged, possibly within the Ankh Dimension, either by the Brotherhood or by a new Zodiac incarnation.
(Avengers III#59 (fb) - BTS) - Feeling that the last millennium had unraveled incorrectly, the Brotherhood chose a new Scorpio to guide the next one.
(Avengers III#59 (fb) - BTS) - Scorpio used the Key to split the In-Betweener into two Chaos and Order beings.
(Avengers III#57 - BTS) - From the Ankh dimension, Scorpio used the Key to pull a number of cities into the Ankh dimension; Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) and the Wasp were amongst those transported there in the process.
(Avengers III#58) - As Yellowjacket and the Wasp surveyed the realm to which they had been transported, they were struck down by a the new Scorpio, who held the Zodiac Key. Scorpio was backed by the Brotherhood, as well as a number of white scorpion-creatures.
(Avengers III#59) - Within the Ankh dimension, the Brotherhood stood by as Scorpio slew hundreds of the scorpions and tormented Yellowjacket and the Wasp. The Avengers (Black Panther, Captain America, Falcon, Iron Man, Namor, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, Vision, Warbird) and Ant-Man (Scott Lang) located and confronted the Order fragment of the In-Betweener. Order transported several of them to the Ankh Dimension and incapacitated the rest, at which point Thor arrived.
(Avengers III#60) - Within the Ankh dimension, the Avengers
were confronted by Scorpio and the Brotherhood. Scorpio attempted to
kill the Avengers, and the Falcon's bird Redwing tore the Zodiac Key
from his grasp, but Scorpio proved able to summon it back to himself.
Under Scorpio's direction, the Brotherhood shed their true forms and
prepared to join the fight. Using her connection to chaos, the Scarlet
Witch forced "Order" to transport herself and the remaining Avengers to
the Ankh dimension. The struggle was evenly matched until Ant-Man
communicated with the alien scorpion creatures, sending them to swarm
over Scorpio. The Scarlet Witch then located "Chaos" within the Ankh
Dimension, forcibly merging it with "Order," restoring the In-Betweener.
The In-Betweener, disgusted with how the dimension
had developed, then reabsorbed the Brotherhood, and transported the
Avengers and the cities back to Earth. Scorpio turned the Key on
himself, vanishing back to Earth, where the information gathered by the
Key was downloaded from it by the rest of the Zodiac.
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan.
Presumably, the In-Betweener IS Ankh.
The answer is no: no, I can't make any more sense of the story in Daredevil I#73. In fact, I think all stories involving the Brotherhood have been left in an unresolved fashion.
The group is pretty much only referred to as the Brotherhood; while the OHotMU Deluxe: Appendix to Other Dimensions names them as the "Brotherhood of Order and Chaos," the OHotMU Deluxe#20: Zodiac entry calls them the "Brotherhood of the Ankh." While that seems to fit better, the Brotherhood always references "Ankh," not "the Ankh", so I'm going with Brotherhood of Ankh.
The dimension is named the 13th Dimension (by Dr. Doom) in Avengers III#59, but a numeric designation gives no descriptive value, so I'm sticking with the classic "Ankh Dimension" name from the OHotMU.
The Ankh is the Egyptian symbol of life; whether that has any connection to the Brotherhood is unknown, and further information is unlikely to be forthcoming.
The Brotherhood can be considered behind the scenes in any of the appearances of the Zodiac Key, but I'm not getting into that here. I probably should do a profile on the Zodiac Key, but I think I'll come back to that at a later date. I should also cover the Scorpio Key, to clarify the difference...
Aquarius and Sagittarius are confused for each other throughout Daredevil I#73 and Iron Man I#35-36.
OK, so I should have done this as the Brotherhood of Ankh profile rather than the Ankh Dimension...I'm too wiped out to change it, and all of the information is in there anyway.
Based on the last photo-capture, it would seem evident
that the Brotherhood of Ankh are some kind of N'garai
offshoot.
--Carycomic
In regards to the Ankh Dimension's "Century of the Leopard": The previous issue of Daredevil introduced the extradimensional Tagak the LEOPARD Lord -- was writer Gerry Conway perhaps planning some connection between Tagak and the Ankh Dimension?--Ron Fredricks
Thanks to Robert Wicks for pointing out that the historical Illuminati once held the Zodiac Key. If Scorpio is referring to the historical Illuminati, then that would place the Zodiac Key's appearance on Earth before or between 1776-1785.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Ankh Dimension has no known connection to:
images: (without ads)
Avengers III#58, p20, pan1-2 (Yellowjacket and Wasp view sky in Ankh Dimension)
Daredevil I#73, p20, pan2 (Lawholder holding Zodiac Key)
Daredevil I#73, p9, pan2 (Lawholder)
Daredevil I#73, p10, pan2 (in flashback, Brotherhood with weakened Zodiac Key by braziers)
Daredevil I#73, p12, pan2 (Brotherhood)
West Coast Avengers II#28, p21, pan4 (Brotherhood in red)
Avengers III#58, p22, pan1 (scorpion creatures)
Avengers III#60, p13, pan2 (Brotherhood in their true forms)
Appearances:
Daredevil I#73 (February, 1971) - Gerry Conway (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Sam Rosen (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#35 (March, 1971) - Allyn Brodsky (plot), Gerry Conway (script), Don Heck (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Art Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
West Coast Avengers#28 (January, 1988) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), David Hunt (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#20 (February, 1988)
Avengers III#57-60 (October, 2002 - January, 2003) - Geoff Johns (writer), Kieron Dwyer (pencils), Rick Remender (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 01/17/2005
Last updated: 03/20/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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