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Fantastic Facts: - In the original story, Galactus had a 'G' on his chest; it was subsequently dropped when readers questioned the logic of an alien being sporting a letter of the English alphabet. - Galactus's humanlike appearance was explained in a later story; during "The Trial of Reed Richards," it was revealed that Galactus actually appears as a member of whatever race his viewer belongs to. - The Silver Surfer was reportedly Stan Lee's favorite character, and he decreed at the time that no one but him could write the character. This edict changed when the Surfer was launched in a new series in 1987. More of the Greatest Comics Ever Made: - Fantastic Four #1 - Amazing Fantasy #15 - Incredible Hulk #181 - Mad #1 - Sandman #1 - Star Wars #1 - Superman #75 - Superman Vs. Spider-Man - Swamp Thing #21 - Tales Of Suspense #39 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 - Watchmen #1 - X-Men #1 - Zap Comix #0 |
 On the cover the very powerful Watcher and the very powerful Fantastic Four were cowering at... "the coming of Galactus!" You can only imagine how readers back then must have felt. Anything that could make these guys cower in fear must have been one powerful threat.Fantastic Four #48 is generally regarded as the high point of Lee and Kirby's 101-issue run on the series, and with good reason. It not only opened up the Marvel Universe on a truly cosmic tale, it also introduced one of Marvel's most popular characters. The story begins with the Fantastic Four returning to New York, only to find the people there overwhelmed with panic. The sky is filled with fire, and the FF investigates when someone suspects the Human Torch of going mad. It turns out the fire is an illusion created by the Watcher, an alien being who lives by a strict code of non-interference, to hide the planet from a great threat. His illusion fails, and the alien tells his friends that it is too late - the planet is surely doomed. Galactus is coming. Dr. Doom notwithstanding, the Fantastic Four's enemies up to this point were petty criminals and would-be dictators - powerful in their own way, but nothing the FF couldn't handle. But here, for the first time, they were confronted with an adversary whose arrival was nothing less than Judgment Day. He had devoured countless worlds across the universe, and Earth was next on the menu. Galactus was like a wrathful god recast in science-fiction terms, an elemental force whose presence signaled the end of the world. Against him, how could four humans possibly make a difference? The scales were tipped by two aliens who joined the FF in defense of the Earth: the Watcher, who led them to the only weapon in the universe capable of threatening Galactus; and the Silver Surfer, who turned against his master to fight on humanity's behalf. But his actions came at a terrible price - angered by his herald's betrayal, Galactus stripped him of the ability to soar through space, marooning him on the one planet that survived his hunger. The Silver Surfer turned out to be one of Marvel's most original creations, but like several others, he almost never came to be. Originally, he was cast as a bit player, a herald that a being as powerful as Galactus would require to announce his presence. Graduating to his own series in 1968, the Surfer played the role of the noble knight, defending a planet that feared him, pining for the love he could never have (he had to leave his lover in order to spare his planet from Galactus's hunger), and forever tempted by the forces of darkness. Driven by the guilt that his efforts doomed billions of beings to his master's hunger, the Surfer - who was eventually free to soar through space again - continued his quest for redemption by fighting the cosmic forces of darkness. In the years since this first three-issue story (a rarity in the days when most stories were wrapped up in less than one), both Galactus and the Silver Surfer have played important roles in the Marvel Universe. Their introduction to Marvel readers made the Marvel Universe literally that - a place where the entire universe could be the stage for star-spanning adventures. |