Blog

Hello and welcome back to another week in Marvel Snapshot! In this week’s character spotlight, we’ll continue with the Marvel Cosmic scene and go right for one of the biggest dudes ever with Galactus! Yes, that giant, planet eating behemoth is center stage today, and I’m sure Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “King” Kirby knew they had a great one when they created Galactus back in 1966 (Fantastic Four #48).

Believe it or not, Galactus was once an ordinary dude named Galan from a planet named Taa. This was before the new universe was remade, and the old one still existed. At one point, Galan and a few of the other people on his planet decided to use a ship to escape their dying planet. They didn’t get very far, though, before the ship was vaporized. All aboard were killed with exception of Galan. He was saved because he bonded with Eternity. After gestating for a while, he emerged in the new universe as the world consuming being known as Galactus. He then began his quest to consume planets for his sustenance. One of the first heralds he employed was Norrin Radd, A.K.A. the Silver Surfer. As Galactus made his way to Earth, the Surfer rebelled against his master, and along with the Fantastic Four, repelled his mighty master. Galactus would have the last laugh, though, as he bound the Silver Surfer to the planet Earth so he was not allowed to leave.

Next, Galactus had run-ins with Thor, Ego the Living Planet, and Hercules. He then got into a war with the High Evolutionary when he tried to consume Counter-Earth. The fight ended with Impossible Man tricking Galactus, and he was transformed into energy, then fell apart. He recovered in very little time, but time is a valuable thing. He then found himself in the middle of a war between the Fantastic Four and the Sphinx. Next up came the Secret Wars story line, where Galactus went head to head with the Beyonder. Then, Thanos created the Infinity Gauntlet from all of the gems he had stolen. Galactus and everybody else proved that they couldn’t out muscle him, so they tried other tactics. But they failed, as well.

More recently, Galactus was humbled by two of the elder gods that he imprisoned millennia earlier. These two found and defeated Galactus and the Silver Surfer. Annihilus was the villain behind all this, and Galactus went berserk once he was freed. This was Annihilation, and Galactus destroyed half of Annihilus’s army when he was freed. Coincidentally, it was Drax the Destroyer who had just killed Thanos prior to that scene. Galactus has recently been in the pages of the new Silver Surfer book. Who knows what that will turn into, and I can only hope that Galactus will be a mainstay in the Marvel Universe for another 50 years!

As usual, check out some great pics below and also my recommended reading list. I always try to include a character that is relevant, and works with the general theme.

Recommended Reading
Fantastic Four: The Coming of Galactus – Tpb
Maximum Security: Thor vs. Ego – Tpb
Infinity Gauntlet – Tpb
Annihilation vol. 3 – Tpb
Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter – Tpb
Thanos: Epiphany – Tpb
Thanos: Samaritan – Tpb

Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net