Easter Sunday - The Saga Of The Silver Surfer!

The grand finale of the Galactus Trilogy coincides with the fabulous fiftieth issue of the Fantastic Four. It is an issue filled with spectacle, drama, and terror, but also with the shining embers of stories yet to be told. It is in many ways like life itself, not conveniently an ending nor a beginning, but merely another part of a great and vast saga.

"The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer"  by Lee, Kirby, Sinnott and Rosen begins with the Surfer himself confronting his master, the great and powerful Galactus who prepares to drain the energy of the entire planet Earth so that he might continue to live.

The confrontation comes swiftly as the Silver Surfer presses his attack on his former Master, using the power bestowed upon him to imprison Galactus himself inside a cocoon of hardened energy. Ben Grimm and Reed Richards are fascinated by this power and the Thing unwisely touches the paradoxical cocoon just before it begins to splinter and shatter, the energy erupting outward in all directions. Galactus emerges unscathed and the Surfer's further attacks bounce harmlessly against his defensive "Absorba shields".

Then Galactus counter-attacks, but the Surfer is able to dodge the bolts with relative ease. The two battle while the Watcher and the Fab 4 watch. The Watcher though at the same time is guiding the Human Torch home as he must return from beyond the limits of time and space, past deadly bands of "Un-Life". Johnny Storm returns from his mission to the home of Galactus with a weapon capable of defeating the awesome figure from outer space. But his trip has been too much and he collapses, the memories fading even as tries to fathom what he has seen. The Watcher puts the new weapon in Reed's hands and instructs him how to use it.

Meanwhile the Silver Surfer and Galactus continue to battle, as Galactus turns his efforts against the city itself in an attempt to draw off the Surfer's attack. Suddenly though Mr. Fantastic appears and confronts Galactus with the "Ultimate Nullifier" and immediately Galactus concedes knowing that the Watcher has helped the humans of Earth turn back his threat.

Bearing no grudge, but giving into the new reality he promises to not drain Earth of its energy and having given his word the Watcher announces that the threat is over because the word of Galactus is truth itself. But Galactus does take hold of the Nullifier and also removes from his former herald, the Silver Surfer, the ability to soar through space.

Then in a magnifcent show of ultimate power Galactus teleports away taking with him all his instrumentality and leaving only the Silver Surfer behind as evidence that he had ever been on Earth at all.

The Silver Surfer seeks to bond with the Thing but the sudden appearance of Alicia Masters and her interest in the Surfer causes Ben Grimm to grow jealous and he leaves quietly misunderstanding the connection between his girl and the Surfer. The Silver Surfer then leaves the Baxter Building, flying into the sky to explore the world he has risked all to save.

The world at large debates the threat of Galactus, many dismissing it as a hoax. Also reading of the victory of the Fantastic Four is a mysterious bald man who threatens to destroy the team in the future. The scene shifts to Metro College where Coach Sam Thorne has trouble with his ace player Whitey Mullins. At the Baxter Building Reed Richards has already begun his next project much to the chagrin of his wife Sue who feels ignored. On the streets of NYC the Thing roams despondent, still sulking about the imagined loss of Alicia.

Again at Metro College Johnny Storm drives onto campus for his first days of college and meets Wyatt Wingfoot. The two are seen by the Dean and given advice about how to approach their studies, but Johnny's mind wanders to his great journey into the space and time and he misses the words of wisdom. He and his new friend Wyatt head off their new room and a new life as the story closes.

And so ends arguably the finest story in the whole wide history of the Marvel Universe. It seems somehow so small nowadays, a mere three issues (and not all of two of those) but this story was the apex of the storytelling done by the dynamic team of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the high point of a run of comics stories which have never been equaled in the long history of the medium. With the coming of Galactus the Fab 4 confronted the end times and in classic superhero fashion overcame by dint of their unflagging courage and sheer will.

(Galactus returned in the 1967 FF Annual, if only in this mega-group pose.)

Of course it required  the cosmic intervention of the godlike Watcher to guide them to the "Deus Ex Machina" solution but it was the exceedingly "Human" Torch who made the epic journey beyond the stars and the imagination, to find it and bring the celestial gift home to be used by the wisest man on the planet. It was the gentle and kind heart of Alicia Masters, a woman who sees beyond the skin to the inner recesses of the heart of others who kindled in the Surfer a kinship with humanity and made of him the Savior for the entire planet. He came to Earth a god, but became a man and through that transformation changed how his Creator interacted with the planet and its people. By his sacrifice, he exacted from his Creator a new covenant with mankind for peace in our times.

This epic story has been reprinted many many times. I've been featuring the Marvel's Greatest Comics covers which were the source of the first time I ran across this epic in comic book form. Here are a couple more great covers of collections which featured the story.

The first time though that I ran across this truly fantastic tale was not in comic book form. It was an episode of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series starring the Fantastic Four. Take a gander at Alex Toth's design of Galactus for that episode. 

The story has been adapted in later cartoons and even was the source for the second Fantastic Four movie. But as much as Marvel would love for it to be so, there will never be a story which packs the punch and pure majesty of this classic epic, the greatest story ever told in the comic book which dubbed itself (and for a time correctly) "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine".

And that wraps up this special holiday look at a great comic book story, one at least as appropriate for the time as any yarn about an egg-hiding rabbit.

Something different tomorrow.

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Black Saturday - If This Be Doomsday!

The cover of Fantastic Four #49 is awe-inspiring, the weird green figure of Galactus obscured but omnipresent in the background with the Silver Surfer swinging freely around his neck like a cosmic chain, the energy bolts erupting from his fingers dashing the ground beneath the feat of the fleeing Fantastic Four, it's all here the drama and the dilemma which faces the planet Earth now that the "Big G" has come.

Galactus has landed on Earth! The Fantastic Four look on at the giant powerful figure as he confers with The Watcher. The Watcher pitches his case for the defense of Earth, but Galactus rejects his petition and forges ahead with his plans to devour the planet's vast energy resources.

Ben Grimm attacks, punching forward as only he knows how and finds his blows have no effect save to cause Galactus to drop a capsule which emits a deadly toxin, to erradicate such pests. The Human Torch attacks, immersing Galactus in flames but those are absorbed and Galactus snuffs out the Torch's fame with two quick eyebeams. The Watcher tells Johnny Storm to desist and join his comrades in the Baxter Building. Johnny does and is shocked to find Ben and Reed cleaning themselves up when in his mind they should be gathering to fight the new menace. He instructed to be patient.

Meanwhile the Silver Surfer finds himself atop a skylight in another part of town and slides inside the apartment it looks down upon. In a moment of great coincidence it turns out to be the apartment of Alica Masters, a blind sculptor and the girlfriend of Ben Grimm. She recognizes the alien nature of the Surfer but also due to her great empathy finds buried in his shining visage vestiges of nobility. She offers to break bread with him, and he accepts.

At the Baxter Building Galactus contructs his massive Energy Converter using the building as a base. The Fab 4 watch the equipment which descends from the orbit assemble and the Watcher describes what will happen. First the oceans will be evaporated as the energy is absorbed and then Earth's cities. Eventually even the core of the planet will be consumed and the Earth will be only a husk when a sated Galactus departs. The Watcher says there is little they can do on their own, but he offers a plan which requires the help of the Human Torch.

At Alicia Masters' apartment the Surfer is put off by the quaint human need for food and transforms mere food and other objects in the room into pure energy free to absorbed directly. Alicia is alarmed by his cold demeanor but again urges him to seek something deeper in his inner self. He admits to discovering beauty in the face of Alicia but again says that he is but the servant of the mighty Galactus, though the plight of the people of Earth faced with imminent destruction does evoke pity. The people of New York City look on helpless and hope the Fantastic Four can save them from a threat they do not really comprehend.

Galactus has at last finished his Converter but when he triggers it there is no function. He discovers The Thing atop the machine destroying a vital element. Ben Grimm is able to catch the great Galactus off guard and knocks him from the building but Galactus does not fall as he has command over gravity itself. Instead to meet this new annoyance he summons from his orbiting ship the Punisher, a might cyborg servant who races to attack.

The Watcher readies Johnny Storm for his quest beyond time and space to retrieve an object which might defeat Galactus.

The Human Torch is transported an impossible distance across space to the homeworld of Galactus himself, a vast space station.

The Punisher lands and confronts the Fantastic Four immediately locking horns with The Thing and Mr. Fantastic. But the Punisher's speed and power are too much for the heroes and they take shelter behind the Invisible Girl's powerful force fields. But Galactus has bought the time he needs to repair his machine and he calls off the Punisher, returning him to space. The three members of the Fantastic Four look on helpless.

Meanwhile Alicia has struck a chord in the soul of the Surfer and he for the first time sees himself as more than a tool for the benefit of Galactus, he feels a kinship with mankind and so goes for the first time to stand against his master. The Watcher sees this and fears what this unplanned intervention will mean for his carefully laid plan to save Earth, and he fears the worst.

This issue of the Fantastic Four shows step by step how helpless the FF are in the face of the cosmic threat of Galactus. Without the intervention of the Watcher they'd have been caught completely off guard and the Earth would have been destroyed. But even with the Watcher's help, in defiance of his sacred pledge to intervene in the affairs of man, they have only a slim hope of salvation.

Galactus has come to Earth, the god has descended and it is the end times unless a savior should appear. The Silver Surfer, an instrument of Galactus is transformed again by the beautiful soul of Alicia Masters, an artist who is able to find beauty in the ugliest situations. She is able to ignite a spark which still smolders inside the herald of Galactus and he himself in defiance of his sacred pledge rises up to defend mankind. The Watcher's doubt throws the whole hopeful moment into one of suspenseful anticipation. Both the Watcher and Alicia have ignited a defense against the awesome Galactus, but will those plans interfere with one another. The finale awaits.

See you tomorrow as mankind's last hope for salvation shows up.

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At The Stroke Of Midnight!

This remains the scariest single comic book story I've ever read, at least one that was supposed to be scary. It is Jim Steranko's finest single comics work in my opinion.  This ghost story is an exquisite gem, that yields more excitement the more you examine it and the many facets which make it sparkle so brilliantly. I think I found it so memorable, because as a young fellow reading it, I did not completely understand what I was beholding,  but I knew in my core that what it added up to was some nasty stuff. The tricks with time really pull you along. Sam Rosen must be given kudos also, as his lettering does precisely what it should, be available readily to the eye, but rarely intrusive into the core of the imagery, a real challenge in this tiny panels.  Only the great Eisner ever designed a comic book page which compelled the reader so completely and utterly. This is Steranko at the top of his game.

Now I  am not gonna dismiss the John Romita cover which adorns the debut issue of Tower of Shadows. The ominous image is a dandy, and while less in your face than Steranko's rejected image, it does give a stronger hint about what is beneath it. I don't think Digger's leering mug is helping though, so Steranko's blending of the logo and box works best for me as far as t hat goes.

All in all a masterpiece of fright.

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Cap Goes Wild!

This is ferociously action-filled in-your-face poster from Marvelmania International featuring the artwork of Jack "King" Kirby and "Fearless" Frank Giacoia was part of the initial 1969 membership kit from the short-lived fan club operation. The lettering is by "Swingin" Sam Rosen.


I never owned this poster sadly, but I well remember the image from this ad which appeared in many a Marvel Comic of the time.


The poster of course was re-used artwork from the cover of 1968's Captain America #106. The story pitted Cap against an evil Communist LMD of himself. Here's a link with the details.


And just for fun here's that same artwork flipped for use as the cover of Marvel Super Action #8 a decade later in 1978. You'll note that Cap is no longer "Wild", but merely "Mad".

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