Galactus The Devourer #1 (September 1999)

The cosmos of the Marvel Universe is vast and wonderous. But it also has its fair share of things that would send shivers down one's spine. One of those horrors is a being that has been described as a force of nature, an unstoppable being the gains its sustenance from devouring planets. He is a being known by many names, but for the people of the Marvel Universe's Earth, he is known simply as Galactus.

Galactus first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. This comic would be the first issue of a three-issue storyline called "The Galactus Trilogy". The two wanted to create a new villain for the FF that didn't quite fit the standard mold of the supervillain. They decided on having his motivation for consuming worlds not be anything malicious, but due to a never-ending hunger for life energies. Kirby would draw inspiration from Biblical imagery to not just develop Galactus, but the concept of a herald for him: A being that would find worlds for Galactus to consume. The most famous character to hold that role would be an astronomer-turned-Sentinel of the Spaceways named Norrin Radd. You may know him more as the Silver Surfer. 

Despite Galactus not being intended to appear again after "The Galactus Trilogy", the character would go on to be a mainstay of the cosmos of the Marvel Universe. The Silver Surfer would also go on to have numerous adventures of his own, mainly because the character was a personal favorite of Stan Lee's. 

The comic we're looking at here is the first issue of a six-issue 1999-2000 miniseries called Galactus the Devourer. Louise Simonson, the writer of the miniseries, had originally intended to have taken place in the Silver Surfer's solo title at the time. The thing was, that series was cancelled due to low sales. In response, Simonson proposed that the story be told in a separate miniseries. The proposal was a bit "radical" due to its exploration of the importance of Galactus to the universe itself, which led to her fearing that Marvel would turn it down. Marvel not only greenlit the proposal, but she would also be paired with legendary artist John Buscema for most of it (He did not draw the first issue). This miniseries would be one of his final works with Marvel before his death in 2002.

The Surfer was not an unfamiliar character to Buscema. He did the art duties for Stan Lee's graphic novel Silver Surfer: Judgment Day (October 1988) which focused on a clash between the titular character and Marvel's resident Satan analogue: Mephisto. So, with that out of the way, let's look at Galactus the Devourer #1!

The cover is a John Buscema piece. It's really cool. It depicts the Silver Surfer, Iron Man and Thor of the Avengers alongside the Thing and the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four facing off against Galactus. Galactus is positioned right in the center of the cover and shrouded in shadow. It helps give the world-eater a menacing air, which really fits. 

"Hunger!"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon J. Muth
Inker: Bill Sienkiewicz
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Letterers: Richard Starkings, Comicraft
Editors: Bobbie Chase, Brian Smith 
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras 

The story begins with the arrival of the titular world-eater on an alien planet. The narration talks about how many of the sentient races of the universe have their own legends and myths about Galactus. Some see him as a farmer, others as a wrathful god. Some even view him as a pest. Galactus will give these myths new meaning as he consumes a world. Those who are able to flee this world, their fates to tell others and contribute to the legends. 

The scene then shifts to Earth, a planet that is no stranger to the World-Eater. 

"Watch it! I paid good money for this load of books!"

These workmen are helping move some statues for a local artist: Alicia Masters. The pulley breaks, causing a large statue to fall towards some of the workmen. Luckily, these men will be saved today thanks to a certain metal-skinned sentinel of the spaceways. 

"Good thing you didn't mention you had two days till retirement, Jim."

The workmen are grateful for the save. After all, they usually had the help of the Thing to lug this stuff. At this point, they weren't together anymore. In a nice little moment, a kid the Surfer saved asks him to autograph his skateboard. The Surfer does so.

The Surfer comes to check on Alicia. At this time, Norrin and the blind sculptor were romantically involved. Makes a bizarre bit of sense. She helped convince him to turn against Galactus in the first place. Over at the Daily Bugle, two reporters discuss the Thing and Alicia's former romance, and the FF being celebrities. One of them is Alfie O'Mally, an ally of the Surfer at the time, I believe. He points out that the Fantastic Four may be famous, but they're also powerful beings. And as such, it's on the press to keep an eye on them, make sure they use that power to do good.

We the briefly visit the FF themselves. They have an invite to Alicia Masters' upcoming exhibit: Heroes of the Millenium. Johnny refuses to go, but Ben Grimm insists on doing so. High above the Big Apple, the Surfer does one of the things he's famous for: pondering.

He wonders what right he has to be happy considering his role in the destruction of the many worlds that would be used to feed the endless hunger of his former master. Later, we see Alicia preparing her exhibit. It's been a while since she had a major once, and she's understandably got some jitters.

Unknown to anyone, the Mole Man is a-plotting.

"ART MAKES ME ANGRY!"

The Surfer arrives. He takes on a human appearance to blend in, but Alicia convinces him to appear as his true self. The exhibit starts, and things seem to go well. There's even a nice little funny moment with the Thing and Norrin where Ben asks why he's not wearing a "monkey suit" (a term for a tuxedo, if you didn't know) and the confused Surfer answers that it's because it's not a monkey. That made me chuckle. The Mole Man is listening in on this, and he realizes there's some tensions between Ben Grimm and the Silver Surfer he can exploit. Remember, Alicia and Ben were together once. 

The Mole Man creates a wave of solid sound...somehow. Maybe he stole some of the tech from Klaw.

The wave causes Ben and Norrin to bump into each other. It seems like a fight will break out, but in a clever subversion, the two realize someone is trying to make them brawl. So, they decide to pull a little psychological warfare.

The two have a fake brawl, which helps them find the Mole Man. The two aren't able to catch him, but the villain has a plan B. They hear a rumbling from the gallery where Alicia is holding her exhibition. 

The other heroes in attendance (The Avengers and the Fantastic Four) work to get civilians to safety. The Surfer and the Thing race to get Alicia to safety when some rubble threatens to fall on her. However, she's saved thanks to a special suit of armor.

Alicia's armor was designed by Lady Gaga.

She got this suit of armor thanks to a past adventure with the Surfer in a place called the Macroverse. She ended up losing the suit in Silver Surfer #146 (November 1998). At least, she thought she did. The heroes try to figure out why Mole Man is behind this, but Alfie O'Mally alerts them to a sewage treatment plant disappearing into the Hudson River. Norrin, Ben, and Alicia fly off to check it out, as this is odd behavior for the long-time supervillain. 

Norrin and Ben arrive first. They discover that the plant is covered by a protective forcefield. The FF arrive, and they learn why the Mole Man is after the plant. He needs it to help the Moloids. They've been sickened thanks to the pollution of the surface world, and he needs the treatment plant to help them. Reed points out that if the Mole Man asked, they would have helped him. But the Mole Man claims that there was too little time. He makes off with it, but the heroes spot another crisis: A meteor is coming down. And it's going to turn Midtown into a pancake.

Norrin convinces the heroes to let him try and stop it. Norrin rushes towards the meteor, hoping to hit it at the correct speed and angle to deflect it to a safer landing spot. He succeeds, but the impact knocks him off his board and into a loop.

"...ow."

Yeah, Norrin got knocked the eff out.

The meteor then pops up out of the water, revealing that it was no ordinary piece of rock. 

"AAAAAAGH! I'M ON FIRRRRRE!"

The meteor was actually a ship. The sole occupant is mortally wounded. They die in Norrin's arms, trying to warn them that something is coming, but unable to say exactly who. The heroes are left confused, but it's not hard to figure out who exactly it is. Galactus finishes feeding on a world, but he still hungers. He calls in his new herald, a bring called Red Shift, to find another world for him to eat.

"I need more planets...to GET IN MAH BELLEH!"

I enjoyed this comic. It's basically just a bit of setup, but that's fine. Got to set the stage before telling the story after all. My favorite scene is when Ben and Norrin trick the Mole Man by staging a brawl. Shows that Ben Grimm is more than just the muscle of the Fantastic Four. It's a nice little surprisingly human story here. Jon J. Muth's art gives the story a bit of grit. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2014 trade paperback Galactus the Devourer. Thanks for reading this blog entry!