Comics Explained: Galactus

Created by the legendary pair Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Galactus is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. The only beings more powerful are the beings which literally embody aspects of the universe, or the universe itself. Galactus is if a hurricane had the powers of a god - a natural force beyond concepts of good and evil with the ability to create and destroy. Does to his popularity Galactus has made a regular appearance in comics since the 1960s with him appearing in many major events, even just briefly, ranging from Infinity Gauntlet to Age of Ultron. First, we need to see why Galactus was created by Lee and Kirby.

Creation

In his biography of Stan Lee Bob Batchelor has described the 'Marvel Revolution' of the 1960s as being a slightly fraught time despite successes. Marvel's owner Martin Goodman was only interested in profit, so he kept a close eye on comic sales, and if a genre started to dip he would pull the plug. Lee and Kirby knew how fickle the comic market could be, so they experimented a lot with characters and concepts with the view that Goodman could cancel it at any moment. As a result, writers at Marvel were eager in the 1960s to experiment with storytelling because otherwise they might not have another chance. This led to the creation of Galactus. Lee was interested in creating an ultimate villain, one which potentially was beyond good and evil. Kirby was smitten with the idea, and can be credited with creating what would become Galactus. Looking for inspiration for a villain, and his heralds of destruction, Kirby turned to the Bible:

My inspirations were the fact that I had to make sales and come up with characters that were no longer stereotypes. In other words, I couldn't depend on gangsters. I had to get something new. For some reason, I went to the Bible and I came up with Galactus. And there I was in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well because I've always felt him. I certainly couldn't treat him in the same way I could any ordinary mortal. And I remember in my first story, I had to back away from him to resolve that story. The Silver Surfer is, of course, the fallen angel. When Galactus relegated him to Earth, he stayed on Earth, and that was the beginning of his adventures. They were figures that had never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures. And of course they were the first gods.

DC fans might notice that this inspiration may have shaped the later New Gods when Kirby was writing for DC. Anyhow, the duo planned to go all out with Galactus creating which would become known as the 'Galactus Trilogy'.

The Galactus Trilogy

The trilogy would begin in Fantastic Four #48 debuting in March 1966. The Fantastic Four had always been used to investigate Marvel's space and celestial stories, and the comic opens with their enemies, the Skrulls, desperately trying to hide their planet from the angelic Silver Surfer. The Fantastic Four are visited by a tall, bald humanoid calling himself Uatu the Watcher. Watchers are an ancient and near-immortal race which vow to watch the comings and goings of the universe, but Uatu could not resist interfering in the events of Earth. It turns out that Uatu had been manipulating the planet's atmosphere with the hope that doing so it could hide Earth from the Heralds of Galactus. The Heralds are scouts who find planets for Galactus to consume, and his most famous one is the Silver Surfer. The Surfer arrives but is knocked out by the Thing, only for Uatu to inform the Four that it is too late. Galactus has arrived. The comic ends with the mighty Galactus declaring 'My journey is ended! This planet shall sustain me until it has been drained of all elemental life! So Speaks Galactus!'. Cliffhangers had long been used in comics, but such a cliffhanger left readers eager for more. Issue #49 sees the Fantastic Four try and fail to negotiate with Galactus, and then fight him, but they cannot fight a literal god. Meanwhile, friend of the Four Alicia Masters treats the defeated Surfer who begins to respect humanity. Although, there are some things he had to learn - such as why humans eat. Finally, in #50, the Human Torch is sent to Galactus's ship to steal a valuable weapon called the Ultimate Nullifier while the Surfer joins the Four in attacking Galactus. The Torch gives Mr Fantastic the Nullifier which actually frightens Galactus. The Nullifier is a weapon so powerful that it can wipe out galaxies, but the weapon itself can consume the user and become out of control. Eventually, Galactus concedes 'The prize is not worth the battle', and vows to leave Earth in return for the Nullifier. However, before he goes, in punishment for betraying him Galactus creates a force field which prevents the Silver Surfer from leaving the planet - it took until the 1980s for Surfer to be freed.

Galactus was Kirby's baby, and the Silver Surfer was Lee's, so it was Kirby who decided what to do with Galactus. While Lee regularly had Silver Surfer interact with other characters, Kirby really wanted Galactus to be a one-off. If he was going to appear, he wanted it to be a monumental moment which inspired awe. Galactus's next two appearances, in Thor #134 and Daredevil ##37, were two non-speaking cameos. However, fans wanted more of Galactus, so over the years he began appearing more and more until he became a mainstay of the Marvel Universe.

Origins

Galactus's popularity meant that Kirby had to create an origin story for the 'Devourer of Worlds' in Thor #169. Galactus was once a regular humanoid called Galan from the planet Taa. The people of Taa had effectively created a paradise with no forms of inequality, disease, or trouble, but they were unable to fend off the end of their universe. As radiation started wiping out the last individuals on Taa, Galan proposed going on a last-ditch space mission to destroy the 'Cosmic Egg' which was emitting radiation. Everyone on board was killed, except for Galan. Instead, as one of the last living things in the universe, he was merged with the embodiment of his universe. Locked inside the Cosmic Egg they merged, and was reborn in a new universe which had just been created via a Big Bang. Over eons the new being slept as life evolved, and they were discovered by a Watcher called Ecce. Seeing the potential that the sleeping being had to destroy worlds Ecce went to destroy the slumbering giant, but was stopped by the other Watchers. They reminded Ecce of their purpose: to watch and not interfere. While the Watchers later realised that Galactus was a natural part of the universe, like a hurricane or volcanic eruption, Ecce still felt guilt over his inaction, for the billions killed by Galactus's hunger. Ecce woke the energy being, and using the newfound Cosmic Eternal, (the literal power of the universe itself), it constructed a suit to contain its immense energy, and went back to sleep. That is, until eons later when the Cosmic Egg was accidentally attacked in a war. A newly awakened and hungry Galactus wiped out a nearby fleet as easily as someone swats a fly, and fed on their homeworld of Archeopia. Using the energy of the Cosmic Eternal he created an immense ship named Taa II to inhabit as he swept through the cosmos.

Taa II

There was some mortal still left within Galactus, but he also needed energy. The immense power of the Cosmic Egg needed an immense number of kilocalories to sustain itself. Not wanting to repeat the fate of Archeopia he consumed lifeless planets, only for them to not give him the sustenance which he needed. Using his cosmic powers he easily shut off that aspect of his mind. Eventually, Galactus arrived on the planet of Zenn-La, much like his own Taa, in Silver Surfer #1. A brilliant scientist called Norrin Radd pleaded with Galactus to spare Zenn-La arguing 'for even ants have a right to live'. Galactus, instead, gives us a good insight into the psychology of a force of nature. 'In order to live Galactus must have energy which only a healthy planet can provide. If some must fall, so that Galactus may endure... it is lamentable'. Galactus does not consume out of malice or hatred. Instead he consumes because he has to. Radd managed, however, to strike a deal. In return for becoming his herald and scouting out planets, Galactus would spare Zenn-La. Galactus can do virtually anything - even resurrect the dead. With his power he turned Norrin Radd into a virtually mortal being known as the Silver Surfer. Norrin initially took Galactus to lifeless planets, however Galactus eradicated the Surfer's empathy so he would seek out planets with life.

Other stories

Galactus's popularity has meant he has appeared in lots of stories, as is expected from a Lee-Kirby creation. It is interesting to see the evolution of the character over the years. Although Galactus has always been presented as being above concepts of good and evil, and still is seen as a villain, over the years comics have presented the World Devourer in different lights. In several Fantastic Four stories in the early-1980s we find out that Galactus does feel remorse over his consuming of worlds, he just cannot help himself. In the Secret Wars event of 1984 and 1985 Galactus played an important role. Another god-like being, (Marvel has a lot), called the Beyonder was intrigued by the concept of powered individuals, and wanted to see the ultimate battle between good and evil. Creating a planet known as 'Battleworld' he took heroes and villains to duke it out - whichever side won would get a wish. This story introduced many new concepts and characters: the villain Titania, the new Spider-Woman, Spider-Man's black suit (giving rise to Venom), and Magneto as a grey hero. Galactus was also brought in on the side of evil, but he declared himself neutral in the battle. The heroes had an issue, how could they defeat Galactus, who could anything, without the Ultimate Nullifier? Meanwhile, Dr Doom had a plan. While the other villains wanted to just fight the heroes, Doom wanted the power of the Beyonder. Why settle for a wish, when with the Beyonder's power you could get whatever you wished? To get the Beyonder's power, he needed that of Galactus, and that is easier said than done. Throughout Secret Wars Galactus literally wipes out Doom's plots with little effort, although the villain ended up obtaining the powers of Beyonder.

Galactus and Gah Lak Tus

At the end of Age of Ultron (2013) a series of missions to change time in order to stop Ultron rising to power weakened the fabric of reality. This resulted in Galactus falling into the Ultimate Universe. In the early-2000s Marvel created the Ultimate line of comics which aimed to reboot the Marvel Universe without directly impacting the mainstream comics. The Ultimate version of Galactus was not a god-like being, but instead a hivemind of city-sized robots called Gah Lak Tus. Created by the ancient Kree to 'purify' the universe, i.e. kill their enemies, it became out of control having the aim to wipe out all life in the universe. Gah Lak Tus was fighting in the Chitauri-Kree War when Galactus fell into the Ultimate Universe. Unexpectedly, Gah Lak Tus merged with Galactus forming a greater, united being; some of the robots were even used as new heralds. When he attacked that universe's version of Earth he was trapped in an in-between dimension where no life exists called the Negative Zone. As expected in comics, Galactus wasn't left for too long to starve in the Negative Zone and was eventually returned to his original self. Recently, Galactus crashed on Asgard after seeing a vision that Thor would kill him - to avoid this he converted Thor into his herald, the Herald of Thunder...

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