The Cosmic & the Human in the Galactus Trilogy

Johnny Storm reacts to travelling infinity in Fantastic Four #50, saying he’s realized that humanity is “just ants.”

The #Galactus Trilogy juxtaposes cosmic conflicts with decidedly human ones, related to family and relationships. This might surprise readers expecting a more cohesive cosmic saga. But it’s emblematic of Fantastic Four’s innovative approach to superheroics. 1/14 #FantasticFour

The opening splash page of Fantastic Four #48, heralding “The Coming of Galactus” amid a climactic battle with the Inhumans.

New readers may find the colloquial title “The Galactus Trilogy” misleading. Large portions of Fantastic Four #48 & #50 are not concerned with Galactus. Much of #48 wraps up the previous story involving the Inhumans, while #50 concludes with Johnny Storm starting college. 2/14

A scene from Fantastic Four #50, in which all the major players come together on the roof of the Baxter Building.

Yet this serialized storytelling was–and remains–key to emotionally investing fans in the ongoing saga of the Marvel Universe, where stories never really end. Some conflicts merely pause to prioritize others, then return, subtly transformed but comfortingly familiar. 3/14

In a scene from Fantastic Four #48, Ben attempts to call his girlfriend Alicia, while Sue tries to call Reed and is angry when she is rebuffed.

Soap operatic serialization is also key to the revolutionary humanization of the Fantastic Four, a group of superheroes who are first & foremost a family, and a dysfunctional one at that, their volatile personalities frequently erupting into verbal & physical confrontations. 4/14

A page from Fantastic Four #49, in which Johnny mourns the loss of his girlfriend Crystal, at the same time that the Silver Surfer is introduced.

Amid their confrontation with the cosmic divine–and the potential extinction of the human race–the FF never lose their identifiable, sometimes self-destructive humanity. Case in point: consider this page, which wraps the Inhumans plotline and introduces the Galactus one. 5/14

A panel of the Silver Surfer soaring through space from Fantastic Four #49.

Johnny Storm mourns being cut off from his latest crush, prompting fatherly support from Reed and fear and self-doubt from Sue and Ben. These human (albeit fantastical) conflicts are contrasted with the intro of the Silver Surfer, soaring through the vastness of space. 6/14

Pages from Fantastic Four #48 and 49 illustrating the above points.

These scenes might seem disconnected, but the emotional status quo informs how the Four react to Galactus. Johnny’s pain & Ben’s guilt spur reckless physicality. The fatherly Reed is determined to protect everyone. And Sue’s fear of losing Reed causes her to lash out at him. 7/14

A page from Fantastic Four #49 illustrating the described scene.

Maintaining one’s grounded humanity also proves key to defeating Galactus. At one point, in what Eliot Bornstein observes might be the first bathroom scene in superhero comics, Reed and Ben even take a break from fighting Galactus to shower and shave. 8/14

This bathroom scene is directly followed by the momentarily stunned Silver Surfer falling into the studio of Ben’s girlfriend, blind sculptress Alicia Masters. The resulting interplay between Alicia and the Surfer is arguably more important than any of the Four’s physical actions. 9/14

Panels from Fantastic Four #49 illustrating the described scenes.

In perhaps the comic’s most direct juxtaposition of the human and the cosmic, Alicia serves the Surfer tea while in the very next panel, Galactus assembles the machinery that will help him consume the Earth. Yet the tea makes all the difference. 10/14

Two pages later, Alicia defies the Surfer’s insistence that all life is merely consumable energy, arguing (with heavy-handed prose) that cosmic might doesn’t negate the value of human existence. The Surfer, moved by Alicia’s passion & courage, betrays Galactus. 11/14

A scene from Fantastic Four #50, in which Reed threatens Galactus with the Ultimate Nullifier.

The Surfer’s rebellion buys Johnny Storm time to return from his interdimensional journey to find the Ultimate Nullifier, which finally convinces Galactus to depart. But this seeming victory is short-lived, as the team’s personal conflicts persist. 12/14

Scenes from Fantastic Four #50, illustrating the described events.

FF #50 concludes with the Thing wandering off despondently in response to Alicia’s passion for the Surfer. Sue is still furious at Reed for neglecting her while insisting he’s protecting her. And Johnny can’t stop thinking about his unsettling confrontation with infinity. 13/14

In a scene from Fantastic Four #50, Reed holds Sue, while Johnny and Ben recover nearby. The quote is from Eliot Borenstein’s book Marvel Comics of the 1970s: The World Inside Your Head.

Borenstein writes, “The fight against Galactus is a confrontation between two incompatible scales of existence: the human and the cosmic.” The ultimate intersection of these seemingly incompatible forces underscores a particularly human approach to the fantastic. 14/14