Charles Hatfield’s Reading of “The Galactus Trilogy”

In his Eisner-winning monograph, “Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby,” Charles Hatfield argues that the “Coming of Galactus” works as well as it does because of the framing of that arrival created by the coming of The Silver Surfer first. #FantasticFour #Silver Surfer 1/7

Hatfield writes, “The central character, as it turns out, is the one who mediates between the human and the godlike, the Surfer, who unpredictably blooms from a mere functionary of the plot – a cold, unemotional harbinger of doom – into and articulate and tormented hero.” 2/7

“Much of the story’s drama stems from the Surfer, as he transitions from plot device (his arrival heralds the coming of Galactus) to character. Introducing the Surfer, as eccentric a gimmick as any Kirby had come up with, was an ingenious narrative stroke” 3/7

“The device of the Surfer allows us to approach Galactus obliquely, to imagine what kind of being would need a ‘herald’ this imposing to prepare the way for his arrival.” 4/7

“The first chapter’s climactic splash, a full-page panel dominated by the big ‘reveal’ of Galactus, derives its power from the way it fulfills the suspense generated by the dozen or so pages preceding it.” 5/7

“‘The Coming of Galactus,’ anticipates its end, for which we are prepared in two ways: first, by seeing the Surfer’s progress through space, toward Earth; second, through apocalyptic signs – a sky filled with flames, then with floating rocks or ‘debris’” 6/7

“The Silver Surfer, a clear example of the kind of improvisation that characterizes mid-sixties Marvel, is the device that makes this first chapter tick…When the Surfer arrives, he is a portent, a promise, of impending apocalypse.” 7/7