The conclusion of the High Evolutionary saga, and one of the most embarrassing moments in Galactus history.
Fantastic Four #175 (1976)
by Roy Thomas & John Buscema
cover by Jack Kirby
The High Evolutionary is pretty damn powerful, but taking on Big G himself is definitely the peak of his weight class.
He even addresses Galactus like an equal, after growing to giant size. Because at this moment, he has super-evolved himself into having basically any power the plot needs.
As a reminder, we are currently on Counter-Earth: the planet that the High Evolutionary created.
Not that Galactus cares.
This result into, what else, a Big Dumb Cosmic Fight.
I’m pretty sure the High Evolutionary has no idea of the origins of Galactus, otherwise he’d know that attempting to de-evolve him would be useless. It’s not like he comes from a race of Galacti.
Galactus instead exiles him to the Negative Zone, the place nobody can escape.
Which is kind of hilarious since Galactus himself had been exiled there and at this point we haven’t even been given a reason why he returned.
The Fantastic Three have returned (Susan is still stranded on another planet), and they try to fight Galactus again. I would normally question the usefulness of this, but it’s 70s Galactus we’re talking about… they could PROBABLY take him down.
But that’s when Invisible Girl return, hilariously called the “distaff member” of the team, which is… it’s just wrong, isn’t it?
A “distaff counterpart” is the female equivalent of a pre-existing male character (think Supergirl or She-Hulk), and unless Galactus is thinking of Invisible Kid… who did show up in the Legion slightly earlier than her first appearance… this makes no sense.
Unless Thomas is working off a different definition?
I did not expect Galactus to be sexist. Then again, you can’t get more old-fashioned than “has been around since before the universe existed”.
Susan has returned with a gift for Galactus: a planet that actually WANTS to be eaten.
See Reed, that’s what telling her to stay behind gets you. You’re sleeping on the couch for a while.
Has exiling someone into the Negative Zone EVER WORKED?
The plan worked, and Galactus does devour the suicidal planet.
Planets eaten by Galactus: 6
And it’s not a pleasant experience.
So Galactus is dying, and since he tried to devour the planet he created the High Evolutionary decides he’s going to save him.
Wait, what?
I think he’s just trying to turn Galactus into merchandise.
I know Marvel has a rich history of toy tie-ins comics, from Rom to Transformers, but this is going a bit too far.
Galactus then evolves into a brain and into pure energy.
We also learn that the Invisible Girl who saved the day wasn’t the real one.
It’s the 70s, of course she wasn’t.
That was actually the characters that readers LEAST expected… the Impossible Man.
That’s because he hasn’t appeared in 164 issues: his previous appearance was Fantastic Four #11.
That issue was a bit infamous, as it had a drop in sales in a period that was otherwise steadily increasing them. Stan Lee reportedly hated that issue, which is definitely a big reason why Impossible Man wouldn’t show up in any of his other stories. Jack Kirby can’t have been too fond either, since he also never used him a second time.
You might think that’s the reason why his planet was sacrificed, but it’s more complex than that.
Impossible Man can be quite annoying; in fact he is DELIBERATELY annoying, that’s kind of his whole deal.
He can definitely be too much, and I know several Marvel fans absolutely despise him.
I strongly disagree: while he can overstay his welcome at times, Impossible Man is a lot of fun!
And he can be deceptively complex, in part for something established here: his people have a something of a hive mind.
And that is ENTIRELY based on ONE line of dialogue in the original story, where he said that his people don’t need individual names.
I absolutely love to find occasions where entire plot lines can be traced back to a single throwaway line from decades earlier!
Still, as fascinating as he can be, Impossible Man is primarily a gag character.
Which is why I classify this as one of lowest point in Galactus history: that time he died because a gag character gave him indigestion.
Times Galactus got indigestion: 1
Historical significance: 8/10
Impossible Man is hardly a pillar of the Marvel Universe, but he stays around and this establishes just how weird his people are. The Poppupian race will eventually return, though.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
Galactus got indigestion!
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
I cannot emphasize enough just how much OUT OF NOWHERE the Impossible Man shows up.
That lifeless planet Invisible Girl was stranded on? That was his planet, transformed into a desert for… uhm, no actual reason given.
Just as there is no explanation for why they bothered to shapeshift into different people: it’s not like Galactus would’ve decided to skip his meal if he recognized them.
Plus, how are they and Impossible Man even able to pull this off? One of the key aspects of his power is that he can shapeshift into anything but always retaining the green & purple color, and they have no problem being any color in this.
We also have the High Evolutionary deciding to save Galactus. The reason he gives is that he considers Galactus a kindred spirit as they are both cosmic beings… which is a bit of a stretch.
Not to mention that ultimately the Fantastic Four don’t really contribute to the victory: it doesn’t even look like Invisible Girl had to do anything to convince the Poppupians to be eaten!
Fireside Book Series #11
The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience!
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
cover by Earl Norem & Jack Kirby
This is Marvel’s first graphic novel and the last time Jack Kirby draws either Galactus or Silver Surfer. It’s not currently available in digital format and it’s not set in the regular timeline, but I have to talk about at least a little bit.
The book begins with Stan Lee recalling the creation of Silver Surfer, which he fully attributes to Jack Kirby by the way, and how he fell in love with the character.
And it concludes with the description of how he agreed with Kirby on how this special would be handled, but I’m sure there are the usual Stan Lee haters who will say Kirby did everything including lettering and coloring while Stan was setting puppies on fire or something.
What can I even say about this? This is Kirby at his Kirbyest and it belongs in a museum.
This is a universe without Fantastic Four, so Silver Surfer only interacts with regular humans.
Including a woman who reminds him of his lost love Shalla-Bal.
It’s not a doppelganger: Silver Surfer is hallucinating because he feels guilty about abandoning his love to save his world.
I’ve gone on record saying that I really, REALLY don’t like Stan Lee’s Silver Surfer series… but don’t try to convince me that Kirby’s original idea of Surfer being a construct of Galactus with no past is superior to the character he evolved into, because holy crap is this some good drama fodder.
There is one aspect that really suffers from the comparison with the original Galactus Trilogy.
If you thought that Silver Surfer was a bit too quick to rebel thanks to a single speech from Alicia… here he doesn’t even speak to anyone, he just decides to save the planet because apparently it’s the first planet Galactus tries to eat with people who can think?
Dude, I’ve been to Earth, we don’t think THAT much.
I’ve criticized several 70s Marvel artists for blatantly swiping Kirby artwork, but he’s not above recycling his own poses.
Which isn’t a criticism: this is a retelling of the same story, he’s allowed to recycle details!
Without superhero fights, Kirby can go all-out showcasing the sheer destruction caused by Galactus. And it’s GLORIOUS.
He’s also not held back by the fact that, you know, there had to be SOMETHING of New York City left if the Fantastic Four series was meant to continue!
Galactus exiles Surfer to Earth in this version as well.
He also repairs destroys all the records and mind-wipes humanity into forgetting he ever visited…
…but he doesn’t repair any damages or heal any wounds.
Dick move, Big G. So much for boasting about not being cruel!
Silver Surfer even takes human form to live amongst mortals. Notable that he never attempted this in his regular series!
If you wondered who was that golden lady on the cover, she does eventually show up.
I think they’re doing space drugs together.
We’ve seen just how many times Galactus has sent someone to convince Silver Surfer to come back.
Apparently he should’ve tried with sexier heralds.
After tempting Surfer with space drug and sexiness, she tries another approach: reminds him that humanity sucks.
But of course Silver Surfer chooses the noble solution…
…Galactus straight up kills a guy who was begging to be his next herald…
…and after A LOT of stuff happens, the sexy gold lady sacrifices herself.
His spirit broken, Silver Surfer agrees to serve Galactus again if he spares Earth.
Yeah the ending is quite depressing!
Historical significance: 2/10
It’s not set in the regular Marvel Universe, but I believe Ardina is at least partially responsible for the look of a future herald.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Despite the tragic ending and being published in 1978, this is a very 1960s comic.
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
Despite sharing a lot with the original trilogy and with the first series… this is even more epic than the first and much better written than the second.
I didn’t go into detail because this is a VERY LONG comic: it’s a hundred pages!
Kirby truly goes all-out in EVERYTHING, and Surfer is nowhere near as irritating as in his series.
In fact, the only minor complain that I have is that it goes for sheer melodrama a bit too much at points, and Galactus erasing all memories of his attack feels meaningless. Why would he care?
But still, this is a masterpiece that any true fan of Silver Surfer, Jack Kirby, or great comics in general should absolutely read.
Marvel, what the heck are you waiting to put this in a proper digital format???
Especially given the in-world significance: it’s the last time Lee & Kirby work together.
And I find this is one of the best examples of what made their earliest collaborations so special: when Stan Lee writes for someone else or Jack Kirby writes himself, there’s always something missing.
Specifically this has the human interest of the Silver Surfer series without being bogged down by continuously repeating the same beat, and it has the epicness of the New Gods while also having solid characterization.
Which to me goes to show that when you have Stan Lee and Jack Kirby together, that’s when the magic happens.