The Best Fantastic Four Story Arc Ever
This issue brings to an end the Inhuman Saga that was begun a few issues back. Sadly, the ending of the Inhuman Saga is kind of abrupt and unsatisfying. But no matter, no sooner than the Fantastic Four arrive back in New York, they face the greatest threat they've ever faced, in the beginning of what may be the greatest Fantastic Four story arc ever... The Galactus Trilogy!
Maximus fires a weapon that is supposed to obliterate humanity, but just results in the Inhumans' city being walled off from the rest of the world. The Fantastic Four manage to escape the Inhumans' city thanks to Invisible Woman's protective force field bubble. But once outside, they're barred from ever returning by a thick, impenetrable 'negative zone'. As you can probably imagine, Johnny, who's fallen in love with the Inhuman Crystal, is crushed.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to a new character - the Silver Surfer. I must admit, that when I was a kid I was immediately turned off by the Silver Surfer - it seemed like a cheesy ploy to connect with kids (and a decade behind the times for me), in a "hey, kids like surfing, lets make a groovy character that's a superhero surfer!" Of course, that's not all the Silver Surfer was, and now that I know much more about him, I can really appreciate him as one of Jack and Stan's (mostly Jack's) greatest creations!
But when they return to New York City, there's mass panic as the sky seems to be ablaze! One of the highlights of this issue is Jack Kirby's half page illustration of the mayhem!
The Human Torch flies off to investigate, against Reed's wishes. The crowd assumes The Human Torch is to blame for the fiery sky, and they bring him down with a fire hose. That enrages the Thing, who drops down to save Johnny, also against Reed's wishes (apparently no one in the Fantastic Four bothers listening to their leader). Then, in a great two panel display, the Thing takes out a belligerent civilian with a flick of a finger!
Reed seals himself off in his lab for hours, until Sue demands entry. Once she enters, we learn that Reed has been in consultation with The Watcher! And he has foretold of the greatest threat in the universe - Galactus! The F.F. take to the roof, where they encounter and briefly spar with the Silver Surfer, before a giant ship arrives, and from it emerges Galactus!
The issue has it's weak points - as mentioned before, the Inhuman Saga started out great, but the hasty ending here seems unsatisfying in many ways. Also, the use of a photo collage doesn't really work - they almost never do, it's a wonder why Marvel keeps doing them - and kind of looks ridiculous, the front of Galactus' ship looks like an air conditioner. Another artistic misstep is the design of Galactus' costume, which contains a giant English letter 'G' on the chest - this is way too conventional, not to mention illogical (is English the dominant language of the universe now?).
But on the whole, this first issue of the Galactus Trilogy is great - it introduces not only the Silver Surfer, but Galactus himself, a character unlike any we've seen in comics before!