Galactus is out of the 60s, beginning a part of his history that is not really that great.
Fantastic Four #120 (1972)
by Stan Lee & John Buscema
Poor Air-Walker. If he showed up in the Golden Age, that could have been a passable codename.
The Fantastic Four first have to deal with a threat that has nothing to do with this storyline, but I have to bring up the Thing’s reading choice.
Am I the only one thinking that’s Mary Jane Watson on the cover?
Our point of interest comes when all the stereotypes of Earth see something in the sky.
That would be the titular Air-Walker, who has the incredible power to make a cape made of fire look lame.
How exactly did this work, by the way? Is he appearing in several places simultaneously, or teleporting around? Because if he’s just WALKING, not only it’s hard to accept people would be THAT shocked, but how fast is he “walking”???
Well there you have it: he’s zipping around the planet at incredible speed.
So “Air-Walker” is not even walking?
He takes interest in the Fantastic Four when they investigate.
And then the Fantastic Four spend several pages trying to be interesting enough to get a reaction.
You might think I’m joking, but no, that’s literally what happens.
Fantastic job, no notes.
I should point out that Air-Walker hasn’t attacked anyone until he’s approached by a drone.
So I kind of sympathize with him being annoyed.
Only now he decides to talk. Which kind of make his whole entrance backwards: people go into panic BEFORE he announces the end of the world. Shouldn’t it be the other way around???
And after effortlessly knocking down the Fantastic Four…
…he brings out his trumpet to show everyone how big it grows.
If he did that BEFORE the panic, it would have been indecent exposure.
Oh I believe you, Air-Walker, you most definitely blow.
Fantastic Four #121 (1972)
by Stan Lee & John Buscema
What is the secret of Air-Walker? Considering he’s in this retrospective, has anyone not figured out already?
Yes I know his name is Gabriel, but considering that’s stupid giving his origin, I’ve decided to ignore it.
Also: Johnny, you should be WAY less impressed by his ability to float in the air!!!
Air-Walker goes on a rant about how he’s so above everyone else that he doesn’t need to impress the Fantastic Four, all while using his powers to impress the Fantastic Four.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m kind of siding with the mob here.
Guys, maybe don’t instantly antagonize the all-powerful alien for no reason and try to talk to him first?
This scene makes no sense once we learn who Air-Walker is and why he’s here.
Okay this is getting ridiculous.
Air-Walker showed up TODAY. He’s been on Earth for maybe a few hours AT BEST, and he really hasn’t done anything more destructive than a regular supervillain.
Any yet THE ENTIRE PLANET immediately gives up???
After several pages of nothing happening besides the Fantastic Four complaining, Reed finally comes up with a weapon that proves effective.
Or not. Air-Walker might look ridiculous, but he’s still a powerhouse.
Meanwhile, Silver Surfer is chilling in the “sub-stratosphere”.
Which, as we all know, is the location of the Asteroid Belt.
Wait, what?
Sensing the FF are in danger, Silver Surfer proceeds to fight Air-Walker.
And they’re pretty evenly matched, until Air-Walker tries to use his Cape of Destiny.
Destroying the cape is all that’s needed to defeat him…
…because it’s actually a robot.
And it’s not like you could put a power source INSIDE a robot instead of having it exposed for anyone to damage, right? That would just be silly.
Also, why exactly do the civilians care if he was a robot?
And destroying the robot turns out to have been A Very Bad Idea, because that was actually the latest herald of Galactus.
Number of Galactus heralds: 2
Fantastic Four #122 (1972)
by Stan Lee & John Buscema
That is some weird perspective. Either this Ferris Wheel is tiny, or Silver Surfer is HUGE.
And if you thought that cover is undignified for Galactus… once again he shows up with no pants.
There are people in New York City who are painfully aware whether Galactus wears underwear.
Earth should be fine though, right? Hasn’t Galactus promised he’s not going to eat it?
Well yes, he’s just here to take back Silver Surfer… AGAIN.
Dude, there’s plenty of fish in the universe, when are you going to learn that he’s not into you anymore?
As much as I can’t stand Silver Surfer in his own series, here he does get a good speech.
It’s time to address the elephant in the room… the artwork.
John Buscema is, well, John Buscema and as such he does deliver a solid book… most of the time.
Buthe completely missed the mark with Galactus: he’s not giving the same sense of scale and grandeur, AT ALL.
He’s also WAY tinier and with weirder proportions than most of his appearances… he might as well be a villain-of-the-week with this look.
Future stories will come up with the idea that the size of Galactus is proportional to how much he has eaten; to be this tiny, he has to be positively STARVING.
Which is the same explanation given for how he could possibly be handled like this by the Thing.
I don’t know Reed, fleas rarely get to judo-throw humans so you MIGHT be overestimating Big G.
Since Galactus is only after Silver Surfer, though, he could just leave the planet.
This is still quite early in the history of Galactus, so I’m giving them a pass on the idea that he really does need his spaceship.
So mister I-can-hear-a-pin-drop-on-Pluto here didn’t bother to check whether the ship was past the barrier he should be intimately familiar with?
Sounds legit.
At least the last time Galactus couldn’t find Silver Surfer it was because he was hiding in the Microverse. But even this early, I feel like he should’ve noticed Surfer was still on the planet!!!
See what I meant by Galactus feeling like a villain-of-the-week?
WHY WOULD HE FALL FOR THIS???
Honestly, when the Thing boasts that he doesn’t need help… with THIS Galactus I believe him!
This just isn’t your day, Big G.
With the others keeping Galactus busy, Reed comes up with a desperate plan: he’s going to use Galactus’s own ship against him!
That’s actually a good idea for the story, but it’s a bit too late considering how much damage to Galactus’s reputation has been made.
Also, this whole thing requires HALF of the team being enough to slow down Galactus for a considerable amount of time.
DOESN’T ANYONE CHECK THINGS IN SPACE ANYMORE???
But Reed eventually does sneak into the ship, and uses it to threaten Galactus with exile.
Fantastic Four #123 (1972)
by Stan Lee & John Buscema
cover by Sal Buscema
Can this trainwreck of a saga be salvaged in the finale?
Galactus is SERIOUSLY worried about Reed blowing up his ship.
He’s also uncharacteristically cruel, threatening to torture the rest of the FF and devastate the planet if Reed doesn’t surrender.
It does allow John Buscema to provide the only truly impressive page of the storyline.
Wait, is Galactus… going through the stages of grief here?
Fist he couldn’t believe Reed would really do this, then he threatened to kill everyone, now he’s accepted he might as well die… it almost fits!
He even offers a bargain!!!
This version of Galactus is almost painful to watch. Gone is the larger-than-life being that is supposed to be beyond good and evil, replaced by a child throwing a tantrum.
All of this drama could be avoided if Silver Surfer went back to serve Galactus, as even President Nixon suggests.
I would read the hell out of a What If that explores the influence of this story in Nixon’s electoral history.
If this goes any longer Galactus will be shorter than Franklin.
And with Reed surrendering, the original status quo is restored.
But when Reed tries to prevent Surfer from leaving, he’s shot by order of General Ross.
Because nobody demanded it: in this Galactus story, the Fantastic Four spend most of the time fighting the Army.
Silver Surfer heals Reed, and then brings him to recruit the help Agatha Harkness.
I remind you that while all this nonsense is going on, Galactus STILL has no clue Silver Surfer has not followed him back to space.
Agatha’s help is to tell the President to call off the attack against the Fantastic Four… something that I really feel Reed SHOULD have been able to do on his own.
But then she has a much bigger role: explaining to the entire population of Earth why Galactus won’t bother them anymore.
And how exactly did the Fantastic Four deal with Galactus?
They just sent him to the Negative Zone.
Spoiler alert: Galactus will be back from the Negative Zone next time, although it will take a bit more to learn how.
Historical significance: 6/10
Air-Walker will return: this isn’t even the real one… maybe… but he will play a minor role in the history of heralds. As mentioned, Galactus won’t stay long in the Negative Zone.
The ending of the storyline is mentioned in Marvels #4.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
An extremely weird case: the actual Silver Age was MUCH BETTER THAN THIS, but this is so all over the place to strangely qualify.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
This was TERRIBLE. Buscema never really felt at home on the book, but he does give the artwork his own spin that often works… but not in this, because this is the LEAST threatening Galactus I’ve ever seen.
I could see past it if the story was good, but… yeah this really sucked.
Air-Walker is a complete waste of time, and he’s utterly inconsistent. If he’s here just to announce the arrival of Galactus, why does he even bother fighting the FF? Worse yet, why does he convince the other humans to fight them for him?
And why did Galactus even sent him in the first place!? At some point he pivots to Silver Surfer being the reason… so what, Galactus built a robot to announce to Earth that he was going there to retrieve Surfer? And why even announce the end of the world, if Galactus doesn’t have the intention to eat the place?
Soooooo much time is spent hyping the terror of the population or the attempts of the army to control the FF, and NONE of it feels earned at any point.
Out of all the series that struggled after Kirby left, Fantastic Four probably struggled the most (even Thor found its own tone). And it’s not just Stan Lee having visibly lost his passion for the title, in my opinion the 70s as a whole are a terrible period for Marvel’s first family.