Fantastic Four #49

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: January 1, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Written in the masterful manner of Stan Lee
Illustrated in the magnificent mode of Jack Kirby
Inked in the majestic mood of Joe Sinnott
Lettered in the nick of time by S. Rosen
20 pages

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Of what import are brief, nameless lives… to Galactus??

It is not my intention to injure any living being! But… I must replenish my energy! If petty creatures are wiped out when I drain a planet, it is regrettable… but unavoidable!

I am supreme unto myself… I am Galactus!

This planet contains the energies to sustain me! I shall absorb it at will… as I have for ages in countless galaxies throughout the cosmos!

Destroy is merely a word! We simply change things! We change elements into energy… the energy which sustains Galactus! For it is only he that matters!

No! No! We all matter! Every living being… every bird and beast… this is our world! Ours!

Perhaps we are not as powerful as your Galactus… but we have hearts… we have souls… we live… breathe… feel! Can’t you see that?? Are you as blind as I?

Never have I heard such words… sensed such courage… or known this strange feeling… this new emotion…! There is a word some races use… a word I have never understood… until now! At last I know… beauty!

But look! Look at the city below you! Look at the people! Each of them is entitled to life… to happiness… each of them is… human!

All I need do is link these two igniters… and all the seas of Earth shall be transformed into purest energy… enough energy to sustain me until I find the next such planet somewhere in the endless cosmos!

Trust me! Banish fear from your heart! You shall travel by time space distortion! We must force open the very fabric of time itself! Let it be done… now! You are traveling back… far, far back… into the center of infinity!

There’s always a chance, darling… so long as we’re alive!

Perhaps for the first time within memory… I have found something worth protecting!

This is the middle chapter of the Galactus saga. In many cases, the middle chapter of a saga is the weakest. But the odd structuring of the story makes this the best issue. The first issue was beset by having to finish off the Inhuamns saga before getting started. The last issue will oddly finish halfway through and then become about college football.

Making this the only chapter that dedicates 20 pages to being about Galactus.

I have a book collecting some Jack Kirby Collector magazines, which includes some pencils for this issue. Comparing Kirby’s pencils with the finished artwork can help us understand what Joe Sinnott brings to the table with his finishes.

Let’s dive in and I’ll make some comments as we go.

That’s one hell of a first page.

That’s one hell of a second page.

The color scheme for Galactus has changed since the last issue. Coloring of the era was just kind of a mess. The purple coloring is a step up from the red and green. The bare legs are a poor choice. They’ll try again next issue.

The Watcher and Galactus have quite the debate about cosmic ethics. An interesting thing to note is that the Watcher implies Galactus has never before destroyed a planet with sentient life.

The morality of this all has fascinated me since childhood. Most humans are quite content for “lesser” beings to die to sustain them. A lot of cows die to feed me. A lot of bugs die because I don’t want them in my house.

We are just bugs to Galactus. The attacks of Thing and Human Torch are as effective as gnats and Galactus basically disperses his version of insect repellant to deal with them. Our entire civilization is as significant to Galactus as a single cow is to me.

Having been beaten back by Galactus, the Fantastic Four go to freshen up. Reed shaves while Ben bathes. The FF seem like they have a good-sized place, so you would think there would be more than one bathroom, and they wouldn’t all have to share.

For myself, I love the weighty arguments between Galactus and the Watcher. That’s what draws me to this story. But the heart of the story isn’t found there.

It’s found when we check in on the Silver Surfer, who after falling from the building last issue has fallen through the skylight of Alicia’s pad.

Notably, over 40 issues after her introduction, we finally learn Alicia’s surname. Her name is Alicia Masters. The Puppet Master is her stepfather. We never learned his actual name either. It’s possible Masters is also his surname, but since he’s the step-father, that’s not clear.

We find Alicia casually sculpting. Was she completely unaware of the giant god a block away.

I’ve mentioned before that my favorite comic of my youth was The Infinity Gauntlet. It’s only now that I realize Silver Surfer falling through Dr. Strange’s skylight and being laid to rest on the couch was likely an homage to this scene.

Alicia senses a nobility within the Surfer, and also a profound loneliness. She is kind to him. He doesn’t seem to understand anything about anything.

The Watcher explains quite graphically what will happen to Earth when Galactus converts all the oceans into pure energy.

The Watcher knows of a machine that may save the day.

We can see a late script fix. Notice that “I” became “We” in the fourth panel above.

The Silver Surfer finds eating to be an inefficient way to absorb energy. He wants to just convert the food to energy, in the same way Galactus will convert the planet. His callous attitude toward life shocks Alicia. Silver Surfer does not think in terms of death and destruction. Energy is mass and mass is energy, and neither can be created or destroyed, but only converted to other forms.

Silver Surfer sees no evil in converting life on Earth into another form.

We get some great images across the bottom three panels of the Silver Surfer being torn between what he has always known and what he is learning. He is coming to question everything, but resists that questioning.

We’ve got cosmic ethical debates, a heartwarming tale of Alicia teaching the Silver Surfer what it means to be human and that life has value. And something I’ve often pointed out as a favorite thing in these stories. That futile struggle against impossible odds.

The Fantastic Four are basically powerless next to Galactus, but they are still trying. Thing damages his machine and knocks Galactus off balance. Galactus prevents himself from falling and can quickly rebuild the machine. There’s a nobility in the futility.

Galactus dispatches a servant called the Punisher to deal with the nuisance that is the Fantastic Four.

Now we get to the trippy stuff. The Watcher sends the Human Torch on a cosmic odyssey across unimaginable distances to find Galactus’ home, a giant space station.

The Watcher reminds us repeatedly he’s not allowed to interfere.

And finally, the betrayal of the Silver Surfer. The Watcher did not anticipate this and fears it may interfere with his own carefully laid plans to defend humanity from Galactus.

One of the very best comics I have ever read.

Rating: ★★★★★, 98/100
Significance: ★★★★★

This goes right near the top of the Best We’ve Read page, displacing from the bottom Journey Into Mystery #119, which introduced the great Thor villain, the Destroyer. If you are keeping track of the stats on the page, you will see this puts the Fantastic Four back ahead of Dr. Strange in second place with 19 stories on the list, and puts Thor tied for 4th with Sgt. Fury with 6 stories each on the list.

I read this story in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 2.

Characters:

• Mr. Fantastic
• Invisible Girl
• Human Torch
• Thing
• Galactus
• Watcher
• Silver Surfer
• Alicia Masters
• Punisher

Story notes:

• Watcher warns Galactus this world contains intelligent life.
• Galactus appears to be around 20 feet tall, similar to the size of Goliath.
• Galactus surprised Watcher would violate his pledge to never interfere in cosmic affairs.
• Watcher notes Galactus has previously only consumed dead worlds.
• Thing punches Galactus’ leg and Galactus doesn’t feel it.
• Galactus unaffected by Torch’s flames and snuffs out his flames with ease.
• Surfer was actually knocked out by Thing’s blow. Lands coincidentally on Alicia’s roof and falls through her skylight.
• Silver Surfer notes how big the universe is and how likely it is that there are other beings out there.
• Atop a building Galactus assembles his machine.
• Galactus will convert the life essence of earth into some form of energy.
• Watcher describes device as an elemental converter. It will convert the oceans into pure energy.
• Watcher’s transi-screen shows them Earth’s fate; it will take minutes to dehydrate every sea; next Galactus will destroy cities, forcing evacuations. Galactus will finally drain Earth’s fiery core, leaving behind nothing more than a few fading fragments.
• The Watcher speaks of a machine that can stop Galactus.
• Silver Surfer shows it is more efficient to eat by converting the food to energy, then notes that is what Galactus will do to everything else.
• The converter is not operating. Galactus is confused. Thing had wrecked his machine.
• Thing and Mr. Fantastic knock Galactus off building. Anti-gravity device keeps him from falling.
• Galactus signals Punisher from starship.
• Watcher sends Torch to distant world by time-space distortion.
• Human Torch passes through celestial barriers known as un-life.
• Home planet of Galactus is a gargantuan space station.
• Thing battles Punisher.
• Punisher gives up on pounding on Sue’s force field; battle ends in draw.
• Silver Surfer’s full power has never been tested. He will now battle his master.

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