7 Best Galactus Comics to Get to Know the Fantastic Four’s Devourer of Worlds

Galactus is one of the Fantastic Four’s greatest villains. While he has appeared in other Marvel Comics series, most notably Thor, he has always been closely associated with the Fantastic Four. He is easily one of their most formidable villains, an alien capable of consuming an entire planet, destroying all life on it in an instant. His real name is Galan of Taa, and he is from a dying universe called the Sixth Cosmos, one of the few survivors who entered the new universe along with other cosmic beings, such as the Black Winter and the Celestials. His need to consume worlds is immensely important as his existence is needed for the universe to survive, and he has a destiny to one day give back more than he ever took.

While he is a Fantastic Four villain above all else, he has appeared in several major storylines over the years, and they show why Galactus is one of the most interesting characters in Marvel Comics.

7) Thor Vol. 6 #1-6

Galactus appeared in Thor Vol. 6 as part of the first six issues of the series. The series sees Galactus coming to Thor to ask for help, as another ancient being who has existed since the beginning of this universe has returned and threatens to consume everything. This is Black Winter, and Galactus lied to Thor about why he wanted this entity defeated. The Black Winter was coming to take Galactus’s power, and Galactus made Thor his herald to help kill the entity. Thor does so, but kills Galactus before using his body as a bomb to destroy the Black Winter. It was an incredible show of power by Thor, and Galactus seemingly finally died, although he has since been reborn with a hunger for knowledge rather than worlds.

6) Fantastic Four: The Trial of Reed Richards 

Galactus arrived on Earth in the pages of The Fantastic Four, and it was here that Reed Richards explained to Earth’s heroes that the Devourer of Worlds had to live for the universe to survive. Reed worked with Thor to save Galactus’s life, and the alien swore never to attempt to consume Earth again, a vow he has kept to this day. However, this was not the end. In “The Trial of Reed Richards,” Lilandra and the Shiar Empire captured Reed. They had him stand trial for saving Galactus’s life, saying he was liable for anyone who died when the Devourer of Worlds feeds on another planet. The Watcher was on hand, and he sent Humon Torch to bring back witnesses to help Reed. It ultimately led to Galactus and Eternity revealing the truth about Galactus’s true nature, which saved Reed from being sentenced to death.

5) Thor #168-169

While Galactus has mainly faced off with The Fantastic Four when he arrived on Earth, he has also had to deal with Thor more than once. Of course, while Thor later killed Galactus, the two battled on more than one occasion before that moment. In a two-issue story arc in 1969, Thor received a mission as punishment for giving in to his Warriors’ Madness in a previous battle. His mission was to find Galactus, learn of his origin, and report back to Odin. These two issues finally revealed Galactus’s origin for the first time in Marvel Comics, and the story unfolds more as a mythological tale than a superhero battle to save the world, making it an engrossing and fascinating tale of how Galactus became who he is and why he must feed on worlds.

4) Hunger #1-4

Hunger was a four-issue miniseries from 2013 that sees characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe in an event that will lead into Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand. What is interesting is that Galactus, in this storyline, is from the Marvel-616 universe and was able to walk through a rift to the Ultimate Universe’s timeline, where he ends up meeting one of the Ultimate Universe’s most powerful characters — Rick Jones. When Glactus merges with the Ultimate version of himself, it creates a massively powerful being. This showcases one of the most powerful versions of Galactus and provides Rick Jones with one of his best storylines, as well as introducing the new Captain Mar-Vell.

3) Galactus the Devourer

Galactus the Devourer is a six-issue miniseries from 1999 that followed the cancellation of Silver Surfer’s long-running series. While this series had Galactus’s name as the title, this was supposed to continue Surfer’s story and fill in some of the plotlines left open in the last issue of his series. While this is a Galactus book, it mostly follows the Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four (along with various Avengers) as Galactus’s new herald, Red Shift, shows up on Earth, and Surfer is there to protect the planet by becoming Galactus’s herald again. This is an incredible series, with Galactus giving in to a madness that never allows his hunger to end, and he knows he has to be stopped, leaving it up to the Surfer to finish him off.

2) Annihilation #1-6

Annihilation was not a Galactus-centric story, but the Devourer of Worlds played a significant role in the series. Of course, this was all about Annihilus from the Negative Zone setting the Annihilation Wave into motion and all the cosmic heroes coming together to fight and stop him. This includes major players like Thanos and Galactus taking part in the battle, and Galactus falls in the first issue of the event series for Annihilus to experiment on to aid in his planned attack. His goal was to use Galactus as a bomb (similar to what Thor used him for years later), but he failed when some heroes freed Galactus, who then destroyed most of Annihilus’ forces with what was known as the “Galactus Event” blast. Galactus was never more powerful.

1) “The Coming of Galactus” (1961)

The best Galactus story to read for anyone who wants to learn more about the Devourer of Worlds is his first appearance in comics. This is known collectively as “The Coming of Galactus” and played out in Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #48-50. It all started with the Silver Surfer arriving and telling the people of Earth that Galactus was coming to consume their world. The Fantastic Four had to stop him, as The Watcher also showed up for the first time since this was an important event in history. Reed Richards found a way to send Galactus away, but at this moment, one of Marvel Comics’ greatest characters was introduced.

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