Fantastic Four Poster #57 Coming of Galactus w/ Silver Surfer George Perez

Description

The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium. The Fantastic Four was the first superhero team created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, who developed a collaborative approach to creating comics with this title that they would use from then on. As the first superhero team title produced by Marvel Comics, it formed a cornerstone of the company’s 1960s rise from a small division of a publishing company to a pop culture conglomerate. The title would go on to showcase the talents of comics creators such as Roy Thomas, John Buscema, George Pérez, John Byrne, Steve Englehart, Walt Simonson, and Tom DeFalco, and is one of several Marvel titles originating in the Silver Age of Comic Books that is still in publication in the 2010s.

Galactus is a fictional character, a cosmic entity appearing in comic books and other publications by Marvel Comics. In his first appearance in The Fantastic Four, Galactus was depicted as a god-like figure which feeds by draining living planets of their energy.

In 1966, nearly five years after launching Marvel Comics’ flagship superhero title, Fantastic Four, creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby collaborated on an antagonist designed to break the supervillain mold of the time with god-like stature and power. As Lee recalled in 1993,”Galactus was simply another in a long line of super-villains whom we loved creating. Having dreamed up many powerful baddies … we felt the only way to top ourselves was to come up with an evil-doer who had almost godlike powers. Therefore, the natural choice was sort of demi-god, but now what would we do with him. We didn’t want to use the tired old cliche about him wanting to conquer the world. … That was when inspiration struck. Why not have him not be a really evil person? After all, a demi-god would be beyond mere good and evil. … What he’d require is the life force and energy from living planets!”

Kirby described his Biblical inspirations for Galactus and an accompanying character, an angelic herald Lee called the Silver Surfer: “My inspirations were the fact that I had to make sales. And I had to come up with characters that were no longer stereotypes. …I had to get something new. And … for some reason, I went to the Bible. And I came up with Galactus. And there I was in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well, because I always felt him, and I certainly couldn’t treat him the same way that I would any ordinary mortal … and of course the Silver Surfer is the fallen angel. …They were figures that have never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures, and of course, they were the first gods.”

Kirby elaborated, “Galactus in actuality is a sort of god. He is beyond reproach, beyond anyone’s opinion. In a way he is kind of a Zeus, who fathered Hercules. He is his own legend, and of course, he and the Silver Surfer are sort of modern legends, and they are designed that way.”

Writer Mike Conroy expanded on Lee and Kirby’s explanation: “In five short years from the launch of the Fantastic Four, the Lee/Kirby duo…had introduced a whole host of alien races or their representatives…there were the Skrulls, the Watcher and the Stranger, all of whom Lee and Kirby used in the foundations of the universe they were constructing, one where all things were possible but only if they did not flout the ‘natural laws’ of this cosmology. In the nascent Marvel Universe, characters acted consistently, whatever comic they were appearing in. Their actions reverberated through every title. It was pure soap opera but on a cosmic scale, and Galactus epitomized its epic sweep.”

This led to the introduction of Galactus in Fantastic Four #48–50 (March–May 1966), which fans began calling “The Galactus Trilogy”. Kirby did not intend Galactus to reappear, to preserve the character’s presence. Fan popularity, however, prompted Lee to ask Kirby for Galactus’ reappearance, and the character became a mainstay of the Marvel Universe.

Galactus was created during the union of the Sentience of the previous Universe and Galan of Taa, and a herald described him as “the physical, metamorphosed embodiment of a cosmos.” Galactus considers himself a higher being than all non-abstracts, maintaining his existence by devouring planets with the potential to support life. This has resulted in the elimination of entire extraterrestrial civilizations on a number of worlds.

Galactus wields a type of cosmic energy known as the Power Cosmic and has appointed a number of beings as his heralds, giving each a portion of the Power Cosmic. This Power Cosmic replaces the auras (or souls) of its holders, causing each wielder’s physical form to adapt to store and manipulate it. Galactus can remove the Power Cosmic from the person to whom he has given it. He can use the Power Cosmic to produce nearly any effect he desires, including size alteration, the transmutation of matter, the teleportation of objects across space, the creation of force fields and interdimensional portals, telepathy, telekinesis, universal cosmic awareness, the creation of life, resurrection, manipulating souls, memories and emotions, recreating dead worlds in every detail (including utterly convincing illusions of their entire populations), and energy projection.

Although not an abstract, non-corporeal being, Galactus is a living force of nature set on correcting the imbalances between the conceptual entities Eternity and Death. His true form cannot be perceived by most beings; each species sees Galactus in a form they can comprehend, similar to their race or a deity of their religion. Galactus has also appeared as a humanoid star when addressing fellow members of the cosmic hierarchy.

As Galactus feeds to sustain himself, he must wear armor to help regulate his internal energy.citation needed Due to this hunger, Earth’s heroes have been successful in defeating a weakened Galactus. In this state Galactus has also shown susceptibility to Ikonn’s spell, which forces him to remember all of the beings he has destroyed from his feeding.

The first (and oldest) living entity in the universe, Galactus employs advanced science capable of creating the Ultimate Nullifier (capable of destroying and remaking the multiverse) and the ship Taa II. Reed Richards speculated that Taa II (the Möbius strip-shaped, solar system-sized home of Galactus) might be the greatest source of energy in the universe. Galactus also has the Punisher cyborgs in his service.

George Pérez (born June 9, 1954) is an American writer and illustrator of comic books, whose titles include The Avengers, Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman. Writer Peter David has named Pérez his favorite artistic collaborator.

Near mint condition.