History ComicBook / TheComingOfGalactus

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In his first panel ever, Galactus is... red and green? By the next issue, he has been fixed to the trademarked violet.

* {{Bathos}}: Creator/StanLee commented that he was rather proud of the scene where, during a brief lull in the course of the entire Earth being threatened with annihilation by a vastly powerful space demigod, Reed and Johnny take a moment to ''shave,'' [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome because they've been dealing with the threat for days and haven't had a chance until now]].

** Issue 41 of [[ComicBook/WhatIf the 1989 comic book series]] depicts an alternate scenario that showed what would've possibly happened if Franchise/{{the Avengers}} had to face the threat of Galactus instead of the Fantastic Four. The Avengers were powerless to stop Galactus and Uatu was forced to directly battle Galactus himself. But Galactus defeated Uatu and consumed his energies, temporarily satiating his eternal hunger and sparing Earth from destruction. Uatu's [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] inspired the Silver Surfer to remain on Earth and Galactus released him from his vow.

''The Coming of Galactus'' is the first story of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, made by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby at their prime. It ran through issues 48-50 of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour1961''.

After meeting the [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhumans]], the ComicBook/FantasticFour are returning home, and find all kind of weird events going on. Fire in the sky, rocks in the sky; all caused by the Watcher, in his attempt to hide planet Earth from the ComicBook/SilverSurfer. The Surfer does not fall for it, discovers the planet, and summons Galactus. Galactus plans to consume the energies of the planet to feed himself. Fighting him is useless, so the Watcher sends the ComicBook/HumanTorch to Galactus' home to retrieve a weapon that may destroy the universe. [[ComicBook/MisterFantastic Richards]] threatens Galactus with it, and rather than risk destruction, he agrees to leave. But before doing so, he banishes the Silver Surfer on Earth, for opposing his will.

The events of this storyline are retold in the last two issues of ''The Marvel Saga: The Official History of the Marvel Universe'', along with the origins of Galactus and the Silver Surfer. The storyline was adapted in 2007 on film as ''Film/FantasticFourRiseOfTheSilverSurfer''.

!!This storyline provides examples of...

** Issue 41 of [[ComicBook/WhatIf the 1989 comic book series]] depicts an alternate scenario that showed what would've possibly happened if Franchise/{{the Avengers}} had to face the threat of Galactus instead of the Fantastic Four.
** ''ComicBook/ReckoningWar: The Trial of the Watcher'' depicts another scenario where the Watcher never intervened.

After meeting the [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhumans]], the Fantastic Four are returning home, and find all kind of weird events going on. Fire in the sky, rocks in the sky; all caused by the Watcher, in his attempt to hide planet Earth from the ComicBook/SilverSurfer. The Surfer does not fall for it, discovers the planet, and summons Galactus. Galactus plans to consume the energies of the planet to feed himself. Fighting him is useless, so the Watcher sends the ComicBook/HumanTorch to Galactus' home to retrieve a weapon that may destroy the universe. [[ComicBook/MisterFantastic Richards]] threatens Galactus with it, and rather than risk destruction, he agrees to leave. But before doing so, he banishes the Silver Surfer on Earth, for opposing his will.

''The Coming of Galactus'' is the first story of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, made by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby at their prime. It ran through issues 48-50 of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: It was basically the first time this trope came into play in superhero comics. Nowadays, Galactus is a regular -if upper tier- character, we have seen him defeated or humbled several times, we have seen characters even more powerful than him on numerous occasions, we have seen superheroes fighting hopelessly against such ultimate forces basically once a year or more, we are used to them coming on top of all that as if it was nothing... but by then, when Lee and Kirby wrote that story, nothing of that applied. The Fantastic Four were facing a foe of such power that was completely beyond anything else ever seen before in either Marvel or DC.
* DidntSeeThatComing: The Watcher laid out a plan to ensure Earth's survival, but he never even considered that the Silver Surfer may rebel against his master.

* GodzillaThreshold: Uatu sees the impending arrival of Galactus as a situation worth crossing this threshold, and sees only one method os solving the problem: Threatening Galactus with the Ultimate Nullifier, a weapon so powerful that Galactus himself is utterly terrified by it. Galactus himself describes giving it to humans as giving ants that live on a powder keg a match to play with.

* InsignificantLittleBluePlanet: Earth does not have any special significance for Galactus. It's just another planet to consume.

* {{MacGuffin}}: The Cosmic Nullifier, the one thing that can scare Galactus.

* PatrickStewartSpeech: Alicia gives one to the Silver Surfer, who understands that Galactus is not the single being whose life matters in the universe. He then became IntriguedByHumanity.
* PunyEarthlings: Galactus does not even bother to take those puny humans into account. They are mere ants for someone like him. Only the Watcher is an equal.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: The Watchers are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of other civilizations, but the threat of Galactus decided Uatu to break the sacred oath. ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' (1989) #41 took this to another level by showing Uatu actually fighting Galactus for the fate of the planet.

* WhatIf: Issue 41 of [[ComicBook/WhatIf the 1989 comic book series]] depicts an alternate scenario that showed what would've possibly happened if Franchise/{{the Avengers}} had to face the threat of Galactus instead of the Fantastic Four.

"The Coming of Galactus" is the first story of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, made by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby at their prime. It ran through issues 48-50 of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''.

The events of this storyline are retold in the last two issues of ''The Marvel Saga: The Official History of the Marvel Universe'', along with the origins of Galactus and the Silver Surfer. The storyline was adapted in 2007 on film as the sequel to the 2005 ''[[Film/FantasticFour2005 Fantastic Four]]'' movie, "''Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer''".