Korvac is the name of a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . He first appears in Giant-Size Defenders #3 (Jan. 1975) and was created by Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin .
115-472: Michael Korvac debuted in Giant-Size Defenders #3 (1975) with no first name given, and according to creator Gerber: "The character really was a throwaway, created for one story. And I never intended to bring him back, because, among other things, I hated the name! I still think it sounds more like a vacuum cleaner than a villain". However, Roger Stern and Len Wein felt that Korvac, being
230-726: A cyborg . Korvac is then transported through time by the Elder of the Universe the Grandmaster , who utilizes him as a pawn in battling the hero Doctor Strange and the Defenders . It is eventually revealed that Korvac deliberately lost the fight so he can be able to discreetly scan and analyze the Grandmaster's cosmic power. Gaining several new abilities from this analysis, Korvac then kills his Badoon masters and plans to conquer
345-553: A "radical" idea concerning "why the very existence of the universe depends on the health and well-being of Galactus." The consequences of Galactus' death are explored in the issues Fantastic Four Annual 2001 and Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #46–49 (October 2001 – January 2002) written by Jeph Loeb and culminate in Galactus' revival, bringing resolution to Simonson's cliffhanger from the Devourer story arc. The character features in
460-540: A Devourer of Worlds and thereby restore the cosmic order. Galactus locates the hero Anti-Man outside the Multiverse and, after transforming him into a Herald of Life, sends him to recruit the recently disbanded Ultimates to help discover the identity of Eternity's captor, who is later revealed to be the First Firmament, the first iteration of the cosmos. Master Order and Lord Chaos bring Galactus to trial before
575-507: A Lifebringer instead of a Devourer of Worlds, his first act as such being to re-create Archeopia, the first planet that he ever consumed. Galactus later rescues the team at the behest of Eternity, and learns that the latter has been imprisoned by an unknown force. Galactus also comes into conflict with fellow cosmic entities Master Order and Lord Chaos , who, along with the Molecule Man , wish for Galactus to return to his former role as
690-788: A being of incredible power to use as a weapon against them. Carina does meet Korvac, but the two fall in love and she begins to sympathize with him. The Collector is defeated by the Avengers after a failed bid to "collect" and protect the heroes from Korvac, who upon discovering the Collector's plot disintegrates the Elder. Iron Man eventually tracks Korvac to a residential neighborhood in Forest Hills Gardens , in Queens , New York City , New York . The entire Avengers roster, aided by
805-493: A being who is compelled to infuse dead planets with life-sustaining energies, thus altering the character's primary motive for the first time since Galactus' debut in 1966. Elaborating on what inspired the change, Ewing explained "What inspired it—a mixture of wanting someone big on or allied with the team—originally, we thought about Odin, but he's a bit busy—and my usual preoccupations with atonement, redemption, growth and change. So what can [Galactus] do now? Well, whereas before he
920-566: A bid to stop the villain. Guardian member Starhawk finds Korvac and battles him in secret. Korvac, however, disintegrates Starhawk and then recreates him, but removes from the hero the ability to perceive Korvac in any way so as to avoid future detection. The Elder of the Universe known as the Collector foresees the coming of two beings that would be capable of challenging the Elders (Korvac and Thanos ), and remakes his own daughter Carina into
1035-534: A box of cereal and across the label where the name of the cereal would be I pencilled in "shit". So I figured, because I used to write nutty comments in the borders and stuff, I thought they'd get a laugh out of it and change it. So they gave it to [Peru-born inker] Pablo Marcos and I don’t know if he knew how to read English or not but he inked it. I walked in one day [to Marvel] ... and [editor-in-chief Jim] Shooter started yelling, "What did you do? Look at it! They called me upstairs and showed me this," and I said, "Wait
1150-598: A central role as antagonist in Hunger #1–4 (2013), in which the mainstream Galactus of the primary Marvel continuity merges with his counterpart from the Ultimate Marvel publication imprint, Gah Lak Tus . Writer Joshua Hale Fialkov commented that his intent was to use Galactus as a means to place the characters from the Ultimate Marvel imprint into a completely unexpected crisis: "What I hope comes across
1265-403: A character that broke away from the archetype of the standard villain. In the character's first appearance, Galactus was depicted as a god-like figure that fed by draining living planets of their energy, and operated without regard to the morality or judgments of mortal beings. Galactus's initial origin was that of a Taa-an space explorer named Galan who gained cosmic abilities by passing near
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#17328025026691380-723: A direct sequel series to The Ultimates (vol. 3) #1–6 titled The Ultimates 2 (vol. 2) #1–10 (November 2016 – August 2017) which focused on the Lifebringer Galactus as the de facto leader of the Ultimates. Galactus in his Lifebringer persona made his final appearance in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #26–30 (December 2017 – April 2018) before being reverted to his "Devourer of Worlds" persona by writer Gerry Dugan in Infinity Countdown #4 (June 2018). Set at
1495-559: A fake Ultimate Nullifier . Unable to read Richards' mind (which is protected by the Watcher), Galactus retreats. Galactus empowers and uses the superheroine Dazzler to locate a missing Terrax, who is in fact hiding from his master inside a black hole. The Dazzler defeats and retrieves Terrax, and forces Galactus to return her to Earth. Galactus is fooled by the Galadorian Spaceknight Rom into trying to devour
1610-543: A human preacher from Earth named Pastor Mike (full name unknown) that he names Praeter to be his new herald. Later, when the Mad Celestials from Earth-4280 invade, Galactus destroys one before being struck down by the others. Revived by Franklin Richards, he and Franklin succeed in vanquishing the remaining Celestials, and prevent the destruction of Earth. In the aftermath, Galactus learns that he will no longer face
1725-406: A living force of nature whose existence is necessary to correct the imbalances between the conceptual entities: Eternity and Death , as well as to serve as a cosmic test of survival for civilizations. Additionally, the continued existence of Galactus ensures the confinement of the cosmic entity Abraxas . As Galactus requires planets with the potential to support life, his existence also causes
1840-404: A minute. That thing goes through an assistant editor, an editor, a proofreader and then you’re supposed to read it. And no one picked it up so don't blame me." So what happened was he said fine, just don't write anymore comments on your pages. Suffering from creative burnout on the series, DeMatteis felt a change was needed. As of issue #125, The Defenders was retitled to The New Defenders as
1955-664: A native of the 31st century, made a natural adversary for the Guardians of the Galaxy , and wrote a story in Thor Annual #6 (1977) which was intended to set him up in that role. The Guardians of the Galaxy's own series, Marvel Presents , was cancelled before Thor Annual #6 was published, cutting off Stern's plans to use Korvac there. Korvac instead appeared in Avengers #167, 168, 170–177 (January–November 1978), later called
2070-499: A projected blast of anti-matter. Korvac was later obtained by the Enclave gave him the code name of Adam IV. He was originally supposed to be used by Enclave in their plans for world domination only for Korvac to break free from them and called them arrogant for not planning for a better universe. One year later, Korvac assumed the alias of a scientist named "Fuller Tiehard" and attended a party held by Tony Stark at his brownstone in
2185-454: A real fun book because you got a chance to draw almost every character Marvel had at one time or another." He has also stated that Kim DeMulder, who inked issues #122-144 apart from a few fill-ins, is his preferred inker after himself. . During his run, Perlin recalled, he became what he has characterized as "the first guy, unwittingly, to put profanity in [ Comics Code -approved] comics": This happened in one [issue] of The Defenders . There
2300-847: A return to the mainstream 616 universe in Avengers Academy #11 (March 2011). To tie-in with the movie Captain America: The First Avenger , an all-ages retelling of the Korvac Saga was issued in December 2010 and ended in March 2011 titled Captain America: The Korvac Saga . The story was condensed and focused primarily on Captain America journeying to the future in pursuit of Korvac with
2415-708: A spacecraft and are engulfed in the Big Crunch . Galan, however, does not die: after bonding with the Sentience of the Universe , he changes and gestates for billions of years in an egg made of the debris of his ship that the current universe formed after the Big Bang . He emerges as Galactus, and though an unnamed Watcher observed Galactus's birth and recognizes his destructive nature, the Watcher chooses not to kill Galactus. Starving for sustenance, Galactus consumes
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#17328025026692530-545: A star, but writer Mark Gruenwald further developed the character's origins, presenting Taa and Galan as existing in the universe prior to the Big Bang that began the setting of the current primary universe. As Galan's universe came to an end, he merged with the " Sentience of the Universe " to become Galactus, an entity that wielded such cosmic power as to require devouring entire planets to sustain his existence. Additional material written by John Byrne , Jim Starlin , and Louise Simonson explored Galactus's role and purpose in
2645-550: A two-year hiatus in Fantastic Four (vol. 6) #45 (July 2022)—the final issue of the event " Reckoning War "—where Galactus is resurrected by his former heralds . Galactus was originally the Taa-an explorer Galan of the planet Taa, which existed in the sixth incarnation of the prime pre-Big Bang universe . When an unknown cosmic cataclysm gradually kills all other life in his universe, Galan and other survivors leave Taa on
2760-644: A weapon to destroy all life in the universe, but is thwarted when the entity is freed by Drax the Destroyer . Galactus retaliates and destroys most of Annihilus' forces. Seeking a final confrontation with Tenebrous and Aegis, Galactus sends the Silver Surfer to locate them. The Surfer eventually draws the pair into the barrier between the universe and the Negative Zone , which destroys both of them. After an encounter with Epoch , Galactus consumes
2875-626: 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
2990-458: Is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Formerly a mortal man, he is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of the primary Marvel continuity . He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966). Lee and Kirby wanted to introduce
3105-551: Is a framing device, yes. We wanted it to be a story, not just a long Misplaced Pages entry. As established in Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four run, there comes a point when Galactus and Franklin Richards stand together at the end of time, and now we get to see exactly what they were doing there." Galactus was killed by Thor during the "Herald of Thunder" story arc in Thor (vol. 6) #1–6 (March–August 2020), and reappeared after
3220-527: 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 explanations: "In five short years from the launch of the Fantastic Four , the Lee/Kirby duo ... had introduced
3335-449: Is described as "the physical, metamorphosed embodiment of a cosmos ." Although not an abstract, non-corporeal entity, 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 can also appear as a humanoid star when addressing fellow members of the cosmic hierarchy. Through his actions of consuming planets, Galactus embodies
3450-579: Is finally caught off guard and weakened by Captain America and Wonder Man . Although able to kill the heroes, Korvac is weakened further by the combined efforts of Starhawk, Iron Man, the Vision and Thor . Sensing that Carina now doubts him, Korvac commits suicide through an act of will. An angered Carina attacks the surviving heroes, but is finally slain by Thor. The entire battle is watched by part-time Avenger Moondragon , who realizes that Korvac only wanted to help mankind, with his dying act being to restore
3565-487: Is given a tour, he is suddenly struck by pink lightning. Tony then sees that Korvac has Unicorn, Blizzard , and Controller at his side while mentioning his plans to become a demigod with the energies of the Earth that he'll harvest while selecting which of Iron Man's enemies to deal with him. Hellcat shows up where she rams Korvac and Unicorn before helping Iron Man fight Blizzard and Controller. When Unicorn recovers, he joins
Korvac - Misplaced Pages Continue
3680-579: Is heavily referenced in a 1991 summer annual crossover storyline: Fantastic Four Annual #24 (1991); Thor Annual #16 (1991); Silver Surfer Annual #4 (1991) and Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1 (1991). The character returned in Captain America vol. 3, #17–19 (May–July 1999). Korvac also appeared in both volumes of the alternate universe title What If? , in issues #32 (April 1982) and vol. 2, issue #36 (April 1992). Korvac made
3795-576: Is helping to resurrect Wasp ). Korvac returns for her and Hank Pym offers to return Carina to Korvac, but she refuses to go with him, choosing nonexistence over him (even though she is apparently immortal, as is her father). A battle commences pitting Korvac against all current Avengers teams. He is weakened by them and then attacked by adult versions of the Academy's students. After a brutal battle, Veil phases into his body, which temporarily paralyzes Korvac, and Hazmat then completely annihilates Korvac with
3910-472: Is sent forward through time to inhabit various descendants of his. Starhawk becomes aware of this, and the Guardians of the Galaxy pursue Korvac's essence through time. The power eventually reaches the year 2977 AD and inhabits Michael's father, Jordan, who is killed in battle with the Guardians. Jordan's widow, Myra, vows to teach the infant Michael that the Guardians were responsible for his father's death on
4025-564: Is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team the Defenders and published by Marvel Comics , beginning with the original The Defenders comic book series which debuted in 1972. The Defenders first appeared as a feature in Marvel Feature #1 (December 1971). Due to the popularity of their tryout in Marvel Feature , Marvel soon began publishing The Defenders . Writer Steve Englehart has stated that he added
4140-668: Is the sense of wonder that's being brought into the Ultimate Universe...with the smart, modern tone Brian has established." Following his appearance in Hunger , Galactus was a major supporting character in The Ultimates (vol. 3) #1–6 (January–June 2016), where writer Al Ewing fundamentally changed the nature of Galactus' character. During the events of the story, Galactus is transformed into "the Lifebringer",
4255-464: The Air-Walker , Mister Fantastic reprograms Galactus's ship to travel to the Negative Zone , which contains many uninhabited worlds that could potentially be consumed. Thor and Olympian ally Hercules encounter Galactus when his next herald, Firelord , travels to Earth to be free of his master. Galactus frees Firelord when Thor presents Galactus with the magical Asgardian suit of armor named
4370-608: The Chaos King , a metaphysical embodiment of Oblivion and another antithesis of Eternity. While the Hulk and his allies the God Squad, Alpha Flight , and several members of the Avengers fight Amatsu-Mikaboshi's forces, Amadeus Cho and Galactus develop a machine which will move Earth to a safe location in a sealed-off continuum, only to adapt the plan by trapping Amatsu-Mikaboshi in that dimension instead. After an encounter with
4485-649: The Destroyer to animate and use as a herald. Galactus comes into conflict with the High Evolutionary when attempting to devour Counter-Earth , but he is temporarily transformed into harmless energy after attempting to devour the planet Poppup, the homeworld of the Impossible Man . After returning to normal form, Galactus is sought by the Fantastic Four to help stop a new cosmic threat,
4600-591: The In-Betweener , is forcibly merged with them into a new cosmic being called Logos. After destroying several Celestials, Logos forcibly transforms Galactus back into the Devourer of Worlds. The process is reversed when Anti-Man sacrifices his life to restore Galactus as the Lifebringer. Galactus then swears to free the imprisoned Eternity. During the " Infinity Countdown " storyline, the Silver Surfer requests Galactus' aid in defeating Ultron/Hank Pym by consuming
4715-570: The Living Tribunal , still seeking to restore Galactus to his former state for the sake of the cosmic order. Although Galactus successfully argues that the balance of the new Multiverse is different and that his old role is obsolete, the Tribunal is destroyed by a Firmament-influenced Master Order and Lord Chaos. After a brief battle, Master Order decides to create a new cosmic order, which it and Lord Chaos would control. Their former servant,
Korvac - Misplaced Pages Continue
4830-493: The Power Cosmic , Korvac is capable of energy projection, matter alteration, teleportation, astral projection, and manipulation of time and space. In his human form, Korvac retained all his cosmic abilities and could use these to achieve virtually any effect. Michael Korvac is also a brilliant computer scientist, a master strategist, and a formidable hand-to-hand combatant. The Defenders (comic book) The Defenders
4945-647: The Silver Surfer and Iron Fist . The new series follows the reunion of the Defenders in Fear Itself: The Deep . The series was cancelled at issue #12. February 2013 saw the debut of The Fearless Defenders , a series written by Cullen Bunn with artwork by Will Sliney . Bunn said that he had wanted to write the series, which centers on a new team of Valkyrior , led by Valkyrie and Misty Knight , after writing Fear Itself: The Fearless . It
5060-469: The Silver Surfer : My inspirations were the fact that I had to make sales and come up with characters that were no longer stereotypes. In other words, I couldn't depend on gangsters. I had to get something new. 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've always felt him. I certainly couldn't treat him in
5175-584: The Skrulls ' throneworld of Tarnax IV, and discusses his role in the universe with fellow cosmic entity Death . Mr. Fantastic is captured by the Shi'ar for saving Galactus' life, and is tried by all of the aliens who survived the annihilation of their homeworlds by Galactus. During the trial, the cosmic entity Eternity — the sentient embodiment of space and reality of the Marvel Universe — intervenes, allowing all beings present to momentarily become one with
5290-645: The Sphinx . Mr. Fantastic offers to release Galactus from his vow to not devour Earth if he helps defeat the Sphinx. Galactus agrees, if the Fantastic Four first recruit a being called Tyros as a new herald. The quartet succeed, and the newly empowered and renamed Terrax the Tamer leads his master to Earth. Galactus locates and defeats the Sphinx in Egypt , but is confronted by Mr. Fantastic, who, unbeknownst to Galactus, wields
5405-401: The supervillain mold of the tyrant 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. ...[W]e 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 a demi-god, but now what would we do with him? We didn't want to use
5520-596: The "Korvac Saga". The issues in this storyline were written by Jim Shooter and David Michelinie , with art by George Pérez and David Wenzel . A trade paperback edition reprinted the Korvac Saga in 1991, and included a new epilogue written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by Tom Morgan . Although the revised conclusion cast Korvac as a villain, it was removed by editor Tom Brevoort when reprinted as Avengers Legends Volume 2: The Korvac Saga in 2003. Korvac reappeared briefly in Avengers Annual #16 (1987). He
5635-744: The 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer . He will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), portrayed by Ralph Ineson . Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist-coplotter Jack Kirby , the character debuted in The Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966, the first of a three-issue story later known as " The Galactus Trilogy "). 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
5750-409: The 64-page hardcover graphic novel Silver Surfer: Judgment Day (October 1988), in which Galactus clashes with the demonic entity Mephisto . Galactus was featured in the miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet #1–6 (July –December 1991), The Infinity War #1–6 (June –November 1992) and Cosmic Powers #1–6 (March –August 1994). The character starred in the six-issue miniseries Galactus
5865-510: The Avengers and Guardians to life. Korvac's and Carina's souls then passed into the realm of Death where they are watched over by Master Order and Lord Chaos. "The Korvac Quest" storyline reveals that Korvac discarded his power when near death after sensing that Galactus had activated the weapon the Ultimate Nullifier in retaliation for his previous intrusion. Korvac's suicidal act of will preserves his power and consciousness, which
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#17328025026695980-636: The Black Nebula, the homeworld of the Dire Wraiths , but he is repelled by the Wraiths' Dark Sun. A weakened Galactus pursues the rebellious Terrax to Earth and strips him of his power. Near death, Galactus is saved by the Fantastic Four and the Avengers while also acquiring another herald: Nova II, who offers herself as Galactus' herald in exchange for him sparing Earth again. Galactus devours
6095-436: The Black Winter considers Galactus to be his herald. This causes an angered Thor to drain Galactus of his energies enough to turn him into a desiccated husk. When the Black Winter moves in to claim Galactus' body, Thor uses it as a bomb to decimate the Black Winter. The first (and oldest) living entity in the universe, Galactus was created during the union of the Sentience of the (previous) Universe and Galan of Taa, and
6210-416: The Devourer (September 1999 –March 2000), written by Louise Simonson and illustrated by John Buscema, which climaxed with Galactus' death. Simonson originally conceived that the story arc would occur in Silver Surfer (vol. 3), but the title was cancelled due to dwindling sales. She proposed a separate limited series, and at the time was initially doubtful that Marvel would approve what she considered
6325-462: The High Evolutionary, Galactus invades Asgard , home of the Norse Gods, seeking an Asgardian artifact to sate his hunger and spare future civilizations. Odin , ruler of the Norse Gods, contends that Galactus wishes to ensure that he is not replaced in the next universe. To avoid a protracted battle, the Silver Surfer offers to remain on Earth to guard the artifact on the condition that Galactus may have it once Asgard eventually passes. Galactus recruits
6440-456: The Lower East Side where he talked to him about harnessing electricity for an energy source. When Iron Man and Hellcat went on patrol and found Unicorn stealing the Gutenberg Bible, Korvac witnessed the fight. After Unicorn was defeated, Korvac caused a lightning bolt to strike Iron Man enough to destroy the Gutenberg Bible. Iron Man later went to visit "Fuller Tiehard" at his cabin near Tiehard Lightning Site I to see how his project works. As he
6555-523: The Marvel Universe, and examined the character's actions through themes of genocide , manifest destiny , ethics, and natural/necessary existence. Frequently accompanied by a herald (such as the Silver Surfer ), the character has appeared as both antagonist and protagonist in central and supporting roles. Since debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books , Galactus has played a role in over five decades of Marvel continuity. In 2009, Galactus ranked fifth on IGN 's list of "Top 100 Comic Book Villains", which cited
6670-448: The Marvel Universe, appears to validate the existence of Galactus as necessary for the natural order and essential to prevent an even more catastrophic fate; Howard University professor of literature Marc Singer criticized this, accusing the writer-artist of using the character to "justify planetary-scale genocide." Byrne and Stan Lee also collaborated on a one-shot Silver Surfer story (June 1982) in which Galactus returned to Zenn-La after
6785-425: The Negative Zone, reasoning that he will eventually starve to death, as the region is composed of anti-matter . A comatose Galactus is found by the Eternals and Aarkus , who hope to use him in their war against the Kree . Galactus returns to the universe, and after an encounter with Squirrel Girl , is forced into his own incubator by the Ultimates , who are determined to end his threat. Galactus re-emerges as
6900-451: The Silver Surfer appeared as antagonists in both Skaar: Son of Hulk #7–12 (March 1, 2009 – August 1, 2009) and Son of Hulk #13–17 (September 1, 2009 – January 2010), and as protagonists in the miniseries The Thanos Imperative #1–6 (June–November 2010). Galactus was a member of the God Squad in the miniseries Chaos War #2–5 (December 2010 – March 2011). After an appearance in Fantastic Four #583–587 (November 2010 – March 2011),
7015-420: The Surfer and Nova II from Mephisto 's realm, and aids the cosmic hierarchy in a war against the mad Eternal Thanos , who wields the Infinity Gauntlet . When Nova II is conscience-stricken at causing the death of billions of aliens, Galactus takes on a new herald, the bloodthirsty Morg the Executioner . Tyrant eventually returns and Morg sacrifices himself to stop the former creation of Galactus by using
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#17328025026697130-404: The Surfer to Earth for betraying him. Galactus later returns for his former herald, but the Surfer is unrepentant and chooses to remain on Earth. Thor learns of Galactus' origin when the entity comes into conflict with Ego the Living Planet . Returning to Earth, Galactus unsuccessfully tries to re-enlist the Silver Surfer. After the Fantastic Four and the Surfer defeat Galactus's new herald,
7245-415: The Surfer's rebellion and drained it of energy after allowing the populace to flee. Writer-penciller John Byrne and inker Terry Austin produced "The Last Galactus Story" as a serial in the anthology comic-magazine Epic Illustrated #26–34 (October 1984 – February 1986). Nine of a scheduled 10 installments appeared. Each was six pages with the exception of the eighth installment (12 pages). The magazine
7360-436: The Ultimate Nullifier. Galactus then decides, with help from his new herald Red Shift, to only devour the energy of living beings, which brings him into conflict with alien races and Earth's superheroes. During a final confrontation near Chandilar, the throneworld of the Shi'ar , the Silver Surfer turns Galactus' siphoning machines against him. A starving Galactus dies and assumes the form of a star. The death of Galactus allows
7475-431: The Valkyrie to the Defenders in issue #4 "to provide some texture to the group." Englehart wrote "The Avengers–Defenders War" crossover in The Avengers #116–118 (October–December 1973) and The Defenders #9–11 (October–December 1973). Len Wein briefly wrote the series, and later became the editor for several issues. Steve Gerber first worked on the characters in Giant-Size Defenders #3 (January 1975) and became
7590-433: The cause of his universe's destruction: the Black Winter (Fimbulwinter), a cosmic entity that fulfills a similar purpose to Galactus on a far larger scale — rather than simply devouring planets, it consumes entire universes. Galactus reveals to All-Father Thor that he had a vision of Thor being responsible for his death. In a bid to destroy the Black Winter, Galactus turns Thor into his Herald of Thunder. Thor later learns that
7705-423: The character became a mainstay of the Marvel Universe. To preserve the character's mystique, his next two appearances were nonspeaking cameos in Thor #134 (November 1966), and Daredevil #37 (February 1968), respectively. Numerous requests from fans prompted the character to be featured heavily in Fantastic Four #72–77 (March–August 1968). After a flashback appearance in Silver Surfer #1 (August 1968),
7820-420: The character had no dialogue. Author Andy Lanning said that he and co-writer Dan Abnett were "treating Galactus like a force of nature; an inevitable, planetary catastrophe that there is no reasoning with, no bargaining with and no escaping." Galactus also appeared in the limited series Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #1–3 (June–August 2009), a sequel to Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #1–6. Galactus and
7935-532: The character returned to Earth in Silver Surfer (vol. 6) #1–5 (January–May 2011) and was the antagonist in The Mighty Thor #1–6 (April–September 2011). Galactus played a supporting role in the storyline "Forever" featured in Fantastic Four #600–604 (November 2011 – March 2012) and FF #16 (March 2012) by Johnathan Hickman, where Hickman introduced the concept of a shared destiny between Galactus and Franklin Richards . Writer Mark Waid would subsequently develop this concept further (see below). The character played
8050-490: The character returned to Earth in Thor #160–162 (January–March 1969). Galactus' origin was eventually revealed in Thor #168–169 (September–October 1969). The character made appearances in Fantastic Four #120–123 (March–June 1972) and Thor #225–228 (July–October 1974). These two storylines introduced two new heralds for Galactus. Galactus also featured in Fantastic Four #172–175 (July–October 1976) and 208–213 (July–December 1979). Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reunited for
8165-450: The character's "larger-than-life presence" as making him one of the more important villains ever created. IGN also noted "Galactus is one of the few villains on our list to really defy the definition of an evil-doer" as the character is compelled to destroy worlds because of his hunger, rather than out of malicious ends. The character has been featured in other Marvel media, such as arcade games , video games, animated television series, and
8280-430: The conceit of Galactus feeling remorse for his actions, and the weight of his genocides. In the issue, Death assures Galactus of his role and purpose as one of shepherd and weeder in guiding the universe to its proper purpose, and Galactus remains resolute. Byrne further elaborated on this concept in Fantastic Four #262 (January 1984), which sparked controversy. At the end of the story, Eternity , an abstract entity in
8395-478: The cosmos. Korvac recruits a group of aliens called the "Minions of Menace" and attempts to cause Earth's Sun to go nova , but is defeated by the Guardians of the Galaxy and the time-traveling Thunder God Thor . During "The Korvac Saga" storyline, Korvac flees across time and space to the Earth-616 universe. Upon arrival, Korvac discovers the space station of the entity Galactus . While attempting to download
8510-433: The day of his birth. Korvac is briefly resurrected in human form by the Grandmaster to battle Silver Surfer . When Korvac's attempt to use Captain America in a scheme to steal the power of a Cosmic Cube from Red Skull ultimately failed, Red Skull used his internalized Cube power to scatter Korvac across six dimensions. In Avengers Academy , Korvac's wife Carina was mistakenly resurrected by Veil (believing that she
8625-512: The electrical grid of New York City to become more powerful. Iron Man and Hellcat work on a plan to rescue James starting with them recruiting the deaf mutant Halcyon. To rescue James Rhodes from Korvac, Iron Man, Hellcat, and Halcyon recruit Gargoyle , Scarlet Spider , Misty Knight , and Frog-Man to aid them. While shaving off his goatee, Korvac is told by Unicorn that Guardsman is in position. He then proceeds to work on persuading Hellcat to her side upon her hearing her voice. When confronted on
8740-503: The end of the primary Marvel continuity, the miniseries History of the Marvel Universe #1–6 (July 2019 – December 2019) by Mark Waid depicted Galactus as the in-story narrator. The story features Galactus recounting all the major events that have occurred in Marvel continuity to Franklin Richards as the universe experiences its final moments. Confirming the series as occurring within the primary Marvel continuity, Waid elaborated that "[t]here
8855-581: The entity Abraxas (a metaphysical embodiment of destruction) to emerge from imprisonment. The entity wreaks havoc across thousands of alternate universes , killing various incarnations of Galactus before the children of Mr. Fantastic — Franklin Richards and Valeria von Doom — exhaust their powers to restore the original Galactus. Galactus then provides Mr. Fantastic with the Ultimate Nullifier , which he uses to reset reality and prevent Abraxas' initial escape and destruction. Conscience-stricken, Galactus tries to rid himself of his cosmic hunger by feeding on
8970-514: The eventual end of the universe alone; he and Franklin will witness it together. Galactus is then pulled through a hole in space-time to an alternate universe and meets another version of himself: a space-faring mechanical hive mind called Gah Lak Tus . After the two merge with one another, Galactus makes his way towards this universe's Earth in an attempt to consume it. The heroes of the alternate Earth travel to Earth-616 to acquire information on Galactus and eventually manage to send Galactus to
9085-771: The extra-universal forces of the Cancerverse (an alternate universe without death) to invade. Galactus, the Celestials and the resurrected Tenebrous and Aegis combat the powerful Cancerverse weapon: the Galactus Engine (constructed from the corpse of the Cancerverse's counterpart to Galactus). During the events of the Chaos War , Galactus is teleported to Earth by the Olympian demigod Hercules to help fight
9200-454: The false ship. After Korvac kicks Iron Man in the neck, his armor's A.I. B.O.S.S. warns Tony about a cervical fracture and the dangers of hypoxia. Korvac then walks away stating to Iron Man that everything will be beautiful. After a few more ordeals, Korvac reached and entered the transmutation chamber in Taa II and gained cosmic power, forcing Iron Man to do the same. Now cosmic-powered giants,
9315-436: The fight and calls Korvac the "Other." Iron Man and Hellcat fight off the villains as Korvac recovers and blasts them with lightning while saying "So says Korvac." Iron Man recovered, but Hellcat remains still. Upon hearing that Iron Man survived the attack, Korvac, Blizzard, Controller, and Unicorn captured James Rhodes so that Iron Man wouldn't interfere. Then they went to Galactus' Worldship Taa II where Korvac started to absorb
9430-492: The first six issues of the limited series Thanos (December 2003 – May 2004), written by Jim Starlin . Issues #7–12 (June–November 2004), written by Keith Giffen , introduce the Fallen One , who is retroactively presented as Galactus' first herald. Galactus' origin is re-examined in Fantastic Four #520–523 (October 2004 – April 2005), in which the character is temporarily reverted to his mortal form. After appearing in
9545-560: The help of Nikki and Firelord . Michael Korvac is a computer technician in the alternate universe Earth-691 . When the Solar System and its colonies are conquered by the alien Badoon in AD 3007, Korvac becomes a collaborator and traitor to the human race. Caught asleep at a machine while working, the Badoon punish Korvac by grafting his upper body to a machine, effectively making him
9660-520: The hero as an unwilling herald to locate the planets. The Fantastic Four and Quasar free the Torch by changing Galactus back into the humanoid Galan, who chooses to exile himself to an energy-rich alternate dimension before he can transform back into Galactus so that he can feed on that reality without endangering planets. Galactus consumes Beta Ray Bill 's Korbinite homeworld with the help of his new herald, Stardust . After Annihilus declares war on
9775-420: The heroine Ms. Marvel , and the Guardians of the Galaxy, confront Korvac and Carina, who pose as a middle-class couple. Korvac's deception is revealed when Starhawk states he cannot see the man called "Michael". Realizing that he has been discovered, and that cosmic entities such as Odin and the Watcher are now aware of his existence, Korvac is forced into battle. Korvac slays wave after wave of heroes, and
9890-406: The knowledge of Galactus from the station into his own system, Korvac is imbued with the Power Cosmic and becomes god-like. Korvac then recreates himself as a perfect humanoid form, and posing as a human called "Michael", travels to Earth with the intent of reshaping it into a utopia. Korvac, however, is pursued by the Guardians of the Galaxy, who join forces with the superhero team the Avengers in
10005-557: The limited series Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #1–6 (March–August 2005) Galactus was a central character in the " Annihilation " storyline, appearing in the limited series Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1–4 (June–September 2006), Annihilation #1–6 (October 2006 – March 2007) and the epilogue , Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1–2 (February–April 2007). Galactus was an antagonist in Fantastic Four #545–546 (June–July 2007), where he tried to devour fellow cosmic function Epoch . In Nova (vol. 4) #13–15 (May–July 2008),
10120-542: The mystical realms by an alien sorcerer, Galactus becomes entangled in the schemes of Dormammu and Mephisto. Galactus begins to consume mystical energy, eventually absorbing Dormammu and other mystical entities, and in doing so goes insane and destabilizes reality. Doctor Strange intervenes and – with the aid of Eternity and the Living Tribunal – is able to undo the damage wrought by Galactus. An injured Galactus crashlands on Asgard, apparently seeking asylum from
10235-463: The nearby planet of Archeopia—the first of many planets he would destroy to maintain his existence. Subsequently, in memory of his dead homeworld of Taa and the first planet (Archeopia) to fall prey to his hunger, Galactus constructs a new "homeworld": the Möbius strip -shaped space station called Taa II. Galactus becomes involved in a civil war among the "Proemial Gods", who had come into being during
10350-460: The off-beat humor in his "Defender for a Day" storyline in issues #62–64 were polarized: "readers were either wildly enthusiastic or absolutely and very utterly appalled." Steven Grant wrote a conclusion to Steve Gerber's Omega the Unknown series in two issues of The Defenders , at the end of which most of the original series' characters were killed. Writer J. M. DeMatteis took over
10465-608: The origin of the Silver Surfer and Galactus in the one-shot graphic novel The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience! in 1978. This Marvel Fireside Book , published by Simon & Schuster , was an out-of-continuity retelling of the origin story without the Fantastic Four. The full Lee-and-Kirby origin story was reprinted in the one-shot Super-Villain Classics #1: Galactus – The Origin (May 1983), inked by Vince Colletta and George Klein , lettered by John Morelli and colored by Andy Yanchus . While nearly identical to
10580-588: The original four members (Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, and Namor) are forced to leave the team. The "New Defenders" concept provided a substantial boost to the series's sales, but left DeMatteis in a creative drought, as he realized in retrospect that "...I created a book that was exactly the kind of the thing that I hated to write. I made it into a standard superhero team..." DeMatteis stayed on for only six issues of The New Defenders before turning it over to writer Peter Gillis . The series's final issue
10695-473: The planet Orbucen. When a distraught Beta Ray Bill seeks vengeance for the destruction of the Korbinites' homeworld, Galactus relents and creates a female Korbinite as a companion for Bill. Galactus also consumes the planet Sakaar, earning the enmity of the Hulk 's alien-born twin sons, Skaar and Hiro-Kala . The Silver Surfer finds the body of a future Galactus underneath New York City, and he summons
10810-414: The planet Saiph, which is overrun by Ultron drones. Galactus reluctantly agrees. After consuming Saiph, Galactus' hunger returns and the Silver Surfer becomes his herald again as he takes Galactus to find an uninhabited planet. Returning to Earth, Galactus has a confrontation with Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four, with Doom revealing his plans to harness Galactus' power as an energy source. Banished to
10925-578: The planet of Zenn-La, Galactus accepts the offer of Norrin Radd to become his herald, the Silver Surfer , in exchange for sparing his world. Eventually locating Earth, Galactus is driven off by the Fantastic Four , Uatu the Watcher, and the rebellious Silver Surfer after the Human Torch —with the Watcher's assistance—retrieves the Ultimate Nullifier from Taa II. Although Galactus leaves Earth, vowing that he will never try to consume it again, he banishes
11040-731: The power from the Infinity Gems , but is tricked into releasing the Hunger, a being which feeds on entire galaxies. The Hunger is destroyed when Thanos orchestrates a final battle with Galactus. When an alien race develops a technology to make planets invisible to Galactus, he empowers the Human Torch (who has traded powers with his sister the Invisible Woman and becomes the Invisible Boy as a result of this) and utilizes
11155-482: The present Galactus to Earth. Mr. Fantastic explains that, in the distant future, the heroes on a dying Earth had killed Galactus and then escaped to the present via time travel . When Galactus discovers these heroes now live on a planet called Nu-Earth, he destroys it and its inhabitants in retribution. A tear in the fabric of space caused by the Annihilation Wave and other interstellar conflicts allows
11270-659: The previous origin, this story featured supplemental material, edits, and deletions by writer Mark Gruenwald , pencillers John Byrne and Ron Wilson and inker Jack Abel . Rather than traveling into a dying star, the character enters the core of the collapsing universe before the Big Bang ; the story was later reprinted as Origin of Galactus #1 (February 1996). The character guest-starred in Rom #26–27 (January–February 1982). Galactus featured in two related storylines in Fantastic Four #242–244 (May–July 1982) and later #257 (August 1983), in which writer-artist John Byrne introduced
11385-457: The same way I could any ordinary mortal. And I remember in my first story, I had to back away from him to resolve that story. The Silver Surfer is, of course, the fallen angel. When Galactus relegated him to Earth, he stayed on Earth, and that was the beginning of his adventures. They were figures that had never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures. And of course they were the first gods. Kirby elaborated, "Galactus in actuality
11500-472: The series with issue #92. Coming from a background of writing eight-page horror shorts for DC Comics, DeMatteis found it a struggle to adapt to writing a 22-page superhero comic on a monthly basis. He and Mark Gruenwald co-wrote The Defenders #107–109 (May–July 1982). While working on the series, DeMatteis developed a strong friendship with penciler Don Perlin , who would draw the series for nearly half its run. Perlin later commented, "It turned out to be
11615-595: The streets by Korvac, Hellcat electrocutes herself. When Iron Man confronts Korvac at the waterfront, Korvac states that he is only taking over the universe with good intentions while the others arrive at the Shi'ar jumpship that Korvac was using. When Misty Knight and those with her are apparently killed in the explosion, Iron Man lashes out against Korvac and fights him until his armor suffers from mobility issues. Korvac calls up Blizzard, Controller, and Unicorn telling them that they will leave in 10 minutes and to thank Guardsman for
11730-544: The tired old cliche about him wanting to conquer the world. There were enough would-be world conquerors in the Marvel Universe and in all the other comic book galaxies. That was when inspiration struck. Why not have him not be a really evil person? After all, a demi-god should be beyond mere good and evil. He'd just be (don't laugh!) hungry. And the nourishment 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
11845-658: The two battled until the Abstract Entities of the universe detained Korvac, who swore to make the departing Tony his new primary focus. Korvac was originally a normal man until the Badoon amputated the lower half of his body and grafted his upper body and nervous system onto a specialized computer module capable of siphoning energy from virtually any source. Korvac's mechanical module could also tap and synthesize any form of energy and concealed advanced weaponry. After downloading information from Galactus' ship and acquiring
11960-549: The universe's infancy. When a faction of the gods led by Diableri of Chaos attempts to remake the universe in their own image, Galactus kills Diableri and imprisons three others ( Antiphon , Tenebrous, and Aegis ) in the prison called the Kyln . Galactus then creates the being Tyrant out of a desire for companionship, but the two ultimately engage in a major conflict. Galactus decides to empower his first herald—the Fallen One —who ultimately rebels against his master. When approaching
12075-579: The universe, allowing them to understand that Galactus is a necessary part of the cosmic order. During the Secret Wars , Galactus attempts to consume Battleworld to force the Beyonder to remove his hunger, but his plan is foiled by Doctor Doom . Galactus grants clemency to the Silver Surfer, who aids his former master against the Elders of the Universe and the In-Betweener . Galactus also rescues
12190-520: The universe, the entity attacks and destroys the Kyln, freeing former Galactus foes Tenebrous and Aegis. Sensing their release, Galactus temporarily releases Stardust from his service and re-employs the Silver Surfer as his herald due to his familiarity with their old foes. Tenebrous and Aegis, however, find and defeat the Surfer and Galactus and deliver them to Annihilus. Annihilus intends to use Galactus as
12305-501: The writer of the main title with issue #20 the following month. He wrote the series until issue #41 (November 1976). In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Gerber and Sal Buscema's run on The Defenders first on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels". David Anthony Kraft 's run as writer included "The Scorpio Saga" (issues #46, 48–50) and the "Xenogenesis: Day of the Demons" storyline (issues #58–60). Kraft later recalled that reactions to
12420-820: Was The New Defenders #152. Penciler Don Perlin recounted "[Editor] Carl Potts he took me and Peter Gillis to lunch. We went to an Indian restaurant... He said, ‘They canceled the book.’" In 1993, Marvel sought to revive the "Defenders" brand as "The Secret Defenders". The new team first appeared, unofficially, in Dr. Strange #50 and later Fantastic Four #374, before being officially introduced in Secret Defenders #1. In 2001–2002, The Defenders reunited in The Defenders volume 2 #1–12 created by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen , immediately followed by The Order #1–6. A fill-in issue set between these two series
12535-455: Was a character in there who was a lawyer for the Defenders and his gimmick was that no matter where you saw him in his office, there had to be a TV set on—he was always watching TV. And while I was drawing one of the panels I was listening to a talk show and there was someone on telling how bad cereals for kids were—they were all loaded with sugar. So I drew a picture on the TV of a bunny rabbit holding
12650-408: Was cancelled with issue #34, leaving the last chapter unpublished and the story unfinished; however, Byrne later published the conclusion on his website. Galactus played a pivotal role in the limited series Secret Wars #1–12 (May 1984 – April 1985), and became a recurring character in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) (beginning with issue #1 (July 1987)). Stan Lee and artist John Buscema also produced
12765-586: Was later collected into both hardcover and trade paperback collections, entitled Defenders: Indefensible . In 2008 Joe Casey wrote a new miniseries with a new line-up of Defenders as a result of the Super-Human Registration Act and the events of the Civil War . Marvel launched a new Defenders series in December 2011, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Terry Dodson. The new book features Doctor Strange , Red She-Hulk , Namor ,
12880-564: Was published in 2011. A Defenders five-issue mini-series debuted in July 2005, by Keith Giffen , J. M. DeMatteis , and Kevin Maguire (as a team, best known for their work on DC's Justice League franchise), featuring Doctor Strange attempting to reunite the original four Defenders to battle Dormammu and Umar . This series focuses mostly on humor as the characters spend most of their time arguing with and criticizing one another. The series
12995-408: 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 awe-inspiring presence. Fan popularity, however, prompted Lee to ask Kirby for Galactus' reappearance, and
13110-523: Was suggested to him that it should run as a Defenders title, however Bunn explained that beyond the name there is "little connection" to the Defenders. In August 2017, Marvel launched a new Defenders comic book series starring Daredevil , Jessica Jones , Luke Cage and Iron Fist , based on the Netflix incarnation of the team . In August 2021, Marvel launched a new Defenders series. Galactus Galactus ( / ɡ ə ˈ l æ k t ə s / )
13225-439: Was taking in vast amounts of energy, now he's putting out vast amounts of energy—pure life energy. He always said he was going to give back more than he took out of the universe—now he's making good on that, one dead world at a time." The themes of redemption and change were received well by columnist Mark Peters, who described Ewing's work on Ultimates as "one of the best Galactus stories ever." Galactus featured prominently in
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