Writer: Mark Waid

Art: Neal Adams and Alex Ross

Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 23rd, 2020

After the revelation that Galactus is dead, a badly injured Silver Surfer tries to help the Fantastic Four make some sense of this latest cosmic threat and face it head on! Let’s head to a galaxy far away, well not that galaxy far, far away, and find out what has caused Galactus to die, and also what injured the surfer so badly!

While this is undoubtedly a Fantastic Four book, don’t be fooled, the Silver Surfer plays just as big a part as the Fantastic Four, and I couldn’t be happier!

I mean what more could you want? A cosmic Fantastic Four story with Galactus and Silver Surfer that’s drawn by the legendary Neal Adams! I’m sold!

After the startling conclusion of the last issue, we backtrack and get the story of how Galactus bought the farm, as it were. And while recapping the events, the Surfer shows that even while Galactus’s herald, he was even then a hero of sorts. He actively sought out uninhabited planets for Galactus to consume, rather than let Galactus kill countless people.

We then get the back story of why the tides turned and things began to go south for both Galactus and the Surfer.

Mark Waid’s history writing the Fantastic Four is on full display in this issue. He clearly knows the characters as the banter between the four seems relaxed, familiar, and even somewhat comforting.

So as oddly as issue one set up our story, with an inconsequential battle, in issue two we quickly go from a very solid recap of what happened to Surfer and Galactus and then are thrown into an outer space spectacle that leads us to the negative zone!! There we get something I haven’t seen much of. Some story involving Galen, the mortal form of Galactus. It’s very interesting. Something new with a character that has been a part of the Marvel universe since the 1960’s.

Neal Adams is in all his glory thus far in this book. This could have been drawn in 1975. I truly mean that as a compliment. It has that classic, Bronze Age look! The colors by Laura Martin give it a somewhat more current vibe. Combine them both and it’s a pure visual treat. Throw in some full and double-page spreads, along with Adam’s signature facial expressions of despair, fear, and worry, and you’ve got one happy comic reviewer!

We get a bit of a shocker in who the true villain is, but even if you’ve avoided spoilers, the reveal shouldn’t be all that shocking to Marvel cosmic fans.

Final Thoughts:

This is all I want in a comic book. A great story and great art! Mark Waid and Neal Adams take some of the most popular cosmic characters in the history of the Marvel universe and create a fresh new story with a classic look and feel. I really wish this wasn’t limited to a five-issue mini! I’d be SO down on reading a title like this every single month!

8/10