Fantastic Four Week – HeroClix Galactus The Devourer Of Worlds

Welcome to the table,

It’s Fantastic Four week over here at Comicon.com. I’ve disliked Reed Richards for as long as I can remember. There is something about a brooding jerk with near limitless resources who not only puts his family in danger but treats his wife and best friend poorly that irritates me. I think Sue is fine, Johnny is annoying but harmless, and Ben is troubled, but ultimately, once you get past the bits where he loses his rock form and powers and turns into a jealous crybaby because his girlfriend is more recognizable and gets more attention than he does (See the time Power Man joined the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #168 from March 1976 True Believers!) a pretty okay guy. The kids are great, Franklin and Valeria, and kind of a bright spot in the lore of the characters, but Reed… moody, broody, annoying Reed Richards just does not sit well with me.

So, while it is Fantastic Four week, I would like to shift the focus from the first family and talk about one of my favorite foes they face, the indomitable, inevitable, almost immortal entity known as Galactus, devourer of worlds!

Introduced in 1966, nearly five years after the debut of the Fantastic Four, Jack “The King” Kirby and Stan Lee combined their minds to conjure up one of the coolest cosmic foes forces the Marvel Universe would ever see. The titanic entity known as Galactus was a god-like being in the cosmic opera of science fiction and fantasy that the “First Family” of Marvel inhabited, and since his introduction, his mythology, might, and the mayhem he has wrought across countless worlds have been as monumental as it has been memorable.

Born in a time before the known Marvel Universe existed in a space that defies existential logic, Galactus would come into the known reality as a titan of immeasurable power who hungered for the energy of planets teaming with life. He would make use of all manner of cosmic creation dreamed up by Kirby and Lee to drain worlds of their lifeforce and leave them barren husks as he moved on through the endless void of space in search of his next meal.

Much like the plot of the soon-to-be-released Fantastic Four film, the introduction of Galactus would see him send his herald, an entity of silver who surfs the cosmic winds upon a surfboard made of the same marvelous material that makes up his mercurian form, to Earth to announce the arrival of the Eater of Worlds.

This Silver Surfer would see nobility in the Fantastic Four and Ben Grimm’s girlfriend, Alicia Masters, and turn on his titanic creator, who would imprison the Silver Surfer upon Earth and turn in the cosmic tides to make his way back to the Surfer’s homeworld to feast on all they held dear.

Eventually, the First Family, along with the help of the Silver Surfer, would defeat Galactus for a time, but an entity of such cosmic power can’t be stopped for long, and the towering titan would return time and time again to threaten countless worlds and harrow a vast litany of heroes and villains across the Marvel Universe.

If you could not tell from the delightful images that have accompanied the brief description of the Eater of Worlds, my pals at WizKids have an absolutely epic Galactus in their HeroClix line that serves as both a rad piece of gaming material and an eye-catching collectible both in and out of its display case box.

This premium colossal HeroClix figure of Galactus has a 3 x 6 base with 4 dials. Two of those dials represent Galactus himself (for 32 clicks of health). He also has two special dials. An all-new Herald Dial to let another character serve him, and a never-before-seen Elemental Converter Dial, which will allow Galactus to devour the map itself.

Additionally, he has a range of play options with 6 point values, so you can play him as himself from 750 to 100 points, or just utilize the Herald dial at 25 points. On his top dial, he’s an 11 range, 15 attack, 21 defense, 8 damage Clix that is a return to old-school HeroClix colossal figures that take a few players to defeat.

He also comes with a rad addition seemingly based on a cool moment from the 2003 Thanos #5 where Thanos blasts Galactus and knocks off his helm.

The alternative head has simitransparent crackling cosmic energy that drifts from his eyes, really selling the overwhelming strength of this dread-inducing threat.

There we be a multitude of people who discover or get reminded of the raw power of Galactus as the new Fantastic Four movie hits theaters. Those who want to take this titan home can check out their local game store or head over to this link and score one from WizKids yourself while supplies last.

Until next time, in the words of Doctor Strange, “The ancient forces you draw upon mean nothing to one as old as the universe.”