Wolverine, Kid Chris, Employee Aaron, and Naked Galactus.
So reader DJ requested I scan ‘n’ post a panel from page 16 of Super-Villain Classics #1 (May 1983) for Galactus Week. Assuming he meant the page numbered 16, and not the actual page 16 (counting from the front of the book, including ads), I’m fairly certain he’s speaking about this panel, since he didn’t specify which exact one he was talking about:
So yeah, it’s Naked Off-Panel Galactus assembling his gloves, booties, delicate underthings, his awesome helmet, and so on. Well, you know, those clothes had to come from somewhere, I suppose. Not like he can go store-bought with his outfit…I mean, I’ve heard of Big ‘n’ Tall, but this is ridiculous!
But it’s this other panel on the page that really got me wondering:
Briefly, Galactus is the last survivor of the universe that existed prior to the currently-existing one…his ship was trapped intact in the “cosmic egg” that eventually exploded and created the universe, expelling the ship in the process. The “lifeless companions” mentioned in the caption are Galactus’s shipmates, from his home planet, who died prior to entering the “cosmic egg.”
So, according to that panel, there exists floating around in the Marvel Universe cosmos a shipload of Galactus’s people (barring the ship flying into a star or a black hole or something). Dead, sure, but you know how death never seems to stick in superhero books. They went through the same process, more or less, that transformed Galen the scientist into Galactus…maybe their incubation period is just lasting a little longer. Maybe there’s a gaggle of Galactus-type beings about to appear in the Marvel Universe.
Hey, just throwing that out there. Just seems like an interesting and overlooked detail from the origin of Galactus.
Here’s something I’ve been meaning to comment upon for a while now: Marvel is fiddling with the Wolverine release schedule, so that #73 (the first part of a two part story) comes out before #72 (the penultimate chapter of the “Old Man Logan” story). The reason given is so that following the excitement built by the new Wolverine movie, the hordes of new fans flooding into comic shops across the nation will have an issue of Wolverine that’s more of a jumping-on point, rather than be in the middle of an ongoing story.
That’s all well and good, but overlooks a couple of things:
1. Wolverine #73 won’t be out until nearly two weeks after the movie opens, so movie-driven traffic into comic shops, if any, will be good ‘n’ done by then. If the comic was coming out THIS week, that’s one thing. Two weeks from now…why bother with the schedule shuffle?
2. It’s not as if there’s any shortage of Wolverine comics on the stands at the moment. Having one of those comics be in the middle a story isn’t going to make a difference. Perhaps having a fresh batch of reprints of the early issues of “Old Man Logan” ready for the film’s release would have been a better idea. (Reprints have been solicited and ordered, but won’t be in for another week or two, at least).
Here are a couple of points in Marvel’s favor, however:
1. The recently-begun Wolverine: Weapon X series, which by most accounts ain’t half-bad, and is as good a starting point as any for anyone inspired by the movie to check out the source material. Has the added bonus of being available (with a new printing this week!) in the prime movie-inspired-comic-purchases window of opportunity (i.e. prior to the film’s release).
2. The Free Comic Book Day Wolverine comic, which, surprisingly enough, actually is appropriate for All Ages. This should make a lot of kids happy this weekend.
Speaking of Free Comic Book Day…here are Kid Chris and Employee Aaron pausing for a moment from their prepping and sorting for the Big Event this Saturday:
Please note Kid Chris is wearing a FCBD shirt, a FCBD button, and a FCBD baseball cap. Now that‘s commitment, friends. I’d like to see that same level of commitment from the other employees, Aaron.
You know, looking at that photo, Kid Chris looks a bit like Sylar from Heroes, there. PLEASE NOTE: Store not responsible if Kid Chris attempts to eat your brain.
Well, before I go even more on a tangent, I’ll just note that we’re well on our way to being prepared for the Big Event. I’ve written about Free Comic Book Day pretty much every year since I started the site (search the archives in late April/early May for 2005-2008 for previous posts on the topic…I’ll try to put together the actual links in the next day or two), so I’m not sure what else to add, really. I’m sure I’ll do the usual postmortem, and I’m going to try to do a little live-Twittering that day, if I have time. Pal Dorian has done his regular FCBD preview review (though I have four more that came in this week that I’ve not been able to get to him yet).
Among my many posts on the topic, I’ve offered hints and tips for funnybook sellers on how to have a successful FCBD, which I shall sum up thusly: 1. Clean your store. 2. Don’t be dicks. (To be fair, I haven’t quite mastered step 2 yet.)
So, in conclusion — Free Comic Book Day:
I will. Won’t you?
And just to wrap this post up with a little bit of a tearjerker…The Rack says goodbye to one of its cast members in today’s strip.
But don’t worry…the character will soon be starring in this here new strip, the URL of which may be a spoiler if you haven’t been following The Rack over the last couple of days.
