The Fantastic Four return to New York from their venture into the world of the Inhumans. Upon returning they encounter mysterious flames in the sky. The city is in an uproar and blame The Human Torch. Reed discovers the cause of the strange visage in the skies when the Watcher pays him a visit. The Watcher has been trying to conceal Earth from the Silver Surfer, for upon his arrival the herald would perform his duty of summoning Galactus. The Silver Surfer is not so easily fooled and arrives on top of the Baxter building. Despite the Fantastic Four's best attempts to stop him, the Silver Surfer sends his summons to his master. Galactus arrives shortly after.
The Watcher attempts to reason with Galactus by conveying the fact of sentient life does exist on this planet. Galactus cares little for this, as he desires to gain energy from Earth. Ben tries to fight the entity, but is dealt with by use of a chemical. Johnny throws everything he has against Galactus, but it is turned against him, and he can not keep his flame on. The Fantastic Four regroup before tackling Galactus again. During this time Galactus is working on a machine. The machine, revealed to the Fantastic Four by the Watcher, is capable of turning Earth's ocean's into pure energy for Galactus. The destruction of the ocean's on Earth would completely wipe out all life on the planet. The Watcher devises a plan for Johnny to retrieve a weapon with his mental guidance, and sends the Human Torch on a celestial path. Ben and Reed manage to temporarily destroy Galactus's machine and the duo does battle with the threat to Earth. Even with their combined strength, Galactus still manages to sweep them away. Meanwhile, The Silver Surfer wakes up on top of a sun roof. He enters the home, and Alicia offers him assistance. Alicia tries to persuade Silver Surfer to help humanity, for she sees the nobility in him.
The Silver Surfer is swayed and does battle with Galactus.Neither wants to hurt the other, but they attempt to disarm one another. With Silver Surfer providing diversion, Johnny finally makes it back from his quest. He has obtained an object so powerful it can wipe out a whole galaxy, or perhaps the universe. Reed turns the weapon to a minimal weapon and threatens Galactus. Galactus concedes and promises to leave Earth in exchange for the weapon. The Watcher reassures the Fantastic Four that Glactus's word is good.
In the aftermath of the departure of Galactus, Alicia thanks the Silver Surfer for his part. Ben, seeing her rushing to their one-time ally, assumes Alicia has fallen for the alien. He leaves in search of peace, but only finds people on the street running from him. Johnny, depressed about the loss of Crystal, decides to acquire a change of scenery and enroll in college. There he bumps into a strange man, and the two become roommates.
Seems rushed perhaps just to get Galactus & Surfer in by #50. Though up to this point FF was the best title and this storyline just continued that, coupled with the debut of Black Panther just after it's an exciting period for the title
I like the original Galactus. I of course knew what he looked like before reading the arc, just from reference material, but I had never known his power. He seems powerful, but is not unbeatable. The movie version I knew was awful, even without reading this arc, but this makes Ultimate Galactus look cheap, too.
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