Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 24, 2025 | 1 comment

FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK: What a job!

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It’s FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK! Because there’s a big ol’ movie out! Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX of columns and features! Flame on! — Dan

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By JIM BEARD 

In the grand, galactic scheme of Big Bad Guys over in the Marvel Universe, Galactus the World Devourer isn’t one I can exactly say I envy.

No, wait; I take that back. There is something about him I wouldn’t mind having: It’d be cool to have a herald.

I mean, think about it. Wouldn’t it be great to have someone announce your arrival at, say, work? Or a party? Or, like, at the DMV? And they could tell everyone how big and bad you are, how your arrival is a Really Big Deal and they should be suitably impressed. Oh, and to not make you mad. Yeah, I think having a herald would be a pretty convenient thing to have. They could even soften up whoever you have to interact with before you even get there. That’d be sweet.

OK, so maybe Galactus has it goin’ on after all. I don’t dig the whole “I gotta eat planets to stay alive” deal, but I guess the herald thing might make up for it… a bit.

And the ol’ Devourer sure has had his pick of unique beings to sing his praises as he does a slow roll up to a world. If you think about it, dude’s employees have been some of the baddest of the bad themselves, no slouches in the awesome department.

Jim’s new book! Details below!

Got an idea. Let’s do a rundown of 13 of my favorite Galactus heralds. Think of it as a kind of shopping list for consideration, in no particular order:

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Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four #48). You have to start with this guy. Iconic, as much a legend as his old boss, the Surfer set the standard for all heralds that followed, and sailed on to become a powerhouse character all his own with decades of silvery stories in his wake.

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Firelord (Thor #225). Few cosmic so-and-sos can wear fiery hair to perfection, but Firelord manages it with little effort. I especially liked that story where Spider-Man beat the snot out of him during Secret Wars II.

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Terrax (Fantastic Four #244). Oh, he of the flying rocks! What a great visual image Terrax made, and being created by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne ain’t nuthin’ to sneeze at either. I will never take him for granite as a herald.

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The Destroyer (Thor #228). Listen, if a magical suit of ambulatory Asgardian armor isn’t cool enough for you, making it a one-time herald of Galactus too has got to be one of the greatest Marvel mash-ups ever.

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Aunt May (Marvel Team-Up #137). C’mon, you knew this one was going to be here. It’s a Golden Oldie of epic proportions.

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Doctor Strange (2019’s Doctor Strange #12). Another masterful Marvel mash-up that shouldn’t have worked but somehow did, way back in 2019’s Doctor Strange series. Doc had a different costume than his traditional togs at that point, one I have to admit I kind of dug.

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Air-Walker (Thor #306). This guy had a great visual, too, and seems to be mostly forgotten today. Both a robot and a living guy (Google it), he maybe deserves another go-round in the modern Marvel Universe.

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Nova II (Fantastic Four #244). Not the Rich Ryder Nova, of course, but Frankie Raye of “Johnny Storm’s girlfriends” fame and one of the coolest heralds in my opinion. Talk about leveling up — from a torch’s flame to the opening act for a world-devourer. Not many can match that.

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Ka-Zar (The Avengers #50/#750). Ka-Zar as a Galactus herald is just Ka-Razy, so you know I had to put him on this list. The herald thing happened under Jason Aaron’s tenure in 2020 and, well, you had to be there. It was a glorious run, full of fun ideas, this being one of ‘em.

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Red Shift (Galactus the Devourer #2). Did I get ya with this one? I wasn’t too up on him, either, but once I looked into it I saw he was pretty dope, so he makes the list. Debuting in Galactus’ own series, he was later killed during that Annihilation Wave rigamarole. Nice look, though.

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The Praeter (The Mighty Thor #6). AKA “Pastor Mike,” this is another obscure herald. He learned the hard way that you can’t fight city hall (Asgard) and you can’t spit into the wind (yell at Galactus) without being transformed into a herald for a world-devourer.

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Tyrant (Silver Surfer #81). OMG, Tyrant is so early-’80s in a Ron Lim kind of way. He was not only another in a line of Marvel “living machines” but also a Galactus betrayer, which is virtually a prerequisite for the job, amiright? Nice shoulder pads, dude. Giorgio Armani?

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Dazzler (Dazzler #10). A fan-favorite, of course. What a way to end a list. There just weren’t enough heralds who were also Terran pop stars. I think we can all agree on that.

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MORE

— The Complete FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK INDEX of Columns and Features. Click here.

— The Great Battle Cosmic: John Byrne’s DARKSEID vs. GALACTUS. Click here.

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When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it.

Check out his latest: Jack of All Comics! is 28 essays by some of today’s most engaging comic historians and fans on nearly every series Jack Kirby worked on for Marvel and DC from 1961 to 1978. It’s better’n a Boom Tube to Supertown, True Believers! Click here to order.