Editing Galactus (section)

===Origin===
{{Main|The Galactus Trilogy}}
In 1966, nearly five years after launching [[Marvel Comics]]' flagship [[superhero]] title, ''Fantastic Four'', creators [[Stan Lee]] and [[Jack Kirby]] collaborated on an antagonist designed to break the [[supervillain]] mold of the tyrant with god-like stature and power.<ref name="kirbycollector1"/> As Lee recalled in 1993,

{{Blockquote|Galactus was simply another in a long line of super-villains whom we loved creating. ...[W]e felt the only way to top ourselves was to come up with an evil-doer who had almost godlike powers. Therefore, the natural choice was sort of a demi-god, but now what would we do with him? We didn't want to use the tired old cliche about him wanting to conquer the world. There were enough would-be world conquerors in the Marvel Universe and in all the other comic book galaxies. That was when inspiration struck. Why not have him not be a really evil person? After all, a demi-god should be beyond mere good and evil. He'd just be (don't laugh!) hungry. And the nourishment he'd require is the life force and energy from living planets!<ref>Lee, Stan. "Introduction" (second page, unnumbered) 1993, ''Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 5''<!--as spelled in copyright indicia--> (Marvel Publishing: second edition, second printing, 2007) {{ISBN|978-0-7851-1184-9}}</ref>}}

Kirby described his biblical inspirations for Galactus and an accompanying character, an angelic herald Lee called the [[Silver Surfer]]:

{{Blockquote|My inspirations were the fact that I had to make sales and come up with characters that were no longer stereotypes. In other words, I couldn't depend on gangsters. I had to get something new. For some reason, I went to the Bible and I came up with Galactus. And there I was in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well because I've always felt him. I certainly couldn't treat him in the same way I could any ordinary mortal. And I remember in my first story, I had to back away from him to resolve that story. The Silver Surfer is, of course, the fallen angel. When Galactus relegated him to Earth, he stayed on Earth, and that was the beginning of his adventures. They were figures that had never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures. And of course they were the first gods.<ref>{{cite video|people = Viola, Ken|title = The Masters of Comic Book Art|medium = VHS|publisher = Viola, Ken|location = USA|date = 1987}}</ref>}}

Kirby elaborated, "Galactus in actuality is a sort of god. He is beyond reproach, beyond anyone's opinion. In a way he is kind of a Zeus, who fathered Hercules. He is his own legend, and of course, he and the Silver Surfer are sort of modern legends, and they are designed that way."<ref>Christensen, William A., and Mark Seifert. [http://www.reocities.com/brenni_au/JackKirby.html "The King"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007232709/http://www.reocities.com/brenni_au/JackKirby.html|date=7 October 2010}}, ''[[Wizard (magazine)|Wizard]]'' #36, August 1994, via Brenni_Au/JackKirby (fan site).</ref>

Writer [[Mike Conroy (writer)|Mike Conroy]] expanded on Lee and Kirby's explanations: "In five short years from the launch of the ''Fantastic Four'', the Lee/Kirby duo ... had introduced a whole host of alien races or their representatives ... there were the [[Skrull]]s, the [[Watcher (comics)|Watcher]] and the [[Stranger (Marvel Comics)|Stranger]], all of whom Lee and Kirby used in the foundations of the universe they were constructing, one where all things were possible but only if they did not flout the 'natural laws' of this cosmology. In the nascent Marvel Universe, characters acted consistently, whatever comic they were appearing in. Their actions reverberated through every title. It was pure soap opera but on a cosmic scale, and Galactus epitomized its epic sweep."<ref>Conroy, Mike. ''500 Comicbook Villains'', Collins & Brown, 2004.</ref>

This led to the introduction of Galactus in ''Fantastic Four'' #48–50 (March–May 1966), which fans began calling "[[The Galactus Trilogy]]".<ref name="TR"/><ref name="kirbycollector1"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Fein|first=Eric|title=The Creation of the Fantastic Four|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4042-0765-3|page=48}}</ref><ref>[[Roy Thomas|Thomas, Roy]]. ''Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe'' ([[Sterling Publishing]]: New York City, 2006), p. 113. {{ISBN|1-4027-4225-8}}; {{ISBN|978-1-4027-4225-5}}</ref><ref>[[Stan Lee|Lee, Stan]], in Thomas, ''Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe'', audio commentary #37</ref> Kirby did not intend Galactus to reappear, to preserve the character's awe-inspiring presence.<ref name=kirbycollector2>{{Cite journal|last = Alexander|first = Mark|title = Galactus, Pillager of the Planets! Kirby's First Demi-god|journal = Jack Kirby Collector|date = December 1998}} Reprinted in {{cite book|author-link=TwoMorrows Publishing|editor-first=John|editor-last=Morrow|title=The Collected Jack Kirby Collected Volume 5|year=2006|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|location=[[Raleigh, North Carolina]]|isbn=978-1-893905-57-3}}</ref> Fan popularity, however, prompted Lee to ask Kirby for Galactus' reappearance,<ref name=kirbycollector2/> and the character became a mainstay of the Marvel Universe.