Galactus: The Devourer #1 CoverWhat did you think of Galactus: The Devourer #1?

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Click here for Marvelite's review of Galactus #1 or here for pictures from the comic.


Below are people's reviews of Galactus: The Devourer #1

5 Stars = Excellent, 4 Stars = Good, 3 Stars = Average, 2 Stars = Below Average, 1 Star = Poor

These reviews contain spoilers!


Review by Brent (on Silver Surfer Message Board)

A decent opening book which I found to be well-paced. The relationship between Norrin and Alicia sort of reminded me of the romance between Dr. Manhattan and whatserface from WATCHMEN; the tortured, near-omnipotent alien being and the "earth girl"...nice line by Alicia (during the kiss...I'm paraphrasing cuz I don't have the book in front of me, "Let's enjoy the time we have right now"). I liked how the Surfer and the Thing faked the fight at the museum to snag the Mole Man and how they were able to put aside their differences, like men, and work together. And apparently, the Surfer is still devoid of emotion, though he appears to be getting it back, as evidenced by his ability to feel anger (during the "fight"). My only real complaint (aside from the artwork, which I kind of found to be...mediocre) is that...well, I wanted to see less of the Mole Man and *more* of Galactus, or at least Red Shift!! I know, I'm being impatient.... ;-) I can wait. All in all, I liked issue #1, and if it stays to form for the next 5 books, this could very well be the best Marvel mini-series in quite some time.

Writing: 4 stars
Art: 3 stars
Overall: 4 1/2? :-) ?


Come on, did anyone *really* think for a second that the Silver Surfer (who can endure the core of stars and the crushing forces of a black hole) couldn't survive the impact with the meteor? ;-)!!!!


Review by spacedout (on Silver Surfer Message Board)

writing 3 3/4 stars
art 3
and over all book 3 1/2 stars


What's Alicia doing being a super-heroine?


Review by Galan (on Silver Surfer Message Board)

Honestly, after all that waiting, I could never be trully disappointed but neither will I be really satisfied. Having said that, Galactus: the Devourer #1 was exactly what I expected:

The Story: The story opens up with a typical Galactus feeding scene. Actually, I've seen better feeding scenes the past few months (Wolverine and X-Men of all places). Ms. Simonson's portrayal of Norrin and Alicia's relationship was done pretty well. It seems that Norrin is slowly but surely getting his emotions back. As a result, he seems even more engagingly innocent than usual. I like the way Louise had Alicia take control of the relationship, showing her inner strength and beauty. I clearly see Louise's touch as far as this goes : ). As much as I hate to admit it, it seems she's the best person for Norrin to be around during this transition. However, I DID NOT like the fact that she still has the armor from the Mergence story nor do I think she should share in Norrin's adventures in the future. It just doesn't feel right. The interactions between the characters dominated issue #1 rather than the action scenes. We see a silly, bogus fight between Ben and the Surfer and even here the palpable strain between the two overshadowed the pseudo-fracas itself.

SS: "But I wanted to prolong the fight...to smash Ben's face ...as much as he wanted to smash mine."

The dialogue between the two were hilarious at times though.

Ben: "So..how come she didn't make you wear a monkey suit (tux)?"
Norrin: "Because I'm not a monkey...?"

I also would have prefered more Galactus and less MoleMan but hey, all the more to look forward to next issue : ).

Rating ****

The Art: I think they asked Muth to do this mini-series to convey a slicker, more sophisticated feel to it. I guess they want to get away from the cartoony feel that other books have. To me, Muth's style sometimes works, sometimes not. I don't think Muth's style is suited very well to portray slam-bang action scenes. His rendition of Galactus was so-so. His Surfer was ok but jeez, Red Shift looked liked a cheesy refuge (oxymoron)from the WWF. Wonderman (I think that's who it was) looked remarkably like Sunspot. To be honest, I'm looking forward to John Buscema's taking over the rest of the mini series.

Rating **1/2 stars

The Fanboy Review:

Well we didn't see SS destroy solar systems or Galactus wolf down a Celestial Host but we were given a low-cal diet of the Surfer displaying his more subtle powers.

1. He was phasing through walls througout the book.
2. Displayed a variation of supervision...surfer-vision of you will.
3. Altered his own appearance to look human.
4. I could have sworn he flew without his board...not sure.
5. He did get knocked cold for a while...but at least it was no mere bullet between the eyes that did it but a whole freakin meteor. (I know, I know, Thor fans don't find this funny.)

Well, maybe we'll get more action in the next few installments.

Fanboy Rating: ***


Overall: I'm ecstatic that we finally have a comic devoted to Galactus and the Surfer albeit for a limited time. I also have faith in Louise Simonson to deliver a wonderful overall product. #1 is a solid if not spectacular start to what I hope will be the springboard for a new ongoing series. I feel confident that the secrets that will be revealed about SS and Galactus will indeed rock Marvel and put Cosmic back into the forefront. If this doesn't do it, then sadly I think nothing else will.


Overall Rating: ***1/2 (Sure to improve with the next issue)


Review by Lord Thanos (on Silver Surfer Message Board)

Greetings True Believers!

Well at long last we get the mag we've been waiting for, and what a let down!
First off what "rocket scientist" picked Sienkiewicz to ink Muth?????
Don't misunderstand Sienkiewicz has down some things I really enjoyed but his style is sort of an aquired taste and always looks "messy" or sketchy. And you can see his inking style influencing the art. This is exactly the opposite of what Muth's art needs when being inked. When inked well Muth's work looks like a cross between Kirby and Meobius. We didn't get to see that this issue. There are a few good pics here and there but few dramatic pieces and none of the teaser stuff we saw prior to the release of The Devourer.
So the art, thumbs down. I hate giving out grades or stars but since I've been asked to
Art= **
Now Simmonson's writing is better than the art.
The only problem is the Marketing strategy of Changing the title to Galactus from Silver Surfer, because clearly this is a Silver Surfer issue! It is a direct continuation from the series (which was Louise's intention originaly)So as a Surfer fan who loved the series this is a good thing. But as a Galactus fan I found it rather chinzy on the apps of the Big G! This would have been an excellent Silver Surfer #147 but is a week Galactus #1!
Still this was not up to Louise, not her fault & considering that we might not have gotten the story at all without the title switch, 'nuff said!
I'll give Louise (though I may be over generous because I'm a fan)
Writing= ****

Things I didn't like
The Return of the "Bionic Blind Woman!" Somebody just kill her! I used to like Alicia but she just doesn't belong in cybenetic armor! The Surfer needs to hurry up and break this betty's heart and get it over with. Alicia is the Albatross around the Surfer's neck! Over all fans do not really care for this relationship (though it has had some interesting moments. The one in Galactus #1 between Ben and Norrin being one of them). The Cybernetic armor was gone, why'd you have to bring it back Weezie???

Said it before & I'll say it again. Not enough Galactus

The thing that worries me is that this first issue will not inspire good sales. I hope I am wrong. I want the to see the second six part story.
I'm glad Buscema is replacing Muth. I think fans will enjoy his art more. I would rather see new fresh talent brought to the series but I will settle for "clasic" talent.
anyway an overall rating for the first issue ***
3 stars.
I hope it gets better, I have faith in you Louise!


Review by Mystic (on Silver Surfer Message Board)

I have mixed feelings about this issue. It wasn't as good as I hoped, nor as bad as I thought when I read some reviews around here.

What do I think?

Writing: The writing was okay. The story kept my interest, at times, it seem to be more soap opera-ish, but I can handle that. But in this area, I'll agree with LT. Isn't this supposed to be about Galactus? I think he had 2-3 panels and that was it. I expected this to delve in into Galactus and present a problem that will take the next 6 issues to solve. Instead, as LT so eloquently puts it, this is a continuation of the SS series. I have no problem with this, and wish she would have been the writer after DeMatteis left as this was a much better story than his were, but for an issue number 1 of Galactus: The Devourer mini series, he was lacking way too much. This may change with the next coming issues, but I can only go by what I saw for the 1st.

On a sidenote, did Louise say that when SS was stranded on Earth (SS Vol 3, #1) Galactus gave him back all his memories? Isn't that incorrect? Didn't that happen in SS#50? And why indeed did she bring back Super Alicia? That is lame!

Art: I have mixed feelings here. I thought it was okay, but LT is once again correct in saying the inking doesn't do a good job. The style clearly calls for something different. I can handle the style, though usually I prefer a style sort of like when Ron Lim was there or even George Perez. The art is obviously going to change for the next 5, so it kind of matters little right now.

Ratings:

Writing: 3.5 stars
Art: 3 stars


Overall summary: It was a pretty decent story, but not really what I expected. More like a regular SS story than some cosmic event or something big that Galactus is involved with. The art is mediocre. Super Alicia has got to go. I'm hoping with the re-introduction of Mantis that Alicia will disappear. Either that or maybe she's some sort of clone and not the real Alicia. ;) It was decent, but I wonder if it'll attract non-cosmic SS fans. Issue 1 may be a disappointment to them and they just may drop it. The only good thing might be that if it is a hit (it being mostly an SS story) would allow (hopefully) for Marvel management to reinstitute SS in his own series.


Review by Grim (on Silver Surfer Message Board)

I agree with everyone else that's posted... It's NOT a Galactus book but a continuation of the Surfer's. In that regard, it isn't a bad Surfer book; but I was Looking forward to GALACTUS... and cosmic battles... and the Avengers doing Avenger stuff... What I got was some neat stuff... The Surfer 'signing' the boy's skateboard and the Kirby- esque picture of the Surfer catching the crate. I even enjoyed the fake fight between the Thing and the Surfer. (Notice all those sentences say 'Surfer', not Galactus!)

Pluses: Has the Surfer & Avengers & Fantastic Four and almost Galactus... Has the Surfer showing off different powers... Has the Surfer (with Sue Richards) saving Manhatten...

Minuses: Super Alicia...The Moleman (In a Galactus book?)...Super Alicia... The Art (I almost dropped the Surfer regular book before it was canceled {the stories for the last 20 or so issues didn't help})... Super Alicia...

Techinal Minuses... The Thing and the Surfer are hit by the Moleman's 'sound weapon' and the Surfer has to look around for the source? This is the being who can track an atom from a light year away and can 'see' most of the energy spectrum. He should have been able to say the energy came from that location and pointed.

The meteor(speed): The heroes stand and talk while the meteor takes it's sweet time getting to earth. the Surfer should have been able to see it far away enough to do something about, IF he was looking in that direction.But still, once a person has seen a meteor (I've seen a bunch on clear Pennsylvania nights)you don't have time to even say 'LOOK' before it's gone. Maybe I'm confusing meteors with shooting stars, but I think meteors travel pretty fast too.

Thor: Toward the end of the book, he was just standing in mid air! He can levitate now? (And Iron Man's boot jets weren't firing, either) Maybe in the cosmic card game he lost his invulnabiliy to average bullets and gained the power of un-assisted flight. The only explanation I can come up with is he and the rest off the heroes were standing on Sue's invisible forcefield. If Thor was spinning his hammer above his head, I could buy his staying airborne. (That would be tough for him to do, but I'd buy into it.)

The Meteor(Power): The Surfer says "No, Let me handle this!" I would have rather seen all the heroes blast the meteor at the same time. Mjolnir and Repulser rays and Nova flame and Microwave energy and Telekenisis and Cosmic blasts! Cap and Sue and Justice running around saving people from fragments. It ain't like Thor and the rest of the Avengers (or the FF) to stand around and let someone else take care of business. And I think the Surfer could have done something different than flinging himself in front of it. Would you stop a runaway truck by standing in the road? Again, raw power from ALL the heroes would have been the best way to go.

To give the book a star rating...
Story 3 1/2 stars (Utilization of points in the story... 2 stars)
Art 2 stars. Except for just a few panels, I didn't care for it. Get Lim or Perez (Or Kirby's ghost!) (Why was the Surfer GREEN sometimes?)


Review by Harker (on Silver Surfer Message Board)

Okay first the art. It wasn't good. I am being kind. Has comic book art gone from realism to conceptual expressionism? The surfer, and indeed most of the characters, except for Thor who I thought looked pretty good, looked like they were drawn by a four year old. I am a fan of whoever drew for the George Perez run on ish 111-121. That art seemed appropriate and it was exacting(I liked the way the surfer reflected on his own skin). I liked the coloring but that is small redemption from such poor drawing. To me it seemed too much like Sandman, which I liked, but that comic had a different feel than ss.

Next the story. Okay if there are any kids reading this you might want to avert your eyes. The story was terrible. The writing wasn't up to the standards of our board fan-fiction. I am sorry and I hope Louise Simonson isn't going to read this but I almost didn't bother finish reading the ish. Well that's a bit exagerated but let it suffice to say I didn't like it. I felt like ss should have shown more emotion. Although I did like the joke about the art critic but that and the bit about the monkey suit were lone instances. He seemed like the writers were trying to write a cosmic Data from ST:TNG. Since when does ss ask if his attire is appropriate? He has been on earth long enough to know what is appropriate without having to ask Alicia. I did like the relationship, on the whole, between ss and Alicia although the Mergence suit was a bad touch, IMO. Galactus was portrayed alright but the herald, as Grim said, did indeed demonstrate the pervasiveness of "wrestling". What else do I want to say about the story...oh yeah I almost forgot. The Moleman. Oh god whose idea was that? Since when is he a threat to ss or Thor? That shield scene was not good. There were about a dozen ways ss should have been able to get through that shield without causing a power feedback. He could have used that phasing trick for instance. Last gripe. The comet/spaceship. Omigawd since when couldn't Thor or ss or maybe the Invisible Woman, or perhaps Justice take care of one small comet without very little difficulty? I know this isn't the Unilord ss but this is still the herald of Galactus right? Since when could anyone, let alone ss himself, think that a comet could kill him? That was really stupid. Back in v1 Lee had ss in between two asteriods streaking towards Earth and getting crunched by them and he was still only knocked out. Did ss forget that little incident? Why didn't ss simply vaporize the comet? That would've made this fanboy perhaps forgive this overall poor issue that was supposed to be the definitive Silver Surfer.

My rating:

Art-** out of five

Writing-**

Fanboy lure-1/2*


Average Ratings by Review writers:
Writing: 3.6 Stars, Art: 2.6 Stars, Overall: 3.3 Stars (Slightly above average)


Above is a pie chart of how visitors to the Silver Surfer Website and Galactus Web Page rated Galactus: The Devourer #1 between the dates of July 22nd and July 26th.

Average Ratings of Overall Issue by 137 Visitors to the Site (as of 7/26):
4.1 Stars (Better than Good Issue!)

47.5 % (Red) said the issue was Excellent (5 Stars)!

32.3% (Green) said the issue was Good (4 Stars).

11.1% (Blue) said the issue was Average (3 Stars).

4.0% (Yellow) said the issue was Below Average (2 Stars).

5.1% (Pink) said this issue was Poor (1 Star).


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