Fantastic Four #244
Published and © by Marvel, July 1982
Title: “Beginnings and Endings”
Synopsis: Galactus is brought back from the brink of death by the FF – but does that mean he’ll spare Earth?
Writer: John Byrne
Artist: Byrne
Review: Instead of picking up right where the previous issue left off (see review of FF #243), writer/artist John Byrne shifts forward to an exhausted, disheveled Johnny Storm mumbling “Frankie’s gone.” This intro sets up the story beautifully, as Byrne flashes back to the events leading up to Frankie Raye’s departure to the cosmos. When the character was first introduced, some feared Byrne was rehashing his classic Dark Phoenix storyline. But the morality play of Frankie Raye and Galactus hits different notes, and this conclusion is strong, sophisticated stuff. Byrne’s first three-part FF epic remains a winner from start to finish.
Grade: A
Second opinion: “A load of fun.” – Matt Denn, Comics Coast to Coast #2, 1982 … “The first major story arc of Byrne’s FF run, one that manages to tell the first great Galactus story in well over a decade and one that manages to reset the character as a majestic, cosmically removed being.” – Pierre Comtois, “Marvel Comics in the 1980s: An Issue By Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon,” 2014
Cool factor: Galactus gets a new herald … and some friends?
Notable: First appearance of Nova. … Guest-starring the Avengers and Doctor Strange.
Collector’s note: According to MyComicShop.com, there is a Mark Jewelers variant of this issue.
Character quotable: “A few less bug-eyed monsters? What’s that compared to my being able to go … out there?” – Frankie Raye (strong moral fiber, that one)
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on Sept. 24, 2009.
