10 Times That Fantastic Four Got Weird (In The Best Possible Way)

Even though superhero stories are meant to be larger-than-life and wondrous, very few have had adventures as utterly surreal as the Fantastic Four.

The "fantastic" in the team's name isn't an embellishment. The first family of heroes have done it all. They don't stop bankrobbers, mobsters, or animal-themed supervillains - the Fantastic Four's missions usually involve fighting planets, travelling beyond the realm of reality, or turning into bananas. (Yes, that was a real comic.)

Also, Marvel's First Family have teamed up with an alien on a surfboard so many times, it doesn't register anymore how ridiculous that sounds.

Basically, if you're reading a Fantastic Four comic, you're expecting the story to be wacky and bizarre. You'd be disappointed if the gang weren't battling living equations or building a new Earth. When the heroic quartet go back in time, battle apes on the moon, or make baby versions of the Avengers, the reader doesn't bat an eyelid.

But every once in a while, the stories are so bonkers, you can't believe what you're reading. So, which of the Fantastic Four's stories are the most fantastical?

Before Galactus was the Devourer of Worlds, he was a respected scientist called Galan who lived in a reality predating the conventional Marvel universe. When his universe ended, all of that reality's power merged with Galan, allowing him to survive into the modern universe and turning him into a cosmic being called Galactus.

But in the four-part story, Rising Storm, the planet-killing titan loses his Power Cosmic, reverting him to his humanoid form. When the Fantastic Four discover his power will inevitably return, Reed Richards reasons his teammates should teach Galan about compassion, hoping this will convince him to lay off the whole "eating planets" thing.

But since Galan lived in a utopia, he finds human society revolting by comparison, stating his "sanitation systems were more pleasant". However, Galan is won over when he sees how hopeful humans are, even in the direst situations. Galan was so moved, he banished himself to another dimension to avoid the Power Cosmic from finding him, hoping he would never revert to Galactus again.

Even though Galactus is one of the most unusual characters in comics, he seems more surreal when talking to the FF on a human level.