Whilst the old-timer fans bemoaned the change, turning the world-eater Galactus into a swarm of carnivorous space bees or whatever for the second Fantastic Four film (and the Ultimate Universe comics, actually) makes sense for a modern audience. After all, whats scary about a giant purple man with a silly hat? Even at the time Galactus looked pretty goofy during his first appearance. The sixties Fantastic Four comic wasnt exactly short of goofy-looking characters, though, so he fit right in. One of the more interesting foibles about that huge dude with the antennae and the skirt is he looks different depending on who looks at him. If, say, he went to chow down on a planet that was populated by octopi, hed look to them like a multi-tentacled herald of doom. A recent issue of the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl revealed that he resembled a bush-tailed rodent to the heros furry sidekick. Its a bit like the end of Ghostbusters where they choose the form of their destruction.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
