Fantastic Four #48

A villain who was simply hungry

Nearly five years into The Fantastic Four, Lee and Kirby wanted an antagonist who broke the mold of the period's supervillains. As Lee recalled in 1993, they had already created the Mole Man, the Frightful Four and Doctor Doom, and felt the only way to top themselves was a being with almost godlike powers. They did not want another would-be world conqueror. Their answer, in Lee's words, was a demigod who would "just be (don't laugh!) hungry," feeding on the life force of living planets.

Kirby remembered the source differently. "For some reason, I went to the Bible, and I came up with Galactus," he said, describing a figure so vast he "had to back away from him" to resolve the story. He called Galactus "a sort of god," comparable to Zeus.

The result ran across Fantastic Four #48 to #50, cover-dated March to May 1966, an arc fans soon called the Galactus Trilogy. In 2018 The Atlantic called it "the indisputable pinnacle of the so-called Silver Age of comic books."

A man on a flying surfboard

By the mid-1960s Lee and Kirby worked by what became known as the Marvel Method: they discussed a story, Kirby drew it from a brief synopsis, and Lee added dialogue and captions afterward. When Kirby turned in his pencils for this issue, they included a character the two had never discussed. "There, in the middle of the story we had so carefully worked out, was a nut on some sort of flying surfboard," Lee recalled in 1995, adding that his first thought was, "Jack, this time you've gone too far."

Kirby's reasoning was practical. Galactus, he said, should have a herald, and he gave the herald a surfboard "because I'm tired of drawing spaceships!" He also said the idea came from the news: "The kids in California were beginning to surf. I couldn't do an ordinary teenager surfing so I drew a surfboard with a man from outer space on it." Kirby later described the Surfer as "the fallen angel."

Lee came around. Taken with the character's noble features and his turn against his master to defend Earth, he began giving the Surfer an inner life, and the newcomer became a key part of the unfolding story. Joe Sinnott inked the issue, and Artie Simek lettered it.

Inside the issue

The issue opens by finishing the previous story: Black Bolt and the Fantastic Four stop Maximus, Black Bolt's brother, whose "atmo gun" was meant to wipe out humanity. Back in New York, the team sees the sky seemingly on fire, then filled with debris. The Watcher explains that he caused it to hide Earth from the Silver Surfer, scout for Galactus, a cosmic being who drains whole worlds. Elsewhere, Skrulls scramble to hide their own planet when the Surfer passes, because where he goes, his master follows.

Across the next two issues the Surfer finds Earth, signals Galactus from the roof of the Baxter Building, and is persuaded by Alicia Masters to turn on his master. Galactus is driven off under the threat of the Ultimate Nullifier but strands the Surfer on Earth as punishment.

Identification is straightforward: the cover is titled "The Coming of Galactus!", the price is 12 cents and the cover date is March 1966. Galactus appears only at the end of this issue, which is why some listings call his debut here a cameo while others call it his first appearance. The story has been reprinted nearly 50 times, including a facsimile edition in July 2025, so the original's cover date and price are the first things to check.

December 1965

The issue went on sale on December 9, 1965, the night A Charlie Brown Christmas, the first Peanuts television special, debuted on CBS. Six days later, Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 performed the first controlled rendezvous in Earth orbit.

It was also a hard season. In November, the Northeast blackout had darkened parts of seven states and Canada for up to 13 and a half hours, and the Battle of the Ia Drang had opened the first major fight between regular American and North Vietnamese forces. In January 1966, Batman premiered on ABC and Robert C. Weaver became the first African American cabinet member.

The copies and the prices

Fantastic Four #48 is one of the most heavily graded books of its era. When checked in October 2026, the grading census listed 10,909 copies: 9,588 universal, 676 signature series and 645 restored. One copy holds a 9.9, the highest grade, and 52 sit at 9.8. In June and July 2021 the census showed 39 universal copies at 9.8 and five signature series copies at 9.8, none higher.

On June 17, 2021, a CGC 9.8 with white pages sold at auction for $108,000. On September 8, 2021, a CGC 9.8 signature series copy, signed by Stan Lee on September 7, 2012, sold for $144,000, still the highest price at its auction house for the issue. A dealer's market report counts a $96,000 sale of a 9.8 in January 2024; it does not give the sale's venue or type, so it is not listed as a price here.

Then the only 9.9 appeared. It was announced at the end of August 2026 with no sales history, and on September 14, 2026, after 56 bids, it sold at auction in New York for $431,250. The listing described white pages and a separate certification for its staple placement, spine and color strike.

The grade this entry tracks, 7.0, accounts for 679 copies on the census. A CGC 7.0 with off-white pages sold in an online auction on August 5, 2025, for a winning bid of $1,925, and a CGC 7.0 with white pages sold for $1,464 on September 29, 2026.

The Surfer and the Devourer

Kirby did not intend Galactus to return, wanting to protect his awe-inspiring presence, but fan demand led Lee to ask for him back, and he became a fixture of the Marvel Universe. The Surfer returned as a guest in Fantastic Four #55 to #61, #72 and #74 to #77 between October 1966 and August 1968, got a solo backup story in Fantastic Four Annual #5 (November 1967), and in August 1968 launched his own series. Its first seven issues were 72-page, 25-cent giants, against the usual 36-page, 12-cent comic of the day.

Lee stayed protective of the character, asking other writers not to use him and teaming with Kirby on a 1978 graphic novel starring the Surfer. When the character later got a series written by someone else, Lee said "it's one book that I would have liked to have always done myself."

The story became the basis for the third issue of Marvels in 1994. On screen, Doug Jones played the Silver Surfer, voiced by Laurence Fishburne, in the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Ralph Ineson played Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps in 2025.

The numbers

Print run

No figure verified; not stated by the sources used

CGC census, October 2026

10,909 copies graded: 9,588 universal, 676 signature series, 645 restored

Highest grade

9.9: one copy (October 2026)

Copies at 9.8, October 2026

52: 45 universal, 5 signature series, 2 restored

CGC census, June and July 2021

39 universal at 9.8 and 5 signature series at 9.8, none higher

Copies at 7.0, October 2026

679

Cover price

12 cents, 36 pages

Timeline

1. Dec 9, 1965

   Fantastic Four #48 goes on sale, cover-dated March 1966.

2. May 1966

   Fantastic Four #50 concludes the Galactus Trilogy.

3. Oct 1966

   The Silver Surfer begins a run of guest appearances in Fantastic Four #55.

4. Nov 1967

   The Surfer gets a solo backup story in Fantastic Four Annual #5.

5. Aug 1968

   The Silver Surfer's own series launches.

6. 1978

   Lee and Kirby reunite for a Silver Surfer graphic novel.

7. 1994

   The third issue of Marvels retells the Galactus story.

8. 2007

   Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer reaches theaters.

9. Sep 7, 2012

   Stan Lee signs the copy that later sells for $144,000.

10. Jun 2021

    The grading census shows 39 universal copies at 9.8, none higher.

11. Jun 17, 2021

    A CGC 9.8 sells at auction for $108,000.

12. Sep 8, 2021

    A Lee-signed CGC 9.8 sells at auction for $144,000.

13. 2025

    Ralph Ineson plays Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

14. Jul 2025

    Marvel publishes a facsimile edition of the issue.

15. Aug 5, 2025

    A CGC 7.0 sells for a winning bid of $1,925.

16. Aug 31, 2026

    The only CGC 9.9 is announced for a September auction.

17. Sep 14, 2026

    The CGC 9.9 sells at auction in New York for $431,250.

18. Sep 29, 2026

    A CGC 7.0 with white pages sells for $1,464.

The world in 1965

• Nov 9, 1965

  The Northeast blackout darkens parts of seven states and Canada for up to 13 and a half hours.

• Nov 14, 1965

  The Battle of the Ia Drang begins in Vietnam.

• Dec 9, 1965

  A Charlie Brown Christmas debuts on CBS.

• Dec 15, 1965

  Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 perform the first controlled rendezvous in Earth orbit.

• Jan 11, 1966

  The first SR-71 Blackbird enters service at Beale Air Force Base.

• Jan 12, 1966

  Batman premieres on ABC television.

• Jan 13, 1966

  Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American cabinet member.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Fantastic Four #48 is number 62 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (59 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Stan Lee did not know the Silver Surfer existed until Kirby's finished pencils arrived; his first reaction was, "Jack, this time you've gone too far."
• Kirby said he gave the herald a surfboard because he was tired of drawing spaceships, and because he had read about California kids taking up surfing.
• Lee said Galactus would not want to conquer the world; he would just be hungry.
• Kirby did not mean for Galactus to come back; readers changed that.
• The issue went on sale the same day A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired.
• The only copy graded 9.9 drew 56 bids before selling for $431,250 in September 2026.
• Lee said the Silver Surfer was the one book he would have liked to write forever himself.