Issue(s): Silver Surfer #51
Cover Date: Jul 91
Title: "Hunger!"
Credits:
Ron Marz - Writer
Ron Lim - Penciler
Tom Christopher - Inker
John Lewandowski - Assistant Editor
Craig Anderson - Editor

Review/plot:
Silver Surfer's Infinity Gauntlet tie-ins become increasingly a waste of time, but the first few have some merit.

This one opens with a rare shot of Galactus without his helmet. But don't forget that John Byrne established in Fantastic Four #262 that the way we perceive Galactus is just based on our own ability to comprehend him, so if you don't like this, you can blame yourself.

Galactus would also like you to know that he's a little embarrassed with the way he's been depicted in this series sometimes, so please just forget about the time he and the In-Betweener got into a fist fight. Infinity Gauntlet will be much more awesome, he promises.

And Nova would like you to know that the reason she kissed Firelord was to make Silver Surfer jealous, since he kept going on and on about Mantis. So forget the idea that Starfox used his powers to force her to do it.

But the main point of the story is some character development for Nova. We see a flashback where the Silver Surfer takes her on a journey.

The Surfer shows her a primitive world, and asks her if she would feed that world to Galactus, despite the fact that the life on the planet hasn't matured to its potential. She says yes without hesitation. But then she finds out that they've actually traveled back in time, and they are on Earth. And then she gets it.

Since then, she led Galactus to unpopulated worlds. But with Galactus weakened from Thanos having robbed him from a meal, and now needing more than ever to power up to fight Thanos, Nova is forced to bring him to a world with life. Nova brings up the matter to Galactus and he shouts her down, but he later "forgives" her for her transgression since his meal was so tasty.

It's a good story, with a nice turning point for Nova. I have to admit that i personally kind of liked Nova as a complete sociopath that couldn't care less about alien life, but she's not very useful as a character in a way that Steve Englehart and apparently Ron Marz wanted to write her.

Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The flashback in this story is said to have taken place between Silver Surfer #43 and Silver Surfer #44. Any time that Nova seems to be leading Galactus to a planet without hesitation, like in Alpha Flight #97-100, can be explained as Galactus preparing for the fight with Thanos.

References:

• The Silver Surfer fought the In-Betweener in Silver Surfer #18.
  
• Nova kissed Firelord in Silver Surfer #19.
  
• The Silver Surfer says that he has not attempted time travel in some time. Indeed it was in the original Silver Surfer #6.
  
• It was mentioned in Silver Surfer #11 that Nova once traveled to the Lascaux Cave when she was still a human on Earth. Ron Marz has definitely done his homework.

Crossover: Infinity Gauntlet

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

It still strikes me as weird that they showed Galactus without his helmet. They should have gone the Green Goblin/Hobgoblin route and had his face hidden by various things until his helmet went back on. Seeing him looking like some long lost relative to Skurge the Executioner didn't really bring anything to his character.

That hollowed-out head look for Nova is just weird here.

Not bad. Probably the only one of the SS tie-in to Gaunlet that worked. the others are pure filler and pointless.

The retcons here, along with the Clumsy Foulup murder issue coming up, seem to suggest Marz was not too fond of Englehart's work.

Or Tom DeFalco wasn't. Marz does bring back Reptyl.

The hollow head that Lim draws on Nova has always bugged me. The unhelmeted head of Galactus is simething we've before, by the way, but not in Fnord's project: I think Bob Layton was the first artist to depict it, in the first (or second?) Hercules limited series.

First series, #4.

Here's a scan:

http://www.progressiveruin.com/images/galactuslaughherc2.jpg

Agree again with Bob. This was the only good IG tie-in and one of Marz's few highlights. Ron Lim is amazing.

Mike Sterling understandably doesn't wants us hotlinking to his images, so i put a few scans from the Hercules issue on the main blog.

Missing a great many "characters appearing", like the title character for instance...

Most of this issue is a flashback. Only Nova and Galactus appear in the present day sequence. But even so, "a great many"? Who else besides the Surfer?

Ooops, didn't realize flashbacks don't count.

I was thinking of Firelord, Doc Ock's appendages that terraform the planet, and I'm pretty sure that cave with the animal etchings is the one Darkseid sent Bruce Wayne back in time to, meaning one of those cave people is Batman ;).

Showing Galactus' face (which I believe was also done in one of the "Infinity Guantlet" issues) seems to sort of contradict Byrne's point about Galactus looking like whatever the looker sees:
https://marswillsendnomore.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/fantastic-four-262-009.jpg