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Cover: John Buscema & Frank Giacoia

Fantastic Four #120

Name: Fantastic Four #120
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Mar 1972 · Marvel · 0.20 USD

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“The Horror That Walks on Air!”

★ 1st appearance — Air-Walker

About this Issue

Fantastic Four #120 marks the first appearance of Air-Walker (Gabriel Lan), Galactus's second herald and the direct successor to the Silver Surfer in Marvel's cosmic mythology — a role that deepened the Galactus mythos by establishing a lineage of doomed cosmic servants that would eventually include Firelord, Terrax, and Nova. The character's debut is structurally clever: what readers see in this issue is later revealed to be an android duplicate, not the original Xandarian hero, a twist that retroactively enriches the Bronze Age cosmic tapestry. The issue also leans into the book of Revelation's Archangel Gabriel for its central imagery — a trumpet-blowing harbinger proclaiming the world's end — giving the story a mythological weight unusual for early-Bronze-Age superhero fare. Stan Lee's final extended run on the title was winding down at this point, making the issue a notable creative marker at the close of an era.

In "The Horror That Walks on Air!", the Fantastic Four face their most unsettling threat yet when a mysterious alien known only as the Air-Walker descends upon the Baxter Building, silencing the team’s usual bravado with a chilling proclamation of doom. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic precision by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott, this 1972 classic delivers a pulse-pounding mystery that leaves readers on edge—especially with the eerie cover by Buscema and Giacoia.

writer Stan Lee · artist John Buscema · inker Joe Sinnott · letterer Artie Simek · cover John Buscema, Frank Giacoia

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $30

CGC 9.8 · 6 in census $4,687

CGC 9.6 · 20 in census $476

CGC 9.4 · 44 in census $196

CGC 9.2 · 35 in census $196

CGC 9.0 · 43 in census $143

CGC 8.5 · 49 in census $88

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CGC 8.0 · 41 in census $88

CGC 7.5 · 25 in census $84*

CGC 7.0 · 25 in census $75*

CGC 6.5 · 24 in census $59

CGC 6.0 · 10 in census $41

CGC 5.5 · 9 in census $41*

CGC 5.0 · 6 in census $41*

CGC 4.5 · 8 in census $36

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $36

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $36*

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $33*

CGC 2.5 · 1 in census $25*

CGC 2.0 none in existence

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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Raw / ungraded ▾ $3.95–$140 42 listings

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History

The issue was written by Stan Lee, penciled by John Buscema, inked by Joe Sinnott, and lettered by Art Simek — the core creative team that had stabilized the title after Jack Kirby's departure in 1970. Lee was in the last stretch of his long run as the book's scripter, and this arc (beginning here with a four-part story titled 'The Horror That Walks on Air!') allowed him to revisit the cosmic scale he had pioneered with Kirby in the Galactus Trilogy of Fantastic Four #48–50 (1966). The cover was penciled by Buscema and inked by Frank Giacoia. No extraordinary production anomalies have been documented for this issue beyond the existence of a UK edition with a 6p cover price and a National Diamond Sales advertisement insert variant.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Air-Walker (Gabriel Lan / android duplicate), Galactus's second herald after the Silver Surfer, introduced as the villain of the 'The Horror That Walks on Air!' story arc.
Created by writer Stan Lee and penciler John Buscema; inked by Joe Sinnott, lettered by Art Simek, cover by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia.
Published March 1972 by Marvel Comics (cover-dated March 1972; indicia publisher: Magazine Management Co. Inc.).
The Air-Walker appearing in this issue is later confirmed in Fantastic Four #122 to be an android — a robotic duplicate Galactus built after the original Gabriel Lan was killed in battle against the Ovoids; the full backstory of Gabriel Lan's Xandarian Nova Corps origins was not revealed until Thor #306.
Galactus dispatched the android Air-Walker to Earth specifically to reclaim the Silver Surfer as his herald, setting up the four-part arc that concludes in Fantastic Four #123.
Supporting and other characters in the issue include Agatha Harkness (appearing via mystical vision to warn the FF of coming danger), General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross (contacted by Reed Richards to fire missiles at the intruder), and Walter Collins (the Baxter Building's landlord, demanding the FF vacate after the opening burglary sequence).
The issue has been reprinted in Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 6 (2007, black-and-white), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 12 (2010), and Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 4 (2021).
Air-Walker went on to appear in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes animated series (episode 'Avengers Assemble') and as a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Contest of Champions and in Marvel Snap.