Fantastic Four #49
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFantastic Four #49 — 'If This Be Doomsday!' — is the dramatic centerpiece of what fans and critics have come to call the Galactus Trilogy (issues #48–50), a three-issue arc that The Atlantic in 2018 described as 'the indisputable pinnacle of the so-called Silver Age of comic books.' This is the issue where Galactus receives his first full-page, fully realized appearance on both the interior pages and the cover, and where the Silver Surfer's moral pivot — sparked by the blind sculptress Alicia Masters — begins in earnest, establishing a template for the 'fallen angel' archetype that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby would mine for decades. The cosmic scale of the threat, the philosophical debate between Galactus and the Watcher, and the Surfer's awakening conscience collectively pushed Marvel storytelling from street-level superheroics into genuinely mythological territory, expanding what American superhero comics could aspire to be. It also marks the first appearance of the Punisher — not the Frank Castle vigilante of later decades, but a half-robot, half-organic alien enforcer dispatched by Galactus — the earliest Marvel character to carry that name.
In "If This Be Doomsday!", the Fantastic Four race against time to stop Galactus, while the Watcher takes the Human Torch on a desperate quest for a weapon that might turn the tide. With Alicia Masters urging the Silver Surfer to choose humanity, the fate of Earth hangs in the balance. Written by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with Kirby’s dynamic art and Joe Sinnott’s bold inks, this landmark issue features Kirby and Sinnott on the cover.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 22 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
CGC 9 ▾ $6,600 2 listings
CGC 8 ▾ $1,675–$2,880 5 listings
CGC 7.5 ▾ $1,340–$1,500 2 listings
CGC 7 ▾ $1,200–$1,549 2 listings
CGC 6.5 ▾ $800–$839 2 listings
CGC 5.5 ▾ $290–$690 2 listings
CGC 5 ▾ $488–$650 6 listings
CGC 4 ▾ $450–$800 6 listings
CGC 3.5 ▾ $425–$450 2 listings
CGC 2.5 ▾ $300–$385 5 listings
CGC 2 ▾ $340–$495 2 listings
CGC ▾ $415–$2,799 4 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $325–$725 17 listings
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The Galactus Trilogy was conceived by Jack Kirby and scripted by Stan Lee under the 'Marvel Method,' in which Kirby plotted and penciled the pages in full before Lee wrote dialogue and captions from the finished art. Kirby noted that his inspiration for Galactus came from biblical archetypes — he described the character as 'a sort of god' who exists beyond conventional moral judgment — while biographer Mark Evanier also suggests Kirby wanted to subvert the science-fiction convention that alien visitors would engage with humanity, imagining instead a force that simply did not care. The Silver Surfer himself had debuted in #48 as a completely unplanned addition: Kirby inserted the character into pencils without discussing him with Lee, explaining he needed a herald for Galactus and had grown tired of drawing spaceships. Analysis of surviving pencil art for #49 — examined by Marvel editor Tom Brevoort — reveals Kirby's detailed border notes directing the story, and shows inker Joe Sinnott refining faces and adding texture that became definitive to the trilogy's look.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title: 'If This Be Doomsday!' — the second chapter of the three-issue Galactus Trilogy (Fantastic Four #48–50, March–May 1966).
- First full appearance of Galactus (Galan): while Galactus appeared in cameo at the end of #48, issue #49 is his first complete, sustained appearance across the story's pages.
- First cover appearance of both Galactus and the Silver Surfer — the cover, penciled by Kirby and inked by Joe Sinnott, is their debut together on a comic book cover.
- First appearance of the Punisher (Galactus's half-robot, half-organic alien enforcer) — an entirely separate character from the Frank Castle vigilante introduced later in Marvel history.
- This issue reveals Alicia Masters's surname for the first time — over 40 issues after her introduction, she is explicitly named 'Alicia Masters.'
- Credits: script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Sam Rosen; Kirby's co-plotting is acknowledged by both creators in numerous interviews.
- The letters page includes a letter from Dave Cockrum, writing from Naval Air Station Miramar, California — years before he became the defining artist of the All-New, All-Different X-Men.
- Notable reprints include Marvel's Greatest Comics #36 (July 1972), Marvel Treasury Edition #2 (December 1974), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four vol. 5, Fantastic Four Epic Collection vol. 3 – 'The Coming of Galactus' (2018), and a 2025 Marvel Facsimile Edition. The Galactus Trilogy was also adapted into episodes of both the 1967 and 1994 Fantastic Four animated television series, and the Trilogy's events were retold from a street-level perspective in Marvels #3 (1994) by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross.
Cast · 11 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in HIP Comics #1910 (1967), Los 4 Fantásticos #76 (1967), Hit Comics Die fantastischen Vier #229 (1971), Marvel's Greatest Comics #36 (1972), I Fantastici Quattro #45 (1972), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #2 (1973), The Mighty World of Marvel #105 (1974), The Mighty World of Marvel #106 (1974), Marvel Treasury Edition #2 (1974), ファンタスティック・フォー [Fantastic Four] #2 (1978), The Fantastic Four #[nn] (1979), Los 4 Fantásticos #27 (1980), Los 4 Fantásticos #28 (1980), Fantastic Four Pocket Book #4 (1980), Super-Villain Classics #1 (1983), Marvel-pocket #1/1985; 2 (1985), Marvel-pocket #2/1985 (1985), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #40 (1986), Clásicos Marvel #18 (1990), Clásicos Marvel #19 (1990), Silver Surfer: The Coming of Galactus #[nn] (1992), Marvel Masterworks #25 (1993), Fantastic Four #[nn] (1998), Essential Fantastic Four #3 (2000) + 27 more
Key issues in Fantastic Four
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.