World At War!

When one imagines the apocalyptic imagery of an entire world attacking the deadly, galaxy-spanning ravager known as Galactus, it usually takes the form of the planet's desperate population marshaling whatever forces it has and launching them in vain to repel a being that no conventional weapons had a prayer of stopping--in tandem with a mad rush to evacuate their planet (assuming they had the means) and escape certain death.

Of course, when it's the physical planet itself which wages that battle, even Galactus finds himself dropping his dispassionate demeanor and girding himself for a *ahem* world war.

Ego, the living planet, was described by the Rigellian Recorder thus:

While writer Stan Lee's broadly descriptive parlance is in full swing in the Recorder's assessment, the quick takeaway is that Ego is a living planet in a more literal sense, beyond the definition of a world which has the necessary conditions for life to grow and thrive. As for the fluidic Bio-verse, apparently it's a "universe" within a universe--with both the Bio-verse and Ego existing at the center of the Black Galaxy, a designation which piques one's curiosity if anything does. After all, an entire galaxy shrouded in darkness (assumedly to an even greater extent than what space itself would represent to the naked eye) and hosting a region of space composed of biological matter is bound to have one heck of an explanation for it.  For all we know, the Bio-verse fills the Black Galaxy.

Thor's dealings here with Ego come at the behest of the Rigellian Colonizers, who were willing to forego their attempted acquisition of Earth in exchange for meeting the growing (i.e., expansive) threat of the Black Galaxy. But it's another figure who demands our attention today--one whose preliminary analysis suggests that such a galaxy, with its strong readings of life energy, bears investigation.

Following the initial appearance of Galactus in Fantastic Four, Lee then began giving the character a gradual build-up in the pages of Thor, his approaching threat manifesting in scenes of destruction on one world after another, their civilizations either decimated or their survivors fleeing to the void of space. Eventually, those scenes would culminate in Odin taking notice of Galactus, followed by his origin story; for now, though, Thor, alerted to the threat of Galactus by the Rigellians and vowing to put an end to it, follows the trail of destruction which will lead him to his first encounter with the world-devourer, a foe who up until now the Thunder God had thought to be no more than a legend.

Unfortunately for Ego, however, there is yet another world which has gained the attention of Galactus--a world which will present a challenge to him unlike any other.

Artist Jack Kirby turned in a number of pages which featured superimposed characters on black-and-white imagery made up of a montage of effects shots. Presumably the ones with Ego were meant to convey how bizarre it would truly be to come across an entire planet bearing his features, though I must say that Kirby's pencil work was capable of standing impressively enough on its own--something we'll see more of during this conflict.

With the lines drawn, Galactus wastes no time in returning Ego's "greeting" with his own--and this battle between a living world and and the one who would consume it erupts in power and fury.

To underscore the threat of Galactus even more than the sight of countless refugees traveling aimlessly through space, Lee's story also presents us with the Wanderers, who we're told populated the first world which fell to Galactus. Having retrieved Thor and the Recorder from their wrecked spacecraft, damaged during the initial salvos exchanged between Ego and Galactus, they've realized that Thor's course will lead them to their own reckoning with Galactus--something which they're still committed to, even after generations of fruitless searching.

While the Wanderers aren't lacking in technology, we don't really learn what they bring to the table as far as making good on their vow to take revenge against Galactus. It's clear in the story that Thor appreciates their valor, but neither he nor the Recorder feels that they stand a chance against what they'll face.

As for Ego, by the looks of things that assessment may soon apply to this living planet, as well.

(Granted, a being like Galactus only needs his pod for transportation, but what a cramped fit it is for him! Is he trying to economize?)

For the purposes of this battle, at least, the properties of this Bio-verse don't appear to impede Galactus's ability to draw on anything he would in normal space to use against his foe, even though in essence he's weaponizing living matter (and thus indiscriminately destroying life on a massive scale in order to triumph against Ego--though to further muddy the waters, Ego himself considers the planetoids in the vicinity to be lifeless).

Galactus's assault has also inadvertently but critically damaged the mammoth ship of the Wanderers, which effectively puts an end to whatever they might have had planned for dealing with their foe. But with the situation now dire, and Ego on the ropes, another steps up to fulfill his own vow against the world-devourer--and even in airless space you can imagine his challenging words resonating across the distance.

We would see this fierce but brief battle play out in a separate post--but we learn that both Thor and the Wanderers were safely retrieved and brought to the planet's surface by Ego, where Thor used his hammer's power to drive Galactus out of the system. Thor hasn't dealt with Galactus in the way he (or the Wanderers, for that matter) had sworn to do, but he's clearly pleased at the way things turned out--as is Ego, who offers the Wanderers the home and sanctuary that their long mission had denied them.

Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of his origin, Ego isn't the most stable of entities in terms of mental health, and the Wanderers soon pay the price for his benevolence--while Galactus would in time have the last laugh on Ego.*

*And with Thor's help, at that. Funny the way things work out...

BONUS!

Some third-party coloring on Galactus's approach to the Black Galaxy.