The Forgotten Shame of Galactus

You know those embarrassing photos of yourself when you were younger?  Between the goofy haircuts and the dorky clothes, you just can't hide those old photo albums fast enough, right? 

Well, take heart...at least you're in good company.  Even the omnipotent space-god Galactus had some blush-worthy moments in his early appearances...namely what looked to be a huge English letter "G" proudly emblazoned on his armor during his first appearance in Fantastic Four #48 (1966).  Despite the fact that Galactus originated far beyond Earth, eons before the English language (or its various letters) were devised, there he was...sporting that big purple letter G for all the cosmos to see (click on the image for a better look).

Needless to say, the "G" was gone when he returned to Earth a few years later...but not before causing old Buckethead a considerable amount of embarrassment in the years since.

UPDATE: After doing a bit more research, it turns out Galactus sported embarrassing fashions all the way up through the 1980's, including this ill-advised "Choose Life" t-shirt, popularized by WHAM's "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" music video.

Not only was the t-shirt a shameless bid by Galactus to recapture his shrinking teen demographic, but its message was also intensely hypocritical in light of his planet-devouring ways.

Not exactly the old boy's proudest moment.

Comments

[Z Ryan]

Not to mention his original bare legs. Brr...

[Matthew Rees]

Perhaps the power cosmic means that all races perceive the letter in their own language. (This reads like a typical 70's Marvel footnote!)

[Ivan Wolfe]

In Kurt Busiek's Marvels (this is easiest to see in the 10th anniversary edition, where the enlarged text of all newspaper articles is contained in an appendix), one of the editorials written by J. Jonah Jameson uses the "G" on Galactus's chest to prove that it must have been a hoax, since it's unlikely an alien would know English.

[Mark Engblom]

Yeah, the bare legs are definitely another one of his humiliating previous looks.

As for different races perceiving the letter differently, that's more of a modern spin on Galactus, isn't it? I dunno. It has the stink of relativism to it....I prefer Galactus to be a giant humaniod who wears a two-pronged bucket on his head everywhere in the universe....no matter how illogical that might seem.

Ivan- Hah! I never saw THAT one! Hilarious!

[Siskoid]

Look, dude's name is Galactus, obviously from the Earth word "galaxy".

The arrow cycling back on itself (the universal sign of "I'll be back to eat your planet") is the least of his problems.

[Wes C]

I just thought it was the "refresh" button for his web browser.

Aren't the arrows on his head the"back" and "forward" buttons?

I'm sure there's a little icon of a house somewhere on that crazy uniform.

RESPECT THE KIRBY TECH!

[Rich]

He could have at least worn a "Frankie Says... Relax" T-shirt to comfort the masses. Before consuming them.