Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Oliver Coipel
Inks: Mark Morales
Colors: Laura Martin
Letters: Joe Sabino
Cover: Oliver Coipel, Mark Morales, Laura Martin
Editor: Charlie Beckerman, Ralph Macchio
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: July 2011
Cover Price: $3.99
Title: The Galactus Seed 2: Neighbors
Upon arrival on Earth, The Silver Surfer goes around warning the inhabitants of Broxton, OK that Galactus is coming and that they should remove themselves from the area as quickly as possible. Galactus isn’t coming for the people or Broxton, he’s coming for Asgard – specifically for what’s contained in Asgard.
Last issue, Thor, Lady Sif, and Loki found the seed of The World Tree and brought it to Odin, but not before Thor was injured. Now Thor is training the Brigade of the Realms, which is made up of rag-tag Asgardians and the young Loki, teaching them to fight to protect Asgard. That doesn’t go so well at first. They are up against a stone colossus but are ineffective against it, so it’s up to Thor and Lady Sif to save the day. Thor has his mind elsewhere as he ponders his injury that doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
Meanwhile, Heimdall meets with Odin to find out why he isn’t able to see what the All-Father is doing. Odin explains that Heimdall wouldn’t understand but proceeds to tell him as much as he can about the seed – or shall we say, egg. He then places it inside the Destroyer for which we can assume is for safe keeping.
The Silver Surfer arrives in Asgard and tells Odin that he has something that Galactus wants. If Odin entrusts it to him, he will see to it that the Asgardians will escape harm. When Odin defies him, Thor steps in to do battle with the Herald of Galactus.
Matt Fraction is doing a fine job at weaving the different threads of this story together. Admittedly, not having read many Silver Surfer stories in the past few years, the Surfer sounds to me like the proper Herald of Galactus he used to be; the dialog and tone reflects that aspect.
The art team of Oliver Coipel, Mark Morales, and Laura Martin do a great job at bringing this book to life as well. There’s a great mix of horizontal and vertical pages which really helps bring the artwork to life. It’s a very enjoyable read and it doesn’t disappoint on any level.
– The Comic Book Critic
Comic Book Critic Rating: 8.0