Galactus' Daughter Has the Most Disturbing Power in Marvel's Entire Canon

Summary Galacta's ability to calculate calorie count for every living being in existence highlights her constant struggle against her cosmic-level hunger.

Despite being a comedy story, "Galacta" offers a portrayal of a character fighting against the darkness of their nature to become a hero, a storyline that would fit right into the mainstream Marvel Universe.

The character of Galacta has potential to be further explored in the mainstream Marvel canon, or used in a more serious role in an alternate continuity such as Marvel 2099.

The daughter of Galactus has one of the most uncomfortable powers in Marvel Comics: she sees every living creature in the universe in terms of the caloric intake it would provide her. In this sense, her resolution not to devour sentient creators also positions her as one of Marvel's most unwavering heroes.

Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #2 contains the story "Galacta" – written by Adam Warren, with art by Hector Sevilla Lujan – introducing the character of the same name. Though "Galacta" is a humorous story, it proceeds from a premise that is, in the abstract, horrifying.

As the daughter of the Devourer of Worlds, Galacta is constantly hungry on an unimaginable scale. As a result, has to have considerable heroic willpower to resist giving in to the never-ending temptation, something that is played to solid comedic effect in the story.

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Galactus' Daughter GALACTA Knows The Calorie Count Of Every Living Creature

A Surprisingly Terrifying Power

Galacta's ability to calculate the calorie count of every living thing is a punchline with an unsettling subtext to it.

Galacta herself offers the perfect analogy for her perpetual state of gnawing hunger in one of her social media posts, which are featured throughout the story. She writes:

Ever hear that bit about how you shouldn't go to the supermarket when you're hungry? WELL I AM ALWAYS IN THE %$&ING SUPERMARKET.

Throughout the story, this played for laughs, such as when Galacta meets with the Fantastic Four, and describes their "molasses-slow" rate of thinking, before appending a Homer Simpson-esque "mmm...molasses." Appearing in Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #2, an issue dedicated to the publisher's more obscure characters, "Galacta" offers a quick, irreverent, low-stakes introduction to the daughter of Marvel's first great cosmic villain.

Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #2 (2009); story, "Galacta" Writer: Adam Warren

Artist: Hector Sevilla Lujan

Letterer: Simon Bowland

Cover Artist: David Williams; Lauren Martin (color)

Yet, in a way, the stakes are anything but low. Though the story is a comedy, it presents a character that is deeply afflicted by her "cosmic awareness," and cosmic appetite, inherited from Galactus. In particular, Galacta's ability to calculate the calorie count of every living thing is a punchline with an unsettling subtext to it. By her nature, Galacta views everything, and everyone, in terms of consumption – and as a result, the story's depiction of her constant struggle against that nature also positions her as a great hero.

Galacta Would Fit Right Into The Mainstream Marvel Canon

A Character With Massive Potential

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The right creative team could take the premise of "Galacta" and extrapolate a cosmic horror story from it, using an otherwise character in a completely unexpected way.

While "Galacta" is a humor story, readers shouldn't be quick to discount the possibility that its eponymous character could be brought into the mainstream Marvel continuity, or used in a future alternate continuity – such as the recently revitalized 2099 imprint, for example, which explores a possible future for the Marvel Universe. More than one Marvel superhero has originated as a one-off joke, before finding their way into canon. The right creative team could take the premise of "Galacta" and extrapolate a cosmic horror story from it, using an otherwise character in a completely unexpected way.

Galacta's social media posts shed further light on the beings she has consumed, as well as introducing the dark notion that she can "taste" terror on a massive scale, as she writes: 'Tis true. We can "taste" megascale neurochemical states in the biomass we consume (if a few billion beings are abjectly terrified, say.)

For a lighthearted story, "Galacta" from Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #2 manages to pack in a lot of both darkness and light, as the character commits to being a hero, despite her hunger. As Galacta notes – narrating to her absentee father – she has "sworn to protect" Earth, which she calls a "beautiful but vulnerable little world." There is something deeply resonant about her character's struggle, as presented in the story, and she offers a unique take on Galactus that would be worth further exploration at Marvel.

Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #2 is available now from Marvel Comics