20 best superhero comics to read after Infinity War

6. Trial of Galactus

If you think that comics storylines are confusing, then you might want to take a seat for this one. The Trial of Galactus is definitely a coherent story, but it’s one that takes place over a long period of time. Moreover, it’s often interrupted by different stories, making the whole matter even more confusing. At least it’s collected in one of Marvel’s first-ever trade paperbacks as The Trial of Galactus.

Galactus is a massive being that originally existed as a man before the end of the previous universe. When he emerges from the end of the universe (that is, the Big Bang that precipitated our own existence), he’s got superpowers. Galactus also finds that he’s developed a hunger for literally eating planets. Throughout Marvel comics, he often shows up to eat the Earth, though he’s usually stopped by the Fantastic Four or some other set of superheroes.

In one storyline, he’s stopped by the Fantastic Four, who find that they are in the rare situation where they can actually kill Galactus and end the destruction. However, Reed Richards recognizes that Galactus is really a force of nature. It wouldn’t be entirely right to “kill” him, just as much as it would be wrong to kill, say, solar radiation or a hurricane. He helps Galactus get a new herald, Nova, who will help him find non-inhabited planets on which to snack.

Galactus can’t help but eat those delicious inhabited worlds, however. When he eats the central Skrull planet, a group of planets bands together, arrest Reed Richards and put him on trial. He protected Galactus, after all. Will Reed’s argument that Galactus is a natural force and necessary part of existence successfully get him off the hook?