When the cosmic entity and iconic Fantastic Four villain known as Galactus needed a new herald, Marvel developed a tyrannical character who, at first glance, seemed eerily similar to a certain Dark God from DC Comics, continuing the long tradition of these companies borrowing from and riffing on one another in the comic space.
It’s no secret that Marvel and DC have a variety of familiar-looking and otherwise comparable characters living in their respective comic book universes, with one company often aping the other via subtle or entirely blatant ways either in jest, as a flex, or simply to capitalize on the other’s success.
In 1979’s Fantastic Four #211, Galactus is on the lookout for a replacement herald and, after enlisting the Fantastic Four to help, Galactus imbues the Power Cosmic in an alien tyrant named Tyros, creating his latest cosmic lackey, Terrax, a character who looks a whole lot like DC’s nigh-omnipotent villain, Darkseid.
Galactus Turned Marvel’s Darkseid Lookalike, Terrax, Into One of His Heralds
Fantastic Four #211 – 1979 (Marv Wolfman, John Byrne and Joe Sinnott)
Forced to do Galactus’ bidding to save the Earth, the Fantastic Four are transported to the faraway planet of Birj and tasked with searching out a worthy candidate to be transformed into Galactus’ next herald, following in line with his previous heralds, Norrin Radd aka Silver Surfer, Gabriel Lan aka Air-Walker, and Pyreus Kril aka Firelord.
Meeting with Birj’s brutal dictator, Tyros the Terrible, it isn’t long before Galactus brings the Fantastic Four and their plus one back to his ship. Talking about how Tyros will become the embodiment of the earth element — Galactus’ previous heralds were of sea, air, and fire — Galactus wastes no time turning Tyros into Terrax the Tamer, a very Darkseid-esque character.
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Becoming “a thing of legend” after Galactus’ cosmic makeover, Terrax immediately tests his command over rock and earth, with his “transformed hand” and near unlimited strength making him “second only to Galactus himself” — a huge power upgrade that brings Terrax closer to the omnipotence inherent to Darkseid and his Fourth World might.
Going from a chin-bearded human-esque alien to a godlike being with a stoney grey face similar to Darkseid’s, Terrax wears a similar, albeit differently colored, set of armor compared to Darkseid, with the only real notable difference between the two coming in the form of Terrax’s earth-based powers as well as his Galactus-provided cosmic axe.
Galactus Gave Marvel Comics Its Own Darkseid Lookalike Who Commanded the Power Cosmic
Darkseid Would Still Win in a Fight, However
Created by legendary writer/artist Jack Kirby in 1970 after he moved from Marvel to DC, Darkseid is and always has been the ultimate Big Bad of the DC Universe, with his stoic attitude and overpowered abilities — like his patented Omega Beams — ensuring that the Justice League have their work cut out for them whenever they cross Darkseid’s path.
Having palette-swapped visual designs and ranking as two of the most powerful entities in their respective comic universes, Terrax and Darkseid have never officially met on the page, yet had this creative overlap happened today, it would undoubtedly be a lawsuit waiting to happen, especially with the similarities between Darkseid and Thanos being another point of contention amongst fans.
So, while there’s been no official confirmation from Marvel or this issue’s artist, John Byrne, that Terrax was a deliberate attempt to copy the design of DC’s Darkseid character, it’s easy to read between the literal pencil lines to see that Byrne was at least partially inspired by Jack Kirby’s esthetics, specifically his work on DC’s Fourth World Saga.
By continuing their decades-long rivalry of trying to compete with each other’s most iconic heroes and villains, Marvel making Galactus turn Darkseid into his newest herald is a wild way to unofficially pay homage to a popular DC Comics character while simultaneously creating a unique Marvel baddie for the Fantastic Four to call their own.
Fantastic Four #211 is available from Marvel Comics.
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