Fantastic Four (1961) #213

• "In Final Battle!" – (17-page story) – Aboard Galactus' ship, Terrax attacks the Fantastic Four, threatening to repay the team for its humiliation of him on his home planet. He easily absorbs the best that a weakened Thing can give and proves more than a match for an aged Mr. Fantastic. In the heat of battle, HERBIE procures a couple of items of Galactus' technology and withdraws, his destination and purpose unknown. Ben puts everything into a final attack that results in Terrax dropping his axe, but at the price of totally depleting the Thing's energy. Sensing that Ben is close to death, Reed tracks HERBIE down to a workshop where it is busy completing the project Reed was working on, and orders the robot to transport Ben to a stasis chamber at the Baxter Building. The Torch unleashes a nova blast on Terrax that the herald easily absorbs, but it is a ruse as Johnny ruptures a cooling unit and covers Terrax in a thick sheet of ice, subduing him. The Sphinx and Galactus square up to each other: the Sphinx preoccupied with thoughts of ending the vicious circle of events that condemns him to eternal life, and Galactus where his next meal is coming from. The two join in a prolonged battle that Galactus eventually wins by destroying the Ka stone and reducing the Sphinx to normal human size. Even worse, Galactus transports the Sphinx back through time to the point just before he discovered the Ka Stone, condemning the Egyptian to relive his life over and over again for eternity. As Galactus prepares to take his reward for defeating the Sphinx, the Watcher appears and warns Galactus that he will not be able to feed on the Earth's energies. Sure enough, Reed arrives bearing the Ultimate Nullifier that he and HERBIE reconstructed from Galactus' equipment and threatens to use the weapon rather than let Galactus devour the Earth. Galactus makes a tactical withdrawal, saying that he will dine at a time of his choosing. After Galactus departs, Reed reveals that the Nullifier is in fact a dummy and that Uatu was shielding Reed's thoughts from the Devourer. As Johnny celebrates victory, Reed finally succumbs to the effects of the Skrull ageing weapon and collapses in his arms.