In this review of Fantastic Four: First Foes – Shalla Bal #1, the Silver Surfer meets a young girl while marking Planet Polaris for death, countless years before her run-in with the MCU’s Fantastic Four.
FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST FOES – SHALLA BAL #1
Written by: Ryan North & Charles Soule
Art: Mark Buckingham & Phil Noto
Main Cover: Phil Noto
Variant Covers: Marc Aspinall & Mark Buckingham
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: July 8, 2026
This review contains spoilers
Fantastic Four: First Foes – Shalla Bal #1 begins with a flashback to the Planet Zenn-La. Shalla-Bal’s daughter stands at a beach, listening to her mother explain the Power Cosmic through a portal. She asks her mother to come home, but is shot down due to obligations with Galactus. The Silver Surfer’s daughter then asks her nearly unrecognizable parent if she’ll do “good things” with her power, which Shalla-Bal affirms she will.
Countless years later, Shalla-Bal engages in an invasion on Planet Polaris, in which two resident species war against each other. A girl named Mayelle and her mother look for shelter, and Mayelle points up to an “angel”. It’s Shalla-Bal, arriving and destroying weapons from both sides. She speaks of war being cyclical, and peace being the only way forward.
As she continues to engage in skirmishes, the two species unite with her as a common enemy. They debate using weapons called The Corestars. An elder disagrees, stating they’re too dangerous to use as anything but a deterrent. However, the council votes in favor of using it and lure the Silver Surfer to a spot.
They launch a barrage of attacks from the Corestars, which severely damage Shalla-Bal. The aforementioned elder remarks that the chain reaction from The Corestars has begun, and it will wipe out all of Planet Polaris. However, Shalla-Bal absorbs all of it within herself using the Power Cosmic, hence saving the planet. While the residents declare her as a savior, she informs them she is a Herald of Galactus. The Silver Surfer remarks she chose to give them momentary peace in their final days.
Mayelle refuses to believe it, until the Silver Surfer herself spots Mayelle and affirms the statement. Mayelle’s mother curses Shalla-Bal, who responds by saying all of her loved ones are gone. She sports unsure eyes as she tells them she did a good thing by giving them peace, telling them not to waste it as she flies away.
Analysis
This prequel issue borrows a lot of ideas from Donny Cates’ 2019 min-series, Silver Surfer: Black. The beginning of that series shows a guilty Surfer attempting to be indifferent, as Galactus consumes a civilization that had just declared Surfer their Messiah. Similarly, Mayelle and the other residents of Planet Polaris look at Shalla-Bal as an angel, only to learn she’s a Herald for the greatest fear in the universe.
A few nuances help First Foes differentiate itself from Black. There is a maternal element to Shalla-Bal’s actions, the intimacy of which builds a stronger connection between her and the civilizations marked for death. In turn, this makes the tragedy stronger by increasing her guilt. A guiltier Shalla-Bal enhances the (spoilers for First Steps follow) wonderfully performed breakdown scene by Julia Garner.
I particularly loved the scene where Shalla-Bal’s daughter said she could no longer feel her mother’s touch, because it’s changed since becoming a Herald. Shalla-Bal ends the issue off by touching Mayelle’s face the same way, but you can see the remorse within her face when she realizes how contradictory her statements of peace are.
My interpretation is that she wanted familiarity and comfort. She wanted Mayelle to agree and tell her she did a good deed, the way her daughter might have. But when she remains silent, there’s strong remorse on the Surfer’s face.
This interaction in particular really enhances the movie. We can infer the type of emotions Shalla-Bal must have felt as a Herald for Johnny’s words to cut so deep, but this prequel properly puts it into perspective.
Final Thoughts
Fantastic Four: First Foes – Shalla Bal #1 is as good as a prequel can get. A wonderfully drawn one-shot, it provides a glimpse into the Silver Surfer’s tragic story while boosting the movie’s storytelling.
