Marvel Comics has released Fantastic Four: First Foes – Shalla-Bal #1, expanding the MCU backstory of Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, per thedirect.com.
Written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Mark Buckingham, the June one-shot details Shalla-Bal’s tenure as Galactus’s herald on the world Polaris.
Confronted by a populace attempting to weaponise corestars, she absorbed the lethal radiation before revealing the planet was marked for destruction to grant brief, peaceful final moments.
The narrative connects directly to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, in which Earth-828’s Shalla-Bal offered her servitude to save Zenn-La, later targeted Reed and Sue Richards’ infant son Franklin, and ultimately rebelled by pushing Galactus through a portal.
While First Steps established the team, comprising Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and teased Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom in a post-credits scene, the tie-in series addresses historical gaps. Preceding First Foes: The Mad Thinker, Shalla-Bal marks the second of four planned one-shots running through late 2026.