The Power Cosmic is one of the greatest powers in the universe, but the Silver Surfer warns the Fantastic Four that the power comes at a price.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fantastic Four: Antithesis #3 by Mark Waid, Neal Adams, Mark Farmer, Laura Martin, and Andrew Crossley, on sale now.
The latest issue of Fantastic Four: Antithesis saw Galactus give the Fantastic Four the Power Cosmic to join Silver Surfer in the battle with the conqueror Antithesis.
While in battle, the team discovered that they not only had enhanced powers but some new ones as well. However, as the team battled to save the world, the Silver Surfer gave Sue a strong warning about using the Power Cosmic. There is always a chance it could separate someone from their base humanity.
Reed Richards and Galactus found a way to help the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer power up enough to beat Antithesis and return Galactus’s powers to him. To pull this off, Galactus used his ship to imbue the Fantastic Four with the Power Cosmic. All but Reed left the ship to head into battle while he remained on board to set up the second attack, pulling the power out of Antithesis and back into Galactus. While out in the field of battle, the team realized how powerful and in touch with reality they were.
For her part, Sue learned she could turn things invisible and make them intangible as well, saving her and Silver Surfer from attacks. She then asked if this is how Surfer always feels because she can hear sounds and see colors that she has never experienced before. Other interesting power changes included Human Torch controlling fire and ice and Thing mentally making his enemies fight each other instead of him. Surfer admitted this is what it feels like, calling the Power Cosmic a gift, but warning Sue that it is a struggle to ensure they never let it separate them from their base humanity.
It turns out that the Surfer’s warning was not in vain. While Sue, Johnny, and Ben all made it back to Galactus’s ship in one piece, it appears that Reed may have been the one to lose touch with his humanity. When he pulled Galactus’s power back from Antithesis, he inserted it into himself rather than returning it to Galactus. With Reed feeling self-doubt, and his propensity to always do the wrong thing for the right reasons, this could cause even more problems as the Power Cosmic likely gave him greater insight into what he could accomplish by stealing the power of Galactus.