Fantastic Four #72

The Silver Surfer has seen enough of humanity to know that it must be destroyed. The Fantastic Four do battle with the cosmic wanderer, but with Sue Richards out of commission, the task at hand seems even more daunting! Will the Surfer see the error of his ways…before it's too late?

The Watcher arrives on the scene very early in this issue and announces to the Thing, the Human Torch and Crystal that the Silver Surfer is about to attack all of mankind. The Thing and the Torch try and stop the Silver, but have little success. Meanwhile Mr. Fantatsic and the Invisible Girl/Woman are off by themselves on a train trip. However, The Watcher soon stops the train and explains that he must speak to two of the passengers. The Watcher tells Reed Richards and Susan Storm Richards that the Silver Surfer is running amok against mankind. Sue wants to go with Reed and join the battle with the rest of the Fantastic Four. However, knowing the real danger involved, Mr. Fantastic fears for his wife's safety and so he forbids her to go along. The Watcher then transports Mr. Fantastic away from the stopped train.

A rare clear reference to God among Silver Age Marvel Comics appears next . The Invisible Girl asks the Watcher what her husband can do against the all-powerful Silver Surfer. The Watcher responds to the beautiful blonde with a question and then an answer. "All-Powerful? There is only One who deserves that name! And His only weapon is love!"

The military fires a very powerful Sonic Shark weapon against the Surfer, while Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch and the Thing go after the Surfer in the Pogo Plane. Mr. Fantastic is able to explode the weapon before it can hit the Silver Surfer. Flying to the ground, a very weakened Surfer tells the FF that before the weapon exploded it almost totally drained him of his cosmic power. Nevertheless, he is most grateful for their assistance. He tells them that they need have no further fear of the Silver Surfer. Mr. Fantastic tells that Surfer that mankind is not as lost and hopless as it may seem. The Surfer acknowledges that there is a spark of divinity in all who live. They part as friends.