My thinking as well. IIRC Galactus was depicted eating a magical realm (I want to say Agamatto's realm, but I can't remember off hand).
To zopzop's point, the machinery is more efficient but it's not Galactus's only means and when pressed he can perform the task himself. It's analogous to preparing and cooking your meal versus eating it raw. Galactus has the means to regulate the flow of energy intake and contain the blast on his own.
Oh it will be, because unlike the time he was born into the current universe, he won't have Eternity looking out for him in this fight : (please log in to view the image)
And I don't think that Monarch's explosion was an actual "Big Bang" creation event similar to what happened with Imperiex. It was just a universe wrecking explosion.
Assuming he knows it's coming, this is a possibility.
While possible, it never to my knowledge said this before. Hell, they changed a couple pages before after a while and nothing was stated: http://i40.tinypic.com/35b8ebl.jpg
Plus, that's a terrible choice of words for transforming when a universe was a stake...
He put him a dimension where his powers didn't work. He didn't overpower him or anything, just put him in a dimension. Same theory as Mad Jim Jaspers' weakness with unspace. That shouldn't diminish his power, especially with Korvac' power decimating the GOTG in that arc.
And the Monarch explosion was a chain reaction that the Monitor's personal shields withstood, along with at least a plant and mountain (?), and Superboy Prime. And the Monitors were written as complete fodder getting decimated by herald level armies in that arc. http://imageshack.us/f/98/ca4or1.jpg/
Galactus can either teleport to another dimension like he's done against the UN. Put his shields up. Probably just warp it around him. It just seemed like it was big in scope tbh since he didn't actually destroy the universe, just almost everything in it. Which doesn't include anything more durable than Galactus, and even less durable characters survived (Prime, Monitor, Plant, Rocks).
I think it is rather foolish to assume that the only way to defeat Monarch is by ripping open his armor and releasing all of his 'universe-busting energies'.
What's stopping Galactus from containing Monarch and perpetually feasting on his energies, like he did with Hyperstorm? What's stopping Galactus from preforming mind-phuckery? What's stopping Galactus from breaching Monarch's armor and immediately teleporting him to another dimension before he completely detonates? What's stopping Galactus from simply tanking said energies like the Monitor's shields and base-level Prime did?
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"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
During that period Aleta and Starhawk shared the same body, switching back and forth frequently depending which powerset was needed at the time. I don't think it was ever referred to as a universe reforming itself, as they were two entities in the same body.
I'm not specifically sure what the scan you posted was talking about, but almost certainly not about Aleta transforming back into Starhawk, imo
He was mortal then, and that dying Eternity merging with him is what birthed Galactus. So yeah, him being born is a fair argument for him being able to tank Monarch self-destructing.
It is a big bang. Pretty sure that's how Captain Atom's powers work.
You go out of your way to cast as many doubts over Galactus' ability as there are atoms in the sun.
Typically, big bangs create. Monarch's detonation only destroyed. That's why universe-51 had to be recreated by the Monitors at the end of Final Crisis. That said, I personally wouldn't refer to the aforementioned detonation as a 'big bang'. The sum total of Atom's quantum powers were released in unison, which caused a massive explosion that ultimately destroyed universe-51.
Doesn't change the outcome in the slightest, though. Galactus wins.
__________________
"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
Big Bangs create when there is nothing else in existence to destroy. The power of a big bang is such that if such an event were to be successfully replicated in the modern age, it would literally tear the whole universe asunder.
Going by your logic, Michael's Dunamis Demiurgos isn't a Big Bang either(its multiversal scale notwithstanding).
In fact take the most recent instance of the Big Bang being used an instrument of destruction in Fantastic Four #6, where Blastaar was condemned to die at the dawn of creation.
There is absolutely no evidence that Monarch's self-destruction produced energies aren't logically a Big Bang, while there is evidence for the opposing point of view.
If we go into the real-life technicalities involving the complete destruction of a universe, then no fictional character ever has destroyed a universe.
But hypothetically, you can contract space into nothingness. Because it's logical that if space can expand, then it can also contract. It's simply beyond the scope of humans to do so.