Essential Silver Surfer - Volume 1

by Darko Tuševljaković, Jack Kirby, John Bucema, et al.

Witness the birth of the Sentinel of the Spaceways, as humanoid being Norrin Radd becomes the Silver Surfer - Galactus' first cosmic-powered herald and one of Marvel's most noble heroes! Collects Silver Surfer #1-18; Fantastic Four Annual #5. All-new edition!

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785120084
• ISBN13: 9780785120087
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Marvel Comics
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.7" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 1 year and up
• Grade Range: Preschool to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

STILL AWE-INSPIRING TODAY!

The original 18 issues of the Silver Surfer have always had a bit of a mythological feel to them. Even back in the early 1970's when I started reading comics, there was something awe-inspiring about them. Already the back issues were commanding a premium price, due in part to low distribution on several issues. The title never sold well which is one reason why so many issues had guest stars such as Spiderman or Thor. Still, this was always Stan Lee's favorite character and you can see in reading the stories that this was some of Stan's best work since the early Fantastic Four issues. His dedication to developing the martyr-like character of the enigmatic Surfer makes these issues still relevant and highly readable today, nearly 40 years later. The other thing this book had going for it was the fantastic art of John Buscema. While Buscema never got the kind of accolades that contemporaries like Neal Adams and Jack Kirby did, Bucema's work was always first rate and always consistent. John never took an issue off the way other artists did. His last page always was as good as the first and no one captured the majesty of the Surfer like Big John, not even Kirby. The book re-prints all of those 18 issues which would cost a small fortune if you were to buy them today on the secondary market. Issue #3 introduces the Demon Mephisto, a frequent foe of the surfers. Mephisto was often mistaken as being Satan, a mistake he would often encourage. Issue # 4 was one of those low distribution covers and features one of the most popular and dramatic covers of the Silver Age with The Surfer Battling Thor. One real tough thing about the Surfer was his lack of villains. I mean when your main foes are Galactus and Mephisto, it's hard to get too excited about The Ghost or Doomsday man. The last few issues of the run is where they tried to boost sales by featuring scads of guest stars including Spiderman in #14, The Fanstic Four in #15, Nick Fury in #16 & 17, and the Inhumans in the final issue. If you read just one of the Essentials books, make it this one!

Reintroducing the Silver Surfer, Sky-Rider of the Spaceways!

When the Silver Surfer was given his own comic book, a bi-monthly oversized title, there was a rather significant retooling of the character. When the Silver Surfer first came to earth in "Fantastic Four" #48 he was the herald of Galactus, zipping around the universe finding planets for his master to eat. After his first battle with the F.F. the Surfer encounters the blind Alicia Masters who hears a certain nobility in his voice. However, the Surfer declares that "nobility" has no meaning for him. Alicia, who has never sensed "such unimaginable loneliness in a living being," convinces the Surfer to challenge Galactus, who is defeated. But for effrontery Galactus removes the Surfer's space-time powers. The surfer will roam the galaxy no more.Stan Lee and John Buscema reintroduced the Surfer by revealing his origin in the first issue and for the first time we learned of how Norrin Radd had lived a troubled life on the planet Zenn-La, with his beloved, Shalla Bal. The planet had lived in peace for generations and Radd despairs over the idea of paradise unearned. Then Galactus shows up and Zenn-La proves defenseless before his power. Norrin Radd flies to meet the invader and offers to be his herald, thereby solving the problem that Galactus eats inhabited worlds because he does not have the time to find planets where no intelligent life exists. Transformed into the Silver Surfer, Radd says a farewell to Shalla Bal and heads off on the path that will lead him to be exiled on Earth.This origin makes some radical changes in the Surfer, because if you take this issue as gospel and apply it retroactively you have to wonder why the Surfer was no longer looking for planets without intelligent life when he landed on Earth (What about Mars? Venus? Jupiter? Or would Jupiter give Galactus gas?). But the main addition is the whole back-story of Norrin Radd, which adds another layer of tragedy to the Surfer being trapped on Earth. You also have John Buscema as the Surfer's artist, and while it might be heresy his version actually looks cooler than Jack Kirby's. Including in "The Essential Silver Surfer, Volume 1" are the first eighteen issues of "The Silver Surfer" and a Lee and Kirby Surfer adventure form "Fantastic Four" Annual #5. In the mix are the Surfer's first encounter with Mephisto (#3), a battle with the Mighty Thor (#4), a brief reunion with Shalla Bal (#11), an encounter with Spider-Man (#14), a battle with the Human Torch (#15), and a two-part return engagement with Mephisto (#16-17), who ended up being the Silver Surfer's main enemy in these comics (Mephisto is behind the villains in issues #8-9 as well). Jack Kirby draws #18, where the Surfer fights the Inhumans. There are a few less than stellar issues, such as the encounter with the Frankenstein monster (#7), but overall this is a good series, especially the early ones where the stories are 40-pages long and where the crossovers where more limited. Keeping the Surfer out of th

A pure soul seeking its true home

Unlike the work of people such as Frank Miller or Alan Moore, comics like these are seldom mentioned by those who wish to stress the medium's full potential; still, the depth of this volume's stories is underrated. The Silver Surfer is a very rich character whose origin and situation can be read in a myriad of ways, notably because Lee and Buscema use central ideas of ancient philosophy and religion (mainly Gnosticism and Neoplatonism). As a whole, the series can be read as the adventures of a soul seeking its true home. This home is not Zenn-la (where the Surfer's beloved Shalla-Bal lives): as the first issue makes clear, life on that planet didn't truly satisfy him in the first place. When Galactus threatens his people, the Surfer sacrifices himself and is stripped of his body, gaining instead an ethereal form. Despite his new master's dubious plans, he is initially enthusiastic about this sudden transformation - on Zenn-la, he had been yearning for transcendence while all of his compatriots wallowed in excesses of all kinds. Once he rebels against Galactus, he is turned into Earth's daemon (protector), roaming around without much freedom. This pure soul is trapped in a prison from which it tries to break free throughout the book's stories. What gives him hope in spite of his deceptions, much like Plotinus and the other Neoplatonists and Gnostics, is the conscience he has ('I serve none but the conscience within my breast!', #4). This conscience never departs him, even as he faces Evil in its most horrific guises; among other opponents, it enables him to defeat an evil clone (#7) - their physical form was identical, but their souls weren't. (It is symbolic that when the Surfer seems the closest to change his ethics - the last page of #18 - the series is coming to an end.) The Surfer's nostalgia for his true home is sublimely rendered by Buscema's powerful, poignant illustrations, especially when they're inked by Joe Sinnott (witness pages 1, 6, 17, 31 and 38 of the first issue). This volume is both inspired and inspiring, and should not be missed.

The Legendary Stan Lee's Best Work

There was always something about Marvel Comics which separated them from the pack, at least at the beginning. Whereas top competitor DC had cranked out superheroes for years, Marvel's heroes always seemed much more tangible, more human. Much of this is due to Stan Lee's writing. While descending into self-parody later, one cannot help but feel a frisson in reading Lee's early stuff: the angst-ridden Spider-Man, the tumultuous Fantastic Four, the tortured Hulk. Lee made heroes and comics that teenagers could identify with. And then he made the Silver Surfer. The Surfer was a mass of contradictions: a peace-loving alien imbued with incredible power in the service of world-devouring Galactus; a faithful herald who betrayed his master; an intergalactic traveller confined to Earth. The Surfer was so over-the-top, it was hard for anyone to identify with him. And yet we love him anyway. Why? Perhaps because the Surfer's alien naivete allows us to see the world anew. Or because Stan Lee's lofty prose finally seems to have found a suitable subject. Either way, I guarantee you'll love this collection of early Silver Surfer tales. Excelsior!

Classic Stories never looked better

The Essential Silver Surfer is a classic part of Marvel history, and to be honest it never looked better. The black and White actually enhanses the artwork. Stan Lee's writing is as good today as it ever was, and these are the definitive Silver Surfer stories. My only problem is the original series ran for 18 issues, but this collection only reprints 17 of them. It would have been nice if Marvel had included the entire Stan Lee run.