Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in the comic book Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first of a three-issue arc fans and historians call "The Galactus Trilogy".

Originally a young astronomer of the planet Zenn-La, In order to save his homeworld from destruction by a fearsome cosmic entity known as Galactus, Norrin Radd made a bargain with the being, pledging himself to serve as his herald. Imbued in return with a tiny portion of Galactus' Power Cosmic, Radd acquired great powers and a silvery appearance. Galactus also created for Radd a surfboard-like craft — modeled after a childhood fantasy of his — on which he would travel at speeds beyond that of light. Known from then on as the Silver Surfer, Radd began to roam the cosmos searching for new planets for Galactus to consume. When his travels finally took him to Earth, the Surfer came face-to-face with the Fantastic Four, a team of powerful superheroes that helped him to rediscover his nobility of spirit. Betraying Galactus, the Surfer saved Earth but was punished in return with everlasting exile there. Following the success of this debut, Lee scripted a philosophical spin-off series wherein the Surfer explored his new home planet. A more cosmically themed series was published from 1987 to 1998, which focused on the exploits of the Surfer finally freed from his exile. A third series followed in 2003, lasting 14 months. Most recently, the character appeared in a four-issue non-canon series entitled "Silver Surfer Requiem" which explored his mortality and the end of his life.

Publication history

The Silver Surfer entered the world of comics as an unplanned addition to a story about Galactus and the Fantastic Four. In the mid-1960s, Lee and Kirby were using a three-part method for creating comics. They would first brainstorm rough ideas together, then Kirby would work individually to draw the scenes, and Lee would finally add the dialog. During one of these sessions, Kirby's drawing confronted Lee with a surprising sight: "There, in the middle of the story we had so carefully worked out, was a nut on some sort of flying surfboard." Kirby explained that a god-like cosmic predator of planets like Galactus should have some sort of herald, and that he created the surfboard "because I'm tired of drawing spaceships!" Taken by the noble features of the new character, Lee not only overcame his initial skepticism but also began adding to characterization, and the Silver Surfer soon became a key part of the unfolding story.

Following the Surfer's debut, Lee and Kirby were inundated with letters of appreciation from fans, and brought him back as recurring guest in Fantastic Four #55-61, 72, 74-77 (ranging Oct. 1966 - Aug. 1968) and made his solo debut in the backup story of Fantastic Four Annual #5 (Nov. 1967). Lee enjoyed the character and decided to feature him in his own individual title in 1968. John Buscema was penciller for the first 17 issues of the series, with Kirby returning for the eighteenth and final issue. The first seven issues, which included anthological "Tales of the Watcher" backup stories, were 72-page (with advertising), 25-cent "giants", as opposed to typical 36-page, 12-cent comics of the time. Thematically, the stories dealt with the Surfer's exile on Earth and the inhumanity of man as observed by this noble yet fallen hero. The Silver Surfer comic book series became known as one of Lee's most thoughtful and introspective works. Englehart writes that Buscema and Lee were "pouring their souls into the series".

Nonetheless, the series was soon canceled. There was one attempt to revive the character in a joint episode with Marvel's Sub-Mariner. In the episode, Silver Surfer and Sub-Mariner became entwined in a "turf battle" and the Sub-Mariner defeated Silver Surfer. This episode was upsetting to many Silver Surfer fans. According to Engelhart, the graphic novel format was too expensive to maintain indefinitely and the larger panels used by Buscema meant that there was, proportionately, a lesser amount of story per page than in other comics. Moreover, the monologues and tragic hero persona of the new Surfer soon became unpopular. After this comic's cancellation, the Surfer continued to make sporadic appearances as a guest star or antagonist in such comic books as Thor, The Defenders and Fantastic Four. Lee remained partial to the Surfer and even personally requested that each Silver Surfer comic contain a "Stan Lee presents" announcement.

Lee and Kirby collaborated on a Silver Surfer graphic novel published in 1978. Then, after a 1982 one-shot by writer-artist John Byrne, the Surfer appeared in his second solo, ongoing title in 1987. Here he escaped the confines of Earth and left for the spaceways.[citation needed] Originally written by Steve Englehart and illustrated by Marshall Rogers, the series would later be written by Jim Starlin and illustrated by Ron Lim. Starlin in turn would be succeeded by Ron Marz, with George Perez and J. M. DeMatteis also having brief stints at writing the series. Additional artists included Tom Grindberg, Ron Garney, and Jon J. Muth, as well as periodic guest spots by the aforementioned John Buscema. Although the title experienced great initial success, and continued to be buoyed by tie-ins to "Infinity Gauntlet" and other company crossovers, this second ongoing series was canceled in 1998 after 146 issues.

The Silver Surfer: Parable, scripted by Lee and drawn by Moebius, was serialized in two parts in 1988 and 1989. Because of inconsistencies with other stories, it has been argued that these stories actually feature an alternate Silver Surfer from a parallel Earth. The graphic novel by Lee/Moebius won the Eisner Award for best finite/limited series in 1989.

Following the miniseries, a new ongoing Silver Surfer series began in 2003, focusing on the character's alien nature and messianic allegory. It lasted 14 issues. The Surfer later appeared in an issue of Cable & Deadpool and has twice been reunited with the superhero group the Defenders. In 2006-2007, he starred in the four-issue miniseries Annihilation: Silver Surfer and co-starred in the miniseries Heralds of Galactus, both part of the "Annihilation" fictional crossover.

In 2007, the Silver Surfer starred in the four-issue miniseries Silver Surfer: Requiem. The first issue was released May 30, 2007 to coincide with the character's first movie appearance.