Product Description: 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!
THE POWER COSMIC! One of the comic universe's great tragic heroes, the Silver Surfer has inspired some of the medium's best science-fiction sagas, and several of them are in this volume. Gathering material from Silver Surfer 1-18 and Fantastic Four Annual 5, ESSENTIAL SILVER SURFER VOL. I re-presents some of the finest tales to come out of the early 70s. The origin story is moving and powerful, and sets the tone for the rest of the volume. Some of the stories are classics, particularly "The Power and the Prize" from Silver Surfer #3, in which the diabolic Mephisto is introduced for the first time. Other standouts include "Worlds Without End" and "The Heir of Frankenstein," but none of the tales are less than above-average and most of them are very good or excellent. Writer Stan Lee made a career out of melodramatic dialogue and soulful, often troubled heroes, but Lee's purple prose is perfectly suited for the Silver Surfer. A dreamer by nature, tormented by the memory of his beloved Shalla Bal and spurned by the Earthlings whom he has been banished to live amongst, the Silver Surfer is one of the most noble and introspective of all comic book characters, and Lee's poignant scripts make him one of the most empathetic as well. Most of this volume's stories are illustrated by John Buscema, with a couple by co-creator Jack Kirby thrown in for good measure. Both men are excellent artists, and both infuse the Surfer with pathos and power alike.
As with all of the Marvel Essentials books, the original contents are reprinted in black and white. Though this does deplete the otherwise beautiful artwork of some of its grandeur, the sheer quantity of great material makes most of the Eseentials great value. And this one is one of the best.
Still great after all these years It's amazing how well these stories hold up almost 40 years after they originally appeared. Next to Conan, it is John Buscema's best work of all time, and the issues that were inked by Sal somehow stand out just a little bit over the ones inked by Joe Sinnot and Dan Adkins.
Highest Possible Recommendation! I cannot recommend this book strongly enough! One of the most enjoyable of all the Essential collections.
Norrin Radd Rocks A fun read. I used to collect comics as a kid and never saw the early issues. This caught me up somewhat and I have already ordered volume 2. If you are remotely curious give it a shot. The only downfall is the black and white colors,
Holds up better than I expected As a child, I loved a few comics and characters. Silver surfer was among the top--if not the top--comic book character in my world. I had not looked at original comics in some 17-18 years, and I never really had the chance to see many originals, becuase nobody around my comic book store appearantly wanted to give them up. Can I blame them?
The original 18 silver surfer comics with John Buscema at the pencil hold up surprizing ly well. The complexity of The Silver Surfer is amazing. I mean, how many superheroes actually cry for humanity? I do admit that some of the later issuse in this volume get a little "comicy" (like some of the team-up issues), but for the most part, the stories are written so well and the art is so good that they have a timeless quality to them that good science fiction should have.
If you are an old fan or just want to see what all the Silver Surfer "hype" is about in preparation for the movie, this is where you should start. (Of course the Omnibus collection is a bit better, because it is colored, but for people cutting their teeth in the mythos, it might be a bit expensive.)
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