By: Stan Lee Publisher: Berkley Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 256 Publication Date: October 01, 1997 Studio: Berkley
Product Description: Beginning with a novella retelling the Silver Surfer's origin by co-creator Stan Lee and veteran Marvel Comics writer Tom DeFalco, this exciting new anthology has original, never-before-told stories featuring Marvel's most cosmic superheroes and super-villains. Includes fiction from Craig Shaw Gardner, Christopher Golden, Len Wein, and others.
Super Reader ^ A collection of tales broken down by era. When the Surfer was trapped on Earth, back as Herald, and as a free agent. It has a small intro by Stan Lee talking about how Kirby thought up the character, and how he thought that the surfboad might be a bit dodge. Luckily Jack disagreed. Mostly an average bunch, coming out at 3.10.
The Surfer stops to aid a young boy beset by a local gang of bullies, and recounts the story of him becoming the Herald of Galactus to save his utopian homeworld of Zenn-La.
3 out of 5
The Surfer, newly caged on Earth, tours the planet and ends up spending some time with a doctor from the World Health Society in a war torn part of Africa.
3.5 out of 5
The Surfer helps out one of Reed Richards' friends, who is dying, with visions of space travel and comet racing.
3.5 out of 5
The Surfer intervenes in a police hostage situation without understanding what is going on. In the aftermath the officer in charge asks him to come to the station to learn a couple of things, and invites him to dinner.
4 out of 5
Woman watches show about women who want the Surfer, while the surfer battlers a superhuman nobody. She decides human bloke a lot more sensible a option, not to mention a hell of a lot warmer.
2 out of 5
The Surfer saves a teenage girl when she throws herself off a building, and swaps some meories with her.
3 out of 5
Beach dude taking a leak finds a different kind of surfer.
3 out of 5
An encounter with a seriously stupendous space woman.
3.5 out of 5
An encounter with a reformed bad guy on the site of a radiation exposure incident trying to help the deformed and dying sees the Surfer pitching in to help.
3 out of 5
Mephisto lures the Surfer to a dive in intergalactic nowhere.
2.5 out of 5
A powerful alien is trying the 'I Am a God' trick, until the Surfer comes across a star that doesn't have long to live and notices this.
3.5 out of 5
The Surfer comes across a strange lost Jewish tribe planet, and soon after, it is attacked.
2.5 out of 5
Thanos decides an artiifact on a big Death Ship would be handy, and what the hell, bumping off some Heralds of Galactus isn't a bad way to pass the day.
2.5 out of 5
The Surfer has a possibly evil twin.
3 out of 5
Morg has been provoking a planetary scale genocide on a target he has slected for Galactus. The Surfer lends a hand, aiding a local assassin into outwitting the Tamer.
4 out of 5
Highly Imaginative Collection Of Prose Short Stories Set In The Marvel Universe ^ "The Ultimate Silver Surfer" is a collection of fifteen prose short stories all centering on the original Herald Of Galactus - and later superho/cosmic wanderer - the Silver Surfer, aka Norrin Radd. Techically divided into three sections (although the first is only a single story long) it covers 'Origin' (an adaptation of the Surfer's first appearance and story arc back in the comics Fantastic Four {Volume 1} #s 48-50), 'Exile' (the period when Norrin was confined to Earth by a Galactus-placed force field over the planet that prevented his leaving but did not interfere with the comings or goings of other beings or objects); and 'Freedom', set after the exile is broken and the star-spanning adventures are free to take place. It might have been nice to have a couple of prequel tales precede the origin, but the fifteen tales presented run a good range.
Tom DeFalco's "The Silver Surfer" is the adaptation of the first Surfer comic tale and, unfortunately, it didn't really translate into prose form that well. The dialogue comes off very uncomfortably. The early-to-mid 60s was a fantastic period of imagination and creation for Marvel, but there were a few areas that had yet to be ironed out; the dialogue of many of the issues from those days is one of them. (This isn't a reflection on the writing skills of Stan Lee or Marvel's other early contributors. In an interview Stan once talked about how one of the chief problems in the early days was that business higher-ups were always trying to get comics writers to simplify and minimize their dialogue; one problem that Lee himself ran into was that the higher-ups thought he was using too many words with more than two syllables. It would have been hard trying to not have problems with dialogue when working under those circumstances. Fortunately Lee and the other creators made comics so big in the 60s that the companies eventually decided it was time to just let them write the way they wanted to). The opening tale here isn't a stand-out of the collection despite the huge importance to Marvel mythos of the story it's telling, but it does serve as a good introduction to the characters and concepts for readers who aren't up on the Surfer's origins.
The stories in the 'Exile' section are often introspective and several involve the Silver Surfer's attempts to understand humanity and its self-contradictions. 'To See Heaven In A Wild Flower', by Anne Tonsor Zeddies, finds the Surfer in Africa discovering that famine exists on as prosperous a planet on Earth, and has Norrin both trying to understand why this is and trying to alleviate the problem. Silver Surfer comics were among the first that had its protagonist often confronting non 'supervillain'-related crises such as those that arise from political, natural, or social conditions, and it's fitting to have similar themes in this book. 'On The Beach', by John J. Ordover, is a stunning tale that would fit well in any 'best-of' science fiction short story collection, or general short story collection. It starts off simply enough, and the writing isn't elaborate, but the end packs an unforseen twist and emotional punch that makes this one of the stories that I find rising to the forefront of my mind often, year after year. Len Wein, James Dawson, Keith R.A. DeCandido and Dave Smeds also contribute tales to the 'Exile portion of the book.
Throughout the book, each tale is preceded by a black-and-white illustration, all of them well done. A uniformly fine job is done on characterization, and the story ideas are nicely varied.
It's worth noting that despite the 'Ultimate' in the title these stories take place in the main Marvel Universe, not the sideline 'Ultimate Marvel' that started up a few years after this book was published, with new versions of various characters.
All in all, a great book. It's a great addition to any Marvel library, and even for non comic fans, it stands tall as a better science fiction anthology than many high-profile collections. Very nicely done.
Exciting, and Includes Stan Lee's Masterpiece ^ Though I love the collection of adventures in this book, my favorite is the history/origin of Silver Surfer. I believe this particular story is Stan Lee's masterpiece.
The descriptions of Zenn-la and its society, Norrin Radd joyously learning to surf on lava flows, his love for Shalla Bal, saving his planet, the transformation to Silver Surfer, losing his humanity while serving Galactus, and finding it again in time to help the Fantastic Four save earth are truly mesmerizing. I both laughed and cried when I read this tale.
I am rarely affected this way when reading about a superhero; but in reading this story, I have come to believe that Silver Surfer is the greatest superhero of all time. I realize this highly debatable. And I am not trying to alienate or argue with fans of other great superheroes like Ironman, Thor, Superman, etc., but I truly believe Silver Surfer is the most powerful and interesting superhero character ever created: He learned to surf on lava flows as a mere youth before ever receiving his powers from Galactus. Additional powers are continually and conveniently revealed in his adventures. ("Good thing Galactus bestowed this useful power upon me; now I can save this entire planet.") He is supremely fast. He can fly into a sun without being damaged at all. He doesn't even need his board to travel, though it is a really cool mode of transport. He doesn't seem to have an Achilles heel like Superman does with Kryptonite. He has inner strength and is incredibly self-sacrificing and honorable. Since he is not human, he does not seem to have human flaws such as pride, greed, etc. And he helped the Fantastic Four battle Galactus. How much more powerful and amazing could any superhero be? I believe Stan Lee created an incredibly pure character (similar to Faramir) though not without flaws, so he is also interesting.
I was also extremely impressed with the fact that a single person, Alicia Masters, could turn the tide so quickly in a story. After spending only minutes with her, Silver Surfer had an understanding that the earth was worth saving and was compelled to confront, and ultimately do battle with, Galactus.
Finally, one of the most exciting events of this story occurs before Galactus arrives to destroy Zenn-la. My heart actually beat faster when Norrin Radd and Shalla Bal began "moving toward one another." Though nothing actually happened (mainly because they were interrupted and the story is tasteful) those simple words were incredibly sensual to read. There is definitely something to be said for the power of suggestion and leaving things to our imagination. In this case, lack of graphic sexual detail is so much more intense than a full description.
I have only described my favorite tale in this book, the history/origin of the Silver Surfer. The rest of the stories are also exciting to read. I recommend this book for fans of all superheroes, though especially those of Silver Surfer.
J.H. Sweet, author of The Fairy Chronicles, and fan of Silver Surfer
Easily the worst Marvel book yet.... ^ And that's saying something ...! It took all I could muster to finish this book (I only read half of the last story before putting it down in disgust). How all but ONE of these authors could make a awe-inducing character (when you really think about it)like the Silver Surfer, and make him a boring TOOL, is actually comendable. It actually makes you think if a character that can go anywhere in the universe is really interesting? And the answer must be no. This guy obviously can go anywhere and see anything, but obviously finds nothing of interest. . .... Only get this if you're a die-hard Silver Surfer fan, or a Marvel novel completist like myself.
The Silver Surfer works better in comics, not in prouse ^ The Silver Surfer works better as a visual character that you can see in a comic book story board, it's very hard to capture the Surfer's sense of cosmic wonder in prouse form, and so with many of these stories you have to really use your imagination to get a taste of what the Surfer is all about. Most Marvel heroes translate very well from comics to novel writing, but the Surfer does not quite make the mark.
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