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July 31, 2006
When the Silver Surfer Soared Under Byrne
I'm waxing nostalgic over the Silver Surfer, no doubt because he's a major player in Marvel's Annihilation cosmic soap drama. (Did you know that Norrin Radd willingly signed up to be Galactus' herald again?) Back in the 70s and 80s, all Marvel Zombies yearned and cried for the Surfer to have his own series. His appearances were restricted to a few select titles, very sparingly each year. Stan Lee reserved the character as his most prized co-creation. John Byrne, who was in the middle of his historic Fantastic Four run, enticed Stan to script a one-shot special titled "Escape to Terror!" (in Silver Surfer Volume 2 Number 1). Byrne plotted the story and pencilled, while Tom Palmer provided the inks and colors.
I loved this story and the way it was executed, in the Mighty Marvel Manner with exclamation points at the end of each sentence!!! Byrne's page layout evokes the great storytelling of both Jack Kirby (in the first half) and John Buscema (in the second half featuring Mephisto). I remember reading an interview with John Byrne where he was asked what inker he would like to work with and he replied, "Tom Palmer". Looking at Palmer's work over the pencils of Gene Colan and Neal Adams (one of Byrne's idols), it's easy to see why. This was their first occassion to work together and it was magical. Palmer's inks, combined with his coloring skills, really made the art exceptional, although the printing at the time did not do full justice.
After being trapped on Earth for years, Norrin Radd finally escapes (with the help of Reed Richards) the barrier that Galactus erected back in Fantastic Four #50. The Surfer's first voyage takes him back to where it all began--his home planet, Zenn-La--as well as his love, Shalla Bal. He returns home to find it a barren wasteland. When the Surfer betrayed Galactus, the deal he made to protect Zenn-La was null and void. Even worse than being villified by an entire planet of refugees, the Surfer discovers that Shalla Bal is not among the survivors. She's actually back on Earth, working as a slave girl for Doctor Doom back in Latveria.
This double-sized book really had all of the classic Silver Surfer elements from the 60s in one neat little package: Galactus, Zenn-La, Shalla Bal, Mephisto, and even Doctor Doom (he was present only in flashbacks, although the Surfer did invade his castle). The ending was perfect, even if everything got reset to the Silver Surfer being imprisoned on Earth once again, it was a noble sacrifice to save Shalla Bal along with his homeworld. The last page features such a fine Silver Surfer pose that I wish it had been made a poster. And even though it's corny as hell, I think this dialogue here is some of the best stuff Stan Lee ever wrote:
Nuff said.
