With the coming of another Silver Surfer title this week, I have to ask the question: Why? Do we consider the Sentinel of the Starways a relevant character or the product of a by gone age? Can he be a believable protagonist or simply Marvel's most handy deus ex machina?
Besides Steve Englehart and Mashall Rogers' minor masterpiece, the Surfer has had a very unsuccessful solo career. He had an animated series and toy line briefly and a co-starring role in the underwhelming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer film.
Has he been tainted by each failure? Was he too protected by Stan Lee? Is it his mono-chromatic look? Or his whiney personality? Or his undefined powers? Or is it his silly name? One of few things I liked about the Ultimate Universe was that they redubbed him "The Silver Searcher".
Can we take a cosmic surfboarder seriously today?
More to follow!
Replies
Any character can work at any time. All it takes is the right approach. Best to read it first, then decide.
I do agree with Jeff 'any character can work at any time'.
They can also fail at anytime
The Surfer when he was introduced was a far different character. He was Galactus herald before he was Norin Radd and had the saint/devil relationship with Mephisto (with some of Jack Kirby's best art in my opinion) and the awakening of his better nature due to Alicia's influence is something I can't see any marvel writer doing today.
I don't know much about his later series, but I do remember that the Black Panther once beat him so there has been some power level shifts going on.
As to whether he's a viable character, JoEJ is correct; it's all a matter of approach.
If it were me, he wouldn't be Earth-Bound. I think that's just plain too limiting. Let him roam the stars on a quest of some sort. i think there's much more potential for the character in that premise.
I was a big fan of his 1980s title by Englehart, and it was one of my favorite titles at the time. I think the key is to keep him away from Earth as much as possible. Use him to explore the cosmic ideas in the MU.
I think his biggest problem is that I don't know just what his powers are exactly. Yep, he wields the Power Cosmic, but it is (as you mention) very undefined.
Whoever his new writer is needs to decide on his powers and stick with them. Power bolts -- Check! Invulnerability -- Check! Super speed -- Check! A Cosmic awareness -- Check, but let's have a real idea what that is. .... And that's all he really needs.
I thought Rise of the Silver Surfer was interesting, but not much fun, the direct result of a "what the hell is going on here?" plot.
The Silver Surfer can't work today. He called in sick.
The Silver Surfer can't work today. He's stuck at an airport in New Jersey after another winter storm.
The Silver Surfer can't work today. His car battery died and he doesn't have cash for the bus.
The Silver Surfer can't work today. He booked his vacation time two months ago. Can't you read the schedule for crying out loud?!?
I don't see why the Silver Surfer can't work today... but it remains to be seen whether this new take will catch on. It sounds promising to me, as someone who wouldn't normally pick up a straight-ahead Silver Surfer comic.
Given the kind of computer created art that they can do today (the Honor Harrington series is an example) they could really go galactic in scope.
Ooh, I gotta agree with you there. I imagine the new series will have some humor, but I hope it arises naturally from the characters and situations, not forced. Yesterday I said, “All it takes is the right approach,” as if that’s easy. People have been singing the praises of Dan Slott around these parts for some time, but I’ve never read enough of his work to form an opinion. (He simply hasn’t been involved with any series I’ve been interested in.) I always have been a fan of Mike Allred. And Silver Surfer is one on my favorite characters. I’m looking forward to this series very much.
Regarding “Any character can work at any time,” the case in point I always use is Animal Man. Who would have predicted that character would have been able to support a long and successful series in the ‘90s?
Jack Kirby initially conceived the character as a construct of Galactus, an energy being relegated to Earth as a “fallen angel” who would have to learn what it means to be human by interacting with humanity. If you re-read FF #48-50, that’s the way Stan Lee scripted him as well. It wasn’t until later when the whole Norrin Radd/Zen La back story was grafted on.
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