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Silver Surfer #1 Review

Comic Books

Silver Surfer #1 Review

FADE IN:

EXT. THE DEEP, BLACK SEA OF SPACE

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An INTERVIEWER wearing a three piece suit, man-braids and a button on his sports coat that reads “AiPT! Rules, Y’all Other Suckas Drool” holds a microphone up to SILVER SURFER and DAWN GREENWOOD.

INTERVIEWER: Silver Surfer, you were freed from your servitude to Galactus, traveled the spaceways on a mission rife with heroism and self-discovery and recreated the entire universe with your new gal pal Dawn Greenwood. What are you gonna do next?”

Silver Surfer and Dawn look at each other for a moment and then both exclaim in unison:

SILVER SURFER AND DAWN GREENWOOD: We’re going back to Earth!

INTERVIEWER: Well that only leaves one damn question: Is it good?

The crowd cheers as we HEAR the song “WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR,” start playing, Idina Menzel crooning her little heart out.

Silver Surfer #1 (Marvel Comics)

silver-surfer-1-cover

Why is this important?

Maybe you’ve heard something about the recent, excellent Silver Surfer #1-15 run. If you haven’t, you should really check that out.

Now Marvel’s taking that same creative trio — Dan Slott (writer), Mike Allred (artist/writer) and Laura Allred (colors) — and bringing ‘em back together for more:

The Silver Surfer and Dawn Greenwood—the Massachusetts resident who joined him on his adventures in space—will return to her home planet to encounter monsters, magic, and a secret that will change everything.

A secret that will change everything you say? Well, that’s my kind of secret.

What I Liked:

  • Remember my lame intro where I referenced the “What Are You Gonna Do Next?” Disney commercial and “When You Wish Upon a Star”? Turns out, that was appropriate as hell, because this issue opens with just that: a shooting star arcing across the night sky in all its sexy, silvery splendor. It’s a nice nod to the creative trio’s opening page from 2014’s Silver Surfer #1. I’ll never get tired of seeing this particular celestial object transition into the Silver Surfer a few panels later because it’s just so seamless and symbolic.
  • silver-surfer-1-2014-shooting-star

    silver-surfer-1-2014-shooting-star-silver-surfer
    The opening of 2014’s Silver Surfer #1.

    silver-surfer-1-2016-shooting-star
    The opening of 2016’s Silver Surfer #1.

  • An alien race named the Hordrax interrupts a news broadcast with a threat to “plunder [Earth’s] greatest resource,” which… probably isn’t what you think.
  • Really feeling Dawn and Silver Surfer’s introduction, with Dawn hijacking the Hordrax’s invasion broadcast just to say hi to her dad and Silver Surfer disposing of the aliens with little difficulty in the background. Establishes the charming, humorous tone that this series has excelled with.
  • silver-surfer-1-2016-dawn-greenwood-aliens

  • The “New Hallow-Givings Birth-Mas” scene is a poignant reminder of how much Dawn’s twin sister and father love her, which is a reminder of how much more emotionally trying it must have been for Dawn to be away from them all that time while she was doing all that space adventuring with ol’ Silver.
  • The issue does a good job of is reintroducing Silver Surfer’s new lady friend, Dawn Greenwood and showing why she’s such a vital component to the new Silver Surfer‘s success. One, she’s a great intermediary character for Surfer, one that figuratively (and now literally) brings him down to Earth. Two, she complements Surfer by challenging him to approach problem solving in new ways. (e.g., the way the two deal with their powered-up Hordrax assailants at the end of this issue.)
  • silver-surfer-1-2016-dawn-silver-surfer

  • Is Surfer and Dawn’s romantic relationship the sort of GOOD one that fellow AiPT! writer Chris Hassan was talking about in his latest piece, “Love in the Age of Comic Books”?
  • If you’ve never been a fan of Silver Surfer’s before on account of his tendency to egregiously space-soliloquize, this series is definitely worth a shot as it rectifies that boring trapping of the character with some wonderful dialogue throughout.
  • Speaking of wonderful, the Allreds continue to flex their might as the premiere power duo for this title. As I’ve said in a previous review of their work in Silver Surfer:
  • [Mike’s] depictions of sprawling space backdrops, Surfer’s Power Cosmic in action and Dawn’s myriad facial expressions are a treat; they evoke a classic Jack Kirby vibe, always present Surfer in a befitting “noble demigod” light and are only bolstered by wife Laura Allred’s vibrant colors. Simply put: fantastic looking book.”

    That remains true here. I can’t think of art more integral to/compatible with a comic book than what the Allreds are doing right now on Silver Surfer; this is the type of stuff that will be character defining down the line.

What I didn’t like as much:

  • The Hordrax are fairly amusing filler foes, but too purposely farcical and mundane in design to leave much of a lasting impression. As a result, there’s no sense of dread or even overall significance in this issue until the last few pages.
  • This issue, despite being a brand new #1, is under the assumption that you know who Silver Surfer is/how he gets down. If this is your first experience with him, then be warned that Slott and Allred don’t hold your hand and give you the laundry list of his powers. Know this, though: dude is very, very powerful. So powerful we needed two enormous installments of Silver Surfer 101 just to show you what he’s capable of.
  • Although the intro to Dawn is good in this issue, you’d have a better sense of connection to the character if you’ve read Silver Surfer (2014) #1-15.

Is It Good?

Yes. It’s chockful of the same creative spirit, whimsical narrative and enchanting art as the fifteen issues that preceded it.

Though a bit subdued in this first issue, overall there’s only one thing to do: thank Marvel for getting the crew back together and letting us savor more of that sweet Slott/Allred Silver Surfer flavor.

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