Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966). more...

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The Surfer was originally Norrin Radd, a young astronomer of the planet Zenn-La. He agreed to serve as herald to the entity with god-like powers Galactus in order to save Zenn-La from the world devourer's insatiable hunger. Granted enormous cosmic powers (the Power Cosmic), a silvery appearance and a surfboard-like vehicle — all of which were modeled after a childhood fantasy of Radd — the Silver Surfer roamed the cosmos, searching for new planets for Galactus to consume.

In the classic “The Coming of Galactus” story arc in Fantastic Four #48-50 (1966), the Silver Surfer encountered Earth's Fantastic Four and betrayed Galactus, who doomed him to exile on Earth. In tune with a counterculture of the era, the Surfer explored his new home planet in a heavily philosophical late 1960s spin-off series. Another, more cosmically themed series with a freed Surfer was published from 1987 until 1998. A third series followed in 2003, lasting only a year.

The character was featured in adaptations of “The Coming of Galactus” in both the 1960s and 1990s Fantastic Four animated series. He starred in a short-lived solo animated series in 1998, which blended cel and computer animation.

A sequel to the 2005 Fantastic Four film, scheduled for 2007, will be called Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Early promotional materials indicate it will be a loose adaptation of the “Coming of Galactus” with the Surfer more of a central villain.

Publication history

The Silver Surfer is a unique product of the Marvel system of comic creation. Unlike in the full scripts employed elsewhere, Lee and Kirby would discuss general storylines or plots initially but leave the specific story elements to the penciller (this was especially so in the case of Kirby). Reputedly, Kirby created the character of the Silver Surfer reasoning that a god-like cosmic predator of planets should have some sort of herald. (According to Lee, Kirby said he created the surfboard "because I'm tired of drawing spaceships!") Lee was surprised by this creation but, taken by the noble features of the new character that Kirby had penciled, scripted him, adding to his characterization.

Though Kirby seems to be the primary creator of the Silver Surfer, Lee enjoyed the character and decided to feature him in his own comic magazine. Kirby was unavailable and penciller John Buscema was chosen as the artist for the brief run (18 issues). The Silver Surfer comic and character allowed Lee to script some of his most thoughtful and introspective stories. Thematically, the stories dealt with the inhumanity of man as observed by the noble yet fallen Surfer. After his own comic was cancelled, the Surfer continued to make sporadic appearances as a guest star or antagonist in other comic books. A personal favorite of Lee's, a number of specials and graphic novels featuring the character have been published over the years.

Read more at Wikipedia.org