Flashback Friday: Silver Surfer: Riding the Cosmic Waves
Feb 25, 2022
The Silver Surfer is one of the most powerful characters in Marvel who is capable of extraordinary feats. A Jack Kirby creation, he was introduced in The Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966) as a world-ending weapon. But before he was the herald of Galactus, he was Norrin Radd, a young scholar from the utopian planet Zenn-La.
When Galactus threatened to destroy the planet, Norrin negotiated with the cosmic being. He pledged to find other planets for Galactus to consume if the latter would spare Zenn-La and his lover Shalla-Bal. Agreeing to the proposal, Galactus gives him a fraction of the Power Cosmic, transforming him into the Silver Surfer.
Imbued with the Power Cosmic, the Silver Surfer can absorb and manipulate the universe’s energy to create bolts of cosmic force so powerful they could destroy a planet, project force fields, and create black holes. He can travel through interstellar space and hyperspace, create interdimensional portals, see through time, and he’s telepathic.
Norrin had planned to take him to uninhabited planets, but Galactus manipulated his soul to prevent that from happening. After serving as Galactus’ herald for an unknown amount of time, Silver Surfer summoned him to Earth. The Silver Surfer’s perspective changed drastically after he met the Fantastic Four and Alicia Masters, and chose to help drive Galactus away. Before he was driven away, Galactus punished Silver Surfer by confining him to Earth under an invisible barrier.
Now bound to Earth, Silver Surfer became a target for power hungry villains and an ally to some of the planet’s heroes. Doctor Doom attacked him in the hope of wielding the Power Cosmic and Mephisto sought to take his soul. He partnered with Hulk, Namor, and Doctor Strange as the original lineup of the Defenders.
Unhappy with being bound to Earth and affected by the energy-draining barrier, he worked with Reed Richards to break through. He returned to his home to learn that Galactus had ravaged the planet and Mephisto kidnapped Shalla-Bal, taking her to Earth. Silver Surfer defeated Mephisto and gave Shalla-Bal some of the Power Cosmic to rejuvenate Zenn-La.
Once he helped rescue Nova (Galactus’ current herald) from the Skrulls, the two made peace and Galactus lifted Silver Surfer’s exile.
This eye-popping box set includes 12 brand-new hardcovers that collect this entire epic, featuring stories by top DC talent including Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Ivan Reis, and many more!
Plus, this box set also includes a set of nine plastic rings from across the spectrum of the many Corps that are a part of this story!
Includes 12 new hardcover collections!
• Blackest Night: Prelude collects Green Lantern #26-28 and 36-43, and Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns #1
• Blackest Night collects Blackest Night #0-8 and pages from Untold Tales of the Blackest Night #1
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern collects Green Lantern #44-52
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps collects Green Lantern Corps #39-47
• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Book 1 collects Blackest Night: Batman #1-3, Blackest Night: Superman #1-3, and Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1-3
• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Book 2 collects Blackest Night: The Flash #1-3, Blackest Night: JSA #1-3, and Blackest Night: Titans #1-3
• Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns collects The Atom & Hawkman #48, Phantom Stranger #42, Green Arrow #30, Adventure Comics #7, Starman #81, The Question #37, Catwoman #83, Weird Western Tales #71, and The Power of Shazam! #38
• Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps collects Blackest Night: Tales of the Black Lanterns #1-3, Adventure Comics #4-5, Untold Tales of the Blackest Night #1, stories from Green Lantern #18-20, 40, and 49, Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps: Secret Files #1, Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime #1, and pages from Blackest Night #0
• Brightest Day: Green Lantern collects Green Lantern #53-62
• Brightest Day Book 1 collects Brightest Day #0-11
• Brightest Day Book 2 collects Brightest Day #12-25
• The Book of the Black collects sketch material (both previously released and new), series proposals, variant covers, posters, Blackest Night outline scripts,
This article originally appeared in Gemstone Publishing’s e-newsletter Scoop.
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Amanda Sheriff is Gemstone Publishing’s Associate Editor, serving as the writer/editor of the e-newsletter, Scoop. She is the author of The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Movie Posters, The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Concert Posters, and The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Horror, and co-author of The Overstreet Price Guide to Star Wars Collectibles and The Overstreet Price Guide to Batman.