Silver Surfer - Condemned to Shine

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Great cosmic one, I ride ahead once more, not to scout fragile worlds for you to devour, but to hunt for something far stranger… Marvel Comics recommendations. You’ve turned that endless hunger of yours away from planets and toward something a bit more collectible. So here I am, your herald still, carving through memory and boxes instead of galaxies, looking for the comics that might actually satisfy you.

What I bring back isn’t the cries of civilizations facing their impending doom, but issues and runs, of stories much like my own, of condemned heralds fulfilling what is required of them. I pray that you will free me from this dreadful task so that I can once again be rejoined with my beloved Wiish-Liist, who now cries alone as I help you in your damned task. I know you can not avoid it, I know it is in your nature to crave for recommendations.

So, here, o-might-one, is my humble menu of offerings:

(Don't worry, I'm dropping the bit because writing like Silver Surfer for pages and pages would be a hell of my own making not even Mephisto would comprehend)

"The Galactus Trilogy” (aka Fantastic Four #48 to #50) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

I’m sure you’ve probably heard it before: Stan Lee’s work can sometimes be a bit hard to get into, and a lot of the best material with his characters actually came after he stepped away from the books. If you haven’t heard that, I’m telling you now. But there are two huge exceptions to that rule, Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four. This comic in particular is the foundation of everything that would come after. You could argue, without exaggeration, that without these three issues, there wouldn’t even be a Marvel Comics standing here in 2025.

Galactus himself is a complete break from the old comic book notions of “good” and “evil.” He simply is. A force of nature, unstoppable, not out to destroy for the sake of it but because that’s what he does, he consumes, and he keeps consuming. And the way the heroes face him is not through fists or brute strength. It’s through words, through reason, through sheer nerve. Through creativity, wonder, and daring. Three words that, to me, sit right at the core of what Marvel has always been at its best.

That might sound simple now, but at the time it was radical. Lee and Kirby weren’t just telling another fight comic; they were making a statement that this medium didn’t need to talk down to its young readers. And in return, those readers would give something back. Respect. That’s a kind of respect the industry as a whole has always struggled to fully earn, but here, in these pages, Lee and Kirby guarantee it.

And then there’s the Silver Surfer, the moral anchor of the entire saga. He begins as something detached, a servant to a higher power, only doing the task laid out before him. But then comes Alicia Masters showing him that even if the universe has shaped you one way, you still hold the choice to act differently. You can defy your “nature” simply by daring to do so.

That’s the heart of these issues. That’s the heart of Marvel.

The Galactus Trilogy is collected in Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 3: The Coming Of Galactus TP (New Ptg)

“Silver Surfer” by Stan Lee and John Buscema

Then, I offer you Silver Surfer's first solo series. Lee was for sure wrestling his own demons while writing this one. The anti-war sentiment was brewing in America and you would not be far from the truth by calling these comics part of the counter-culture. Silver Surfer is written in these pages as a walking (or flying) meditation on humanity's worst impulses. Being trapped here by Galactus, he has only time to either soak or try to make a living amongst humans. One big problem though. The humans massively reject what he stands for. Surfer is confronted at every turn by our propensity to divide and kill each other. It becomes quite clear that the “good” which the Surfer renounced his freedom to defend might not have been so “good” after all. And then he soaks. And Lee is very pruned to writing these dialogues as long (and I mean, looong) as he can.

Not for nothing, in these pages, Mephisto is born. The Marvel counterpart to the devil is a representation of humanity's worst impulses and is fascinated and angry by the idea that the Silver Surfer cannot have his soul corrupted. The back and forth between them is by far the most compelling writing Lee has ever done and encapsulates the character's whole firmament.

Buscema's work is simply legendary. You will fall in love with his first page spreads. He builds on Kirby's work with Galactus and makes a sterling case of why maybe this book is worth it just to look at the images and skip the dialogues (and I'll be eager to confess that I found myself doing that a lot while rereading for this article, but don't tell anyone).

This essential classic is collected in multiple formats:

• Silver Surfer Omnibus Vol. 1 John Buscema First Issue Cover HC [New Printing 2]
• Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Silver Surfer Vol. 1 - The Sentinel Of The Spaceways TP
• Marvel Masterworks: The Silver Surfer Vol. 1 HC [Remasterworks, DM Only]

Lee and Buscema's love and devotion to the character continues beyond this initial run and both come back multiple times to the character. They help move the graphic novel forward with the brilliant Marvel Graphic Novel #38 Silver Surfer: Judgment Day, where every single page is a splash page and it's brilliant and, if you are just reading one thing for the character in your life it should be this. It's collected in the Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 4: Parable TP and on the tail end of the Silver Surfer: Return To The Spaceways Omnibus Ron Lim Cover HC

Lee also returns to the character from the other major collaborations. One is for the out-of-print (because of the publishing rights being owned by Fireside, I know, I know, big mess) reunion with JACK KIRBY himself. The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience GN. He does something similar with a collaboration with John Byrne, a retelling of the first series with Buscema, in the one-shot that counts as Vol. 2 for the character. If the long monologues are too much for you, you can get the whole gist by just reading that one issue, also in the Return To The Spaceways omnibus  and in the Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 3: Freedom TP (New Printing)

And then there’s Silver Surfer: Parable. A two‑issue story written by Stan Lee with jaw‑dropping art by Moebius (the legendary French artist behind The Incal and Arzach.) First published in 1988 under Marvel’s Epic imprint, this comic feels like a strange little miracle, a morality play presented through science‑fiction. It’s a sharp critique of blind faith and greed, but done with a dreamy, almost mythic tone. Moebius’ pages are unlike anything else Marvel was putting out at the time and Lee writes the Surfer here with a (surprising) restraint that makes his points hit way harder than they ever did before. Again, that one also on the Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 4: Parable TP and on the tail end of the Silver Surfer: Return To The Spaceways Omnibus Ron Lim Cover HC.

That covers all the main Lee works and Vol. 1 and 2 of the character. Now finally to the main belly of the already mentioned 100x times…

In the 80s Silver Surfer finally gets an ongoing comic back in shelves and they stay there for 146 issues, a 11-year run with multiple celebrated passages that I will guide you through as concise as I can (and If you are a BTP fan, you know I come from the Lee school of taking my sweet-ass time so that's a hustle).

We start with Steve Igleheart when he finally frees Silver Surfer from the Earth-bound prison and returns him to (ha!! you guessed!) spaceways. And it seems like a no brainer. Crazy that it took this long. We finally can see our guy run around and have his existential crisis everywhere around the cosmos. He can finally return to his beloved Shalla-Ball, except, humm, this is awkward, maybe Shalla-Ball has moved on and the Surfer himself is not the same as he was when they promised eternal love (after a few dates dare I say). So now he gets in a love triangle with Mantis (he's got a thing for girls with nature powers) and fights with the Elders of the Universe for the Infinity Stones. And there's some quirk Elders of the Universe out there, let me tell you that. I'm surprised at how fun I had with this. It's so funny and camp but never abandons the philosophical nature of Lee's creation. And giving a little bit of humor to the character revitalizes him forever. Just what it was missing. It is serious but also kinda ridiculous and it's the perfect book.

That run is the whole chunk of the (again) Silver Surfer: Return To The Spaceways Omnibus Ron Lim Cover HC, Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 3: Freedom TP (New Printing) and Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 4: Parable TP

Then, Jim Starlin takes over and lays the foundations for his Infinity Saga. Yes, the one that inspired the multi-billion dollar movies. You get these massive, mind‑melting concepts like souls as currency, morality as a balancing act, the universe as a chessboard where every move costs someone their life and yet he still sneaks in those moments where the Surfer’s just tired. Just a man (a shiny man, but still) trying to make sense of eternity while the universe insists on throwing purple madmen and cosmic abstracts at him.

After he moves on to write the Infinity event on itself, Ron Marz takes over and stays there for a record time. What I like about this period is how he constructs the universe as a type of busy metropolis (as in a big city, not the DC universe). And the weight of how it feels to be the one in the middle of all the chaos. And if the Marvel Universe is supposed to be the world outside your window, space feels like what I think space would actually feel like it was a complex political and mystical system of different species and leaders and religions. Tapestry building towards a larger-than-life saga? For sure. But also, the tapestry they use definitely sells at the handy-shop right around the corner (in some metaphysical way of putting, of course.) Then, at the end of the 90s, J.M. DeMatteis finishes out the volume in some very underrated issues that are funnily enough more collected than the Marz stuff.

The omnibus line hopefully will engulf this whole period. While we don't have that, we have the epics (although not complete, and not all available). Some of these will overlap with the Infinity Gauntlet/ Infinity War, Infinity Crusade saga. Here's what you can get now:

• Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 5: The Return Of Thanos TP
• Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 8: The Herald Ordeal TP *OOP*
• Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 12: Into The Outer Void TP
• Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 14: Sun Rise And Shadow Fall TP

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Overwhelmed? Yeah, me too. So, is there any more modern and not so complicated stuff I recommend? YES, these are a few of my favorite Silver Surfer stories! And they are insanely out-of-print. But if anything in the world is good, they should be back soon with the new movie.

Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Michael Allred

Cause I'm a Slotter, yes I am

[tawananana]

Well I'm a Slotter, yes I am.

Yes, I do love me some Dan Slott. And although his passages on Spidey and the Fantastic Four are very divisive to say the least (Superior Spidey best thing to happen to the franchise I still say to that), one thing even his haters can agree on is how incredible this Silver Surfer run is. Magic and wonder encapsulated in a bottle and sold with the twisty Roald Dahl infused art by genius Michael Allred. Slott shows his love for Doctor Who, one that we share, and practically makes Silver Surfer a version of that character, for better or for worse. I say better. He gives him a companion in Dawn and sends them on high-concept journeys through the beyond. These stories are some of the most funny and tragic you will ever read in a Marvel book. It stretches the Marvel Cosmic into Star Trek territory with some pretty cool philosophical adventures that pay homage to the Lee concept while also pushing the barriers of comic book storytelling in some clever and fresh ways.

In particular, issue 11 of the first run, “Never After” won the 2016 Eisner Award for "Best Single Issue / One-Shot.” and it's brilliant. It's all written in a Möbius strip while the characters are stuck in a time loop. It’s genius and begs for a physical edition (and we loooove that here at Walt's). Here's Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort's long written essay about the whole thing.

Really, I cannot recommend this to you enough times. The kind of book that makes me emotional talking about (don't laugh at me!!!). A love letter to storytelling that folds in itself as a storytelling letter to love.

Out of print? Yes. Leaving this here forever so you can get minute one when it comes back.

Silver Surfer By Slott & Allred Omnibus HC [New Printing]

Silver Surfer: Requiem by J. Michael Straczynski and Esad Ribić

The best way to exemplify the importance of something, is the empty space it leaves when it is gone. By crafting the last story of Norrin Radd, Straczynski and Ribić may pen his most significant one. The Silver Surfer is dying in this non-canon story, so he practically goes for a goodbye tour while reminiscing on his life and history. There was always a tragedy ingrained in this character and they hit the nail in the head with this funeral opera. Beautifully drawn of course, I feel like Straczynski translates Lee demons to modern writing and panel framing the best here. There's a poetic musicality but the book also feels epic and grand scale while it pierces into the internal suffering and the soul as a revealing window to the universe's greatest fragilities and longings. Silver Surfer is tragedy brought to life and now Silver Surfer is tragedy brought to death.

Out of print, but also leaving this here as a campaign for a swift return into shelves.

Recently, Marvel started publishing Death of The Silver Surfer by Greg Pak and Sumit Kumar - while the title made us think “didn't we do that to perfection before?" - the first issue goes in a very different direction, being more of an action-packed hunt for Surfer by an intriguing new character. It's more simple but I enjoyed it. It wasn't what we thought it was. And while I do think I know where we are going with this (movie synergy anyone?) maybe Pak will surprise us again. So check that out on Manage Comics right now as new printings of the first issue and new ones are available for pre-order.