MarvelBlog Review: Silver Surfer Black #1
He has remained one of the most beloved and underutilized Marvel characters of all time, and he has arrived in what is a jaw-dropping first issue; this is our review of Silver Surfer Black #1.
Anyone who truly has insight into the history of Marvel and the man responsible for their relevance, Stan Lee, knows how special and important the character of Silver Surfer is to the history and lore of the publication.
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The Surfer was developed as a part of the hippie movement of the 1970s, with the character’s strong stance against violence, and penchant to push for the perseverance of peace becoming a defining quality of a hero that was delivered to readers during a time when anti-war was a vital part of American youth.
Silver Surfer Black #1 is an issue that feels like the most beautiful inheritor of that version of this beloved character, as Donny Cates and Tradd Moore deliver what is truly a phenomenal exploration into one of Marvel comics’ most interesting characters.
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The one thing that stands out in the opening of this issue is the clear style that it fully embraces, and how both Cates and Moore dig deep into who this character was always intended to be and deliver him in a brand new way.
The book reads like a psychedelic philosophy trip that uses distorted imagery and phenomenal writing to set the stage for a hero that is clearly tortured psychologically beyond belief.
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Cates confronts the reality of the story of former Norrin Radd, who went from a normal, peaceful, entity to the herald of the most devastating force in the galaxy; Galactus.
It has always been among the most interesting and underexplored realities of the modern comic book landscape, and one that is ripe with philosophical questions of the greater good and the endless battle between light and darkness.
Source: Marvel
Cates and Moore don’t just start a phenomenal run for this character off of the heels of Guardians of the Galaxy #1, but they develop a whole new kind of Silver Surfer surely to etch his own mark into the pantheon of great Marvel comics.
