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Silver Surfer History


Jack Kirby is the artist that created the Silver Surfer for Marvel Comics. Silver Surfer first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 published March of 1966. It was part of a 3-issue set called by fans The Galactic Trilogy. In fact it was the first of the trilogy.

The story is about Norrin Radd who was a young astronomer from a planet called Zenn-La. Radd made a deal with Galactus to be his herald so that his world would be saved. Radd received certain powers and his appearance changed.

Galactus made a craft that was like a surfboard that actually flew, which helped Radd go through his travels at speed much more rapid than the speed of light. Radd became known as the Silver Surfer.

The Silver Surfer’s job was to go find planets that Galactus could devour. But when the Silver Surfer arrived on Earth he ran into the Fantastic Four, a superhero team that helped the Silver Surfer find his kinder wiser side. The Silver Surfer decided to save Earth from Galactus. This caused Galactus to become angered and exiled the Silver Surfer to Earth.

History of Publication

The creation of the Silver Surfer happened when writer Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were working on Fantastic Four #48. They had discussed the story and Jack Kirby went to draw the characters. When he showed Stan Lee the drawings of a guy on a flying surfboard, Lee thought Kirby had flipped.

Kirby explained that the villain Galactus should have a herald of some kind. Kirby only drew the flying surfboard cause he was bored drawing spaceships. Lee agreed and went to work on the character that went on to turn into a hero and save Earth. The Silver Surfer was thus created and melded into the Fantastic Four story in #48.

The Silver Surfer was in issue #55-61, 72, 74-77 of the Fantastic Four. These issues ran from October 1966 to August 1968. Later in 1968 The Silver Surfer Comic Book came out.

John Buscema did the pencil work on the beginning 17 issues for this series and Kirby came back for #18 and the final issue. The stories in this series revolved around the Silver Surfer being exiled to Earth. It was also his views on how inhumane man could be. This series was seen as some of Lee’s best work even though it was a short series.

John Byrne did a one hit deal in 1982 on the Silver Surfer. In 1987 Silver Surfer appeared in another solo comic. In this one he leaves Earth and goes to space. This was written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Marshall Rogers.

Many other writers and artists worked on this version of the Silver Surfer. A 2-part serial came out in 1988 and 1989 called the Silver Surfer: Parable. This won the Eisner Award in 1989 for Lee and Moebius.

A new series came out in 2003 and lasted for 14 issues. Then in 2006 to 2007 Annihilation: Silver Surfer, which was a 4 part miniseries made a splash. In 2007 Silver Surfer: Requiem came out and was about him finding out he was terminally ill. This was recently followed by  the miniseries Silver Surfer: In Thy Name, by writer Simon Spurrier and artist Ten Eng Huat.