Silver Surfer Vol. 3 #83-100, Annual #6-7 (August 1993 – January 1995)
Written by Ron Marz (#83-100, Annual #6-7)
Penciled by Cully Hamner (#83), Tom Grindberg (#84, 93-94, 100, Annual #7), Ernie Stiner (#85), Andy Smith (#86-88), Colleen Doran (#89), Bill Marimon (#90), Ron Lim (#91-92, Annual #7), Bart Sears (#93), Scot Eaton (#95, Annual #7), Jim Hall (#96-99, Annual #6), Joe Phillips (#100, Annual #6), Dale Eaglesham (Annual #6)
Inked by Tom Christopher (#83-85, 87-92, 97-98, 100, Annual #6-7), Maria Beccari (#85), Howard Shum (#85), Scott Koblish (#85), Bill Anderson (#86), Ray Kryssing (#93-94, Annual #7), Randy Elliott (#94), Mike Barreiro (#95), Mark McKenna (#96, Annual #6), Bob Almond (#99-100, Annual #6), Don Hudson (#100), Sam De La Rosa (Annual #6), Ariane Lenshoek (Annual #6), Michael Avon Oeming (Annual #6), Pat Redding (Annual #6), Ian Akin (Annual #6), Jim Sanders (Annual #7), Keith Aiken (Annual #7)
Coloured by Renee Witterstaetter (#83-87), Evelyn Stein (#88-90, Annual #6), Tom Vincent (#91-100, Annual #7), Ericka Moran (Annual #6), Joe Rosas (Annual #6), Mike Kenny (Annual #7)
Spoilers (from twenty-seven to twenty-nine years ago)
I closed off the last column about two-thirds of the way into writer Ron Marz’s run because artist Ron Lim, whose name has always been associated with the Silver Surfer, left at that point (except for a couple more issues later). The Surfer had faced off against Galactus over his new herald, Morg, although later Galactus had to rescue the Surfer from Tyrant, a powerful villain who ended up keeping Morg with him. The Surfer had lost his friend Nova, although in a miniseries that had him teaming up with Warlock and the Infinity Watch, he was able to aid in the resurrection of his love Shalla Bal.
Prior to this point, Marz wasn’t doing a lot of character work with the Surfer, focusing more on big battles and the gradual nineties-ization of the title. When we pick things up here, the Infinity Crusade event has just begun, and like with the first two chapters of that long story, the Surfer became involved through tie-in issues (and probably had a role in the main series – I’m not rereading it now, and might never get around to it).
By this point, I’d dropped the Surfer, and the majority of the other Marvel books I was still reading, so I’m reading these issues digitally. It takes away something from the experience, but I doubt these are worth hunting down now. I kind of want to keep reading this just as an exploration of how the trends of the nineties took what was a terrific title under writers Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, and degraded it. Sounds like fun, right?
Let’s track who turned up in the title:
Villains
- Thanos (#83-84, 88, 98)
- Valkyrie (evil version from Thor’s mind; #88)
- Raze (#89-90)
- Vranx (#89)
- Avatar (Princess Alaisa Ruantha Pethnan; #90-92)
- Mole Man (#94)
- Skrulls (#95)
- Technotroid (#95)
- Mephisto (as Nova: #96-99; as Mephisto: #99-100)
- Terrax (#97, Annual #6)
- Champion (Tryco Slatterus, Elders of the Universe; #97-98)
- Captain Vuulk (#99)
- Ronan the Accuser (Annual #6)
- Morg (Annual #7)
Guest Stars
- Storm (Ororo Monroe, X-Men; #85)
- Wonder Man (Simon Williams, Avengers; #85)
- Thor (#86-88)
- Beta Ray Bill (#86-87)
- Sif (#86-87)
- Adam Warlock (Infinity Watch; #86-88, 94)
- Pip the Troll (Infinity Watch; #86-88)
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange; #87-88)
- Gamora (Infinity Watch; #87-88, 94)
- Moondragon (Heather Douglas, Infinity Watch; #87-88, 93)
- Drax, the Destroyer (Infinity Watch; #87-88, 93-94, 98)
- Maxam (Infinity Watch; #87-88)
- Legacy (Genis-Vell; #89-90, Annual #6-7)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker; #93)
- The Thing (Ben Grimm, Fantastic Four; #93-97)
- Human Torch (Johnny Storm, Fantastic Four; #93-97)
- Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff, Avengers; #93)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers, Avengers; #93)
- Ant-Man (Scott Lang, Fantastic Four; #93-97)
- Hulk (Bruce Banner; #95-96)
- Invisible Woman (Sue Richards, Fantastic Four; #97)
- Elysius (Annual #6-7)
- Jack of Hearts (Jack Hart; Annual #6)
- Ganymede (Annual #6)
- Starfox (Eros; Annual #7)
Supporting Characters
- Firelord (Pyreus Kril; #83, Annual #7)
- Shalla Bal (Empress of Zenn-La; #83, 100)
- Elmar Radd (Norrin’s mother; #84, 100)
- Jartran Radd (Norrin’s father; #84, 100)
- Air-Walker (Gabriel Lan; Annual #7)
- Galactus (Annual #7)
Let’s take a look at what happened in these books, with some commentary as we go:
- We dive right into the Infinity Crusade (issue eighty-three takes place after #3 of that series), with Firelord and the Silver Surfer fighting each other in space. We learn that the Surfer is on his way to warn Earth’s heroes about the plans of The Goddess (I vaguely remember her as a female version of Warlock). He had been one of her acolytes, but he came to his senses about who she was, and escaped her, but she sent Firelord to stop him. The Surfer believes he’s defeated Firelord, but he recovers and attacks again, smashing the Surfer into an asteroid. As Firelord prepares to kill him, the Surfer flashes back to a recent visit he had with Shalla Bal, who is newly resurrected after the Surfer/Warlock miniseries. They shared a drink and talked about the Surfer’s parents and the general laziness of Zenn-Lavian society, and then it’s strongly suggested that they shared some adult time (but how would that even work?). The memory fuels the Surfer’s determination, and he fights back against Firelord, trying to get him to come to his senses. When it’s clear that he won’t, the Surfer unloads on him, and now it’s Firelord lying on the same asteroid. The Surfer blasts him, leaving him badly injured and weak, before flying off to resume his mission, worrying that he might have ruined their friendship. As he flies off, we see that he’s being watched over videoscreen by Thanos, who says he has need of him.
- Thanos has convinced the Surfer to absorb a ton of energy, swelling him up to Hulk-size, and then use that power to blow up the moon of Paradise Omega, the Goddess’s world. Thanos wonders if the Surfer will survive this mission. We see the massive Surfer (he’s misshapen like Strong Guy) fly into the moon, and then float in space. He appears to start shrinking, and finds himself lying on the floor of what looks like a mono station on Zenn-La (this is the planet’s mass transit system). He’s confused to find himself there, and has a confusing conversation with the only other person – a ticket collector. The Surfer doesn’t have a ticket, and the man refers to him as a ‘halfway case’ before leaving. The Surfer is surprised to see his parents appear in the station (especially since they’ve both been dead since long before he became the Silver Surfer). He has a slightly awkward conversation with them, and we figure out that the Surfer might be dead, but his mother believes that he’s halfway between life and death and can decide what to do. His father seems to want him to be dead, and the two start to argue until the Surfer stops them. His mother makes it clear that he has to decide for himself, but his father seems to be working through his own guilt, which feels a little out of place. Anyway, the Surfer reconciles with his father, and then when the train arrives, both parents encourage him not to get on it with them. They say their farewells, and the Surfer blasts through the exit, finding himself floating in space again. Thanos talks to a robot about how the Surfer will live, and they watch as gravity drags him down to the surface of Paradise Omega. We see that he fell in such a way that he is caught between two trees, almost like he’s been crucified. This was a weird filler issue…
- The final Infinity Crusade tie-in opens with Storm and Wonder Man, both servants of the Goddess, finding the Surfer still unconscious. Wonder Man wants to kill him for betraying the Goddess, but Storm wants to continue with their assignment – to find other unconverted heroes on the planet. The Surfer wakes up to Simon choking him, but Ororo stops him. The Surfer tries to explain to them how the Goddess is a false god and leads them astray, which leads to Simon angrily punching him. Ororo preaches compassion, but Simon keeps hitting the Surfer until he’s down. While weakened, the Surfer continues to argue, enraging Simon, who fights him some more, while the Surfer tries to calm him down, and delay while his power cosmic recharges. Simon doesn’t give him much of a chance, picking him up and throwing him into the woods. Ororo draws Simon away, but the Surfer, now recharged, comes barrelling out of the woods ready to fight. He tries again to appeal to the heroes’ true natures, but he still attacks them, knocking them both down. Ororo recovers to see the Surfer doing something over Simon’s body, and assumes it’s an attack. She brings a storm down on the Surfer, but after hitting him with lightning, listens to him as he explains that he was trying to heal Simon with his powers. Ororo apologizes, and the Surfer gets back to work, fixing Simon. They all talk, and the two Earthers insist that they are still loyal to the Goddess, so the Surfer lets them leave. He heads out to confront the Goddess himself.
- It seems that Annual #6 fits here. A Kree vessel is pursuing someone, taking great pains to remain hidden from the Shi’ar (I think that they were in control of the Kree Empire at this point – it’s a very volatile galactic empire). The person we assume they are pursuing arrives on the planet Paraxis, an almost entirely empty planet. He approaches a home and gives an ornate box to the woman inside. Whatever is in the box, we learn that they were difficult to make and needed to be kept secret. In payment, the woman gives this guy a necklace made inside a red giant star. We don’t know what the woman is going to do with the items she bought, but she comments about giving them away. On another planet, a young man is caught cheating in a game of cards against a Varraash shocktrooper (picture a big scaly green alien), and the trooper calls his friends to get him. The young man, who has long white hair, jumps out a window and thinks he makes a getaway. The troopers catch him and start beating on him. They are stopped when the Silver Surfer arrives and blasts them. He tells the young man that he’s there to pass on a message from his mother, Elysius, and bring him home. The Kree vessel, which is clearly piloted by Ronan the Accuser, figures out that the man they were tracking is on Paraxis. As they fly together, the young man asks the Surfer how he knows his mother, but the Surfer doesn’t want to say much (truthfully, I’m not sure that they would have met before). The young man mentions that his father is Eros (Starfox), but that he’s never been around for him, and that his mother is always sad. They arrive on the planet, and we learn that the man’s name is Genis. Elysius explains that she wanted to tell him some things, and that while Eros wanted to be there, he couldn’t be. Genis is surprised to learn that Eros isn’t really his father. The Kree teleport down to the planet’s surface. The Surfer excuses himself from the private family discussion, but we get to watch as Elysius explains that Genis’s true father is Mar-Vell, the first Captain Marvel. She explains how Mar-Vell died of cancer, and how she was so lonely that she used science on Titan to impregnate herself with Mar-Vell’s DNA, and that Eros helped her through her pregnancy as part of his promise to Mar-Vell to protect her. When Genis was born, Mentor convinced her to accelerate his growth as a way of protecting him from Mar-Vell’s enemies (this part is suspect – if she wanted a child, why accept a teenager who is going to leave soon?). Genis was given false memories of his childhood, and after living in isolation with Elysius for a few years, he felt grown (he’s 22), and left her behind. She gives him the box we saw earlier, and whatever is in it is glowing. The Surfer is attacked by Kree in battle armor, and while he fights them off easily, Ronan is able to take him out with a sneak attack. Elysius explains that she had wristlets made for Genis that will help him access the energy he inherited from his father. Genis doesn’t feel he can live up to this responsibility, but then they are attacked by Ronan, who bursts through the wall. Ronan knew about the bands, but Genis uses the holographic projector he uses to cheat at cards to surprise Ronan with the appearance of Mar-Vell. Genis puts on the bands off-panel, and then blasts Ronan, kind of referring to himself as Legacy in the process. He attacks Ronan, who is able to bat him around a bit as he expresses surprise at his identity. Ronan declares Genis guilty and smacks him across the jaw with his Universal Weapon. He is about to kill Genis, but the Surfer arrives, and together he and Genis blast at Ronan, sending him outside the house. Recognizing that he can’t win, Ronan teleports away, vowing revenge. Later, Genis realizes he needs to leave, and asks the Surfer to help his mother rebuild her home. He agrees, and Genis flies off (I guess these bands are easy to use). Later, we see Genis speaking to his father’s grave, vowing to carry on his tradition.
- Terrax goes to a weapons shop, and when he attempts to steal an axe, he destroys some robots and threatens the storekeeper, until he gives him the axe as a gift.
- Ganymede and Jack of Hearts are on a peaceful planet where the Spinsters used to go to relax. Ganymede takes off most of her clothes and gets in a pond. She declares her feelings for Jack and says she’s ready to abandon her vows of spinsterhood, since they defeated Tyrant, but just as they are about to kiss, they are attacked by one of Tyrant’s damaged robot troopers. They manage to destroy it, but now the mood is ruined and Ganymede realizes she still has to complete her mission. Jack is about to leave, but then she says that she still wants to stay with him, but they can’t yet be together together. Then they kiss.
- After the Annual, a crossover event called Blood and Thunder took place involving the Surfer’s book, The Mighty Thor, Warlock Chronicles, and Warlock and the Infinity Watch. The first chapter, Thor #468, showed us that Thor has lost his mind, and plots to destroy Asgard. Sif and Beta Ray Bill try to reason with him, but that turns into a fight, and the two sane heroes are no match for Thor’s might. Bill sends Sif away to get help, and then has his death delayed by the arrival of the Silver Surfer. (Marz was also writing Thor, it seems, which explains his use of Beta Ray Bill in the Tyrant storyline in my last column).
- Issue eighty-six contains chapter two of Blood and Thunder. The Surfer seeks out Beta Ray Bill to help him in his quest to help Thor, and finds him at Thor’s mercy. The Surfer tries to stop Thor from killing Bill, who is laying unconscious on yet another random asteroid (there are so many of these in this title’s history). Thor denies suffering from delusions, and instead explains that he has realized he’s always been a manipulated servant of Asgard as they fight. He lands a strong blow on the Surfer’s chin with Mjolnir, knocking him down, and as the Surfer tries to get Thor to realize he needs to go see Odin, we see that Bill is recovering. Bill hits Thor in the back, and those two begin to fight again, with the Surfer joining in. Thor fights back, but eventually Bill is able to knock him down, at which point he starts to talk to the Surfer about him and how they don’t want Odin to know that Thor is mad, as he’ll banish him forever. Thor, still on his knees, begins talking to the vision he has of someone he calls Valkyrie (but it’s clearly not the one that used to serve on the Defenders). This vision tells Thor that he needs to kill the two men who have betrayed him, and so he attacks them with thunder from his hammer, knocking Bill out. The Surfer engages Thor while commanding his surfboard to carry Bill somewhere safe. Sif finds Bill on the board, and decides that she has to tend to him before going to help the Surfer. She uses the norn stones to teleport Bill away. Thor is about to hit the Surfer when the board returns, knocking him over. The fight gets more vicious, while Thor rants about destroying Asgard. He knocks the Surfer onto an asteroid, and this time when he’s about to hit him again, he gets distracted by the arrival of Adam Warlock and Pip the Troll.
- Warlock Chronicles #6 (I don’t think I remembered that there were two Warlock books at the same time) contains chapter three of Blood and Thunder. Eternity has noticed that Warlock is putting together a list of people who owe him a debt, including the Silver Surfer, and suggests that helping Thor would give him another powerful ally. Warlock gets Pip (who has taken a Black character named Maxam to a New York City Western-themed bar, where he was discriminated against) to take him to Thor, and arrives just as Thor is about to kill the Silver Surfer.
- Warlock and the Infinity Watch #23 is part four of Blood and Thunder. Warlock offers to help, and then fights Thor for pages, eventually joined by the Silver Surfer once he recovers. Thor is very powerful, so they both struggle. Thor knocks out the Surfer again, and has Warlock on his knees. Thor is about to kill him, but Warlock is able to control the Surfer’s board with his mind. He puts the Surfer on it and they escape. After the Surfer wakes up again, he is surprised to learn that Warlock has control of his board. Warlock explains this came from their having melded minds in Infinity Gauntlet; they discuss trying to stop Thor again. I had totally forgotten about the era of Tom Grindberg drawing like Mike Mignola. It’s weird.
- Thor #469 is part five of Blood and Thunder. In this issue, Thor fights the Infinity Watch, and through a mistake of Moondragon’s, Valkyrie (Thor’s imaginary girlfriend) is made flesh, and Thor gets ahold of Drax’s Power Gem, putting it on his forehead. He wants to use it to destroy Asgard.
- Part six is in Silver Surfer #87. The Surfer and Adam are on Earth, and approach Doctor Strange’s house, hoping to get help from him. The house is unlocked, but appears empty. Quickly, our two heroes are lost and find themselves fighting the house’s magical defenses. Doctor Strange comes to their aid, and makes them tea, since Wong is off for the evening. They talk about Thor, recapping what’s already happened. Strange hunts for him using his orb, and realizes that Thor is on his way to Asgard. They also learn that Valkyrie is real now, which gives Strange reason to worry. In a cave outside of Asgard, Beta Ray Bill awakens, having been nursed back to health by Sif. Sif wants him to keep resting, but Bill wants to go help Thor, and hitting his hammer to the ground, gets ready to go find Thor with her. Warlock is about to summon the Infinity Watch (which I guess includes that Maxam guy), but they teleport to them, and explain how Moondragon made Valkyrie real, and how Thor got ahold of the Power Gem. Strange prepares to teleport them all to Asgard.
- The Warlock Chronicles #7 is part seven of Blood and Thunder. Doctor Strange takes everyone to Asgard, and they plan to go see Odin to tell him what’s going on. Wanting to protect Thor from banishment, Sif has Beta Ray Bill attack them, while she finds and manipulates a Troll war party into attacking the Surfer and his friends.
- Warlock and the Infinity Watch #24 contains part eight. Everyone’s been captured by Trolls, and are going to be used as sacrifices until they realize that Pip has Troll blood, and is given the opportunity to gain his freedom through combat. He picks Warlock as his stand-in, and while Warlock fights a massive Troll, Pip frees everyone. They trash the Trolls’ castle, and head off to find Odin.
- Part 9 is in Thor #470. Thor and Valkyrie arrive on the outskirts of Asgard, where Mad Thor prepares to trash the place. The Surfer, Doctor Strange, and the Infinity Watch are on the way to Odin when they spot Thor, and he attacks them. There’s a fight (in which MC Wyman draws Warlock’s costume wrong) and eventually everyone gets taken out by Thor. Sif and Beta Ray Bill prepare to track Thor down. Pip revives and manages to wake up the Surfer just as the others arrive. Pip and the Surfer fly towards Thor and Valkyrie, and Pip teleports them all away, right into Thanos’s presence.
- Part 10 is in Silver Surfer #88. When the issue opens, we see that Thanos is fighting Thor while the Surfer is doing battle with the Valkyrie. Pip narrates this issue, and explains that he teleported them to Thanos thinking that the Mad Titan would be able to defeat Thor where they haven’t been able to. Thanos had some robots attack Thor and Valkyrie, but they were quickly destroyed so he got into the fight himself. The Surfer decided to take on Valkyrie, while Pip went to hide. As the fight continues, it becomes clear that Thanos might not be able to defeat Thor on his own. The Surfer knocks Valkyrie out, and is surprised to see Thanos walking away, leaving him alone with the enraged Thor. Thor is about to attack the Surfer when Thanos returns with a gun that he fires at Thor. It captures him in a stasis field, and then it looks like Thanos might use the same weapon on the Surfer. Instead, he explains that the gun, an invention of his, had only one charge in it. He also makes it clear that he hates the Surfer and hates having to help him. Doctor Strange arrives with the Infinity Watch, and Pip emerges. Thanos explains that his field won’t hold for long, and that they all need to figure out what to do next.
- The Statement of Ownership for 1993 reports an average press run of 326 000, with average newsstand returns of 84 000.
- Part 11 is in Warlock Chronicles #8. Thanos, the Surfer, Dr. Strange, and the Infinity Watch examine Thor, and attempt to re-integrate Valkyrie into his mind. They end up dissipating Valkyrie’s energy, but it causes Thanos’s instruments to overload and explode, leaving them with no means to continue to help Thor. This leaves them no choice but to take Thor to Odin, as his stasis field is going to fail within a couple of hours.
- Part 12 is in Warlock and the Infinity Watch #25. This giant-sized issue has the Infinity Watch and their allies arriving on the Rainbow Bridge to Asgard. Odin sends out warriors, thinking they’ve taken Thor prisoner, so there’s a giant battle. Odin joins in, and fights Thanos and the Surfer, until Sif and Bill arrive and explain what’s happened to Thor. Doctor Strange and Adam explain that they think the imbalance of having Don Blake’s identity grafted onto Thor’s is what caused him to go mad, making it not Warrior’s Madness, but Odin’s fault. The All-Father tries to fix things mentally, but fails. He decides that Thor must die.
- The final chapter (finally) of this endless crossover is in Thor #471. Odin enters Thor’s mind where he battles Valkyrie for his son’s sanity. Thor ends up joining in the fight, vanquishing her. After he’s returned to his former self, Thor thanks the heroes who came to his aid and returns the Power Gem, but Adam keeps it from Drax. I can’t believe that such a thin story got stretched over thirteen issues and four different series.
- With issue eighty-nine, the Surfer is finally back to being the star of his own series. I was excited to see that Colleen Doran was the artist for this issue, but Tom Christopher’s inks made her work look very much like Ron Lim, with better panel layouts. A Skrull bounty hunter is hunting for a criminal named Vranx (more terrible names from Marz), and starts threatening locals on some backwater planet to get information. The Surfer arrives on the same planet, Calculex, looking for someone. We get a real Mos Eisley vibe, as the Surfer tries to enter a bar and the bouncer tries to fight him first. As the Surfer looks around and talks about who he is looking for, we see this Vranx guy preparing to attack, but when he hears that the Surfer is looking for Genis-Vell, he relaxes. A woman in the bar tells the Surfer that Genis has changed since getting his powers, in a negative way. The Surfer is ready to leave, but the bounty hunter enters and stops him. The Skrull, named Raze, announces to the bar that he’s there for Vranx. Vranx gets up to confront him, and it’s clear they have some bad blood between them. The Surfer stops Raze from killing Vranx, allowing him to escape. Raze explains that Vranx is a killer, and the Surfer says he’ll help capture him but not kill him. As they go looking, Raze explains that he doesn’t have shape-changing powers, and has been hunting Vranx for years. Vranx sneaks up behind them and blasts them (he was fusion-enhanced, whatever that means). The Surfer attacks but Vranx sends him flying. Raze attacks, but Vranx gets him on the ground. He’s about to kill Raze, but the Surfer blasts him in the chest. Raze pulls out a knife, but the Surfer grabs his arm. Raze hands the Surfer the knife, but then pulls out a blaster and shoots Vranx, who turns into a Skrull. Raze explains that they are brothers, and that Vranx murdered their parents. The Surfer vows to see Raze punished for murdering Vranx, but their argument is interrupted by the arrival of Genis.
- Issue ninety opens with the Surfer and Legacy fighting each other in space. It’s clear that Genis doesn’t want to listen to what the Surfer has to say to him, and then we move back a bit in time to see what got them to this point. Genis seemed kind of arrogant when meeting the Surfer on the street, and his distraction allowed Raze to escape. Genis pointed out that the Surfer could find him whenever he wanted, so instead they started chatting. The Surfer wanted to talk to Genis in private, so he dismissed the two women on his arms, and they started flying around. The Surfer brought up the fact that he’s heard that Genis has been abusing his powers and not actually living up to father’s legacy. Genis was offended, and hit the Surfer, who then dragged him into space, where they started to fight. This brings us back to the point where the book opened, and the Surfer makes it clear that Genis is using his powers for the wrong things, and he really opens up on the kid, blasting him and then hitting him in the face. Genis, actually afraid, starts to beg for mercy, and the Surfer’s demeanor immediately changes, and we see that he was delivering an object lesson to make Genis realize how it feels to be at the receiving end of such power. Genis has an immediate change of heart and feels ashamed of how he’s acted. They head back to the planet where they part as friends. The Surfer brings up the tab that Genis owes at the bar from last issue, and Genis promises to make things right. Genis walks off, and we see that Avatar, the winged woman from like twenty-five issues ago is behind the Surfer, ready to hit him with her cosmic staff thing.
- Ron Lim returned for issue ninety-one. The Surfer is still on Calculex, and is relaxing at a Fantascape Parlor, which looks like some kind of VR setup that lets him experience a fantasy dream. Genis paid for him to try it out, and because he feels he needs a rest from the stars, he decided to give it a try. He has chosen to relive a story set in Zenn-La’s history. The guy hooking him up reassures him he’s safe, because he has a big bodyguard type named Damak watching over his body. Norrin finds himself in some version of Zenn-La’s past where he and Shalla Bal are being pursued by barbarians on flying lizards. This fantasy story sequence could not hold my attention at all – it’s a bit of a Warlord of Mars tribute I guess, and has Norrin experiencing the time that Zenn-La city, which embraced science, fought against some warlord. I skimmed this section, that has Norrin arranging to strike against the warlord, with Shalla Bal insisting on joining him. Somehow this fantasy experience has scenes that Norrin isn’t in, and we see that the Warlord is a woman. Shalla Bal joins Norrin on his mission with some other guys. They position themselves outside the tents that the warlord lives in. At the same time that they prepare to strike, we see a winged silhouette outside the Fantascape Parlor. As Norrin cuts his way into the tent to confront the warlord, Avatar breaks into the Parlor, ready to attack the Surfer.
- Avatar is determined to get to the Surfer, while inside his dreamscape, Norrin continues his attack on the Warlord (it’s weird that they don’t name her – it shows the lack of attention apparent in this comic). Norrin fights the Warlord and debates her a bit, and when it looks like she’s going to be captured, she flees on one of the flying machines the Zenn-Lavians use. She of course doesn’t know how to fly it, being against science, so Norrin goes after her on another flyer, but she falls off and dies. She falls into a crowd of her people, and Norring gives them a speech about how the people of Zenn-La need to work together, and they all agree. Shalla Bal sees him as a hero, and just as they are about to kiss, in the real world, Avatar disconnects him from the VR machine. He’s not happy to see Avatar, and he tries to dismiss her, but she attacks him, so they start to fight. The storekeeper is worried that the Surfer is destroying his Parlor, but the Surfer tries to make him feel bad about that. The Surfer and Avatar seem to be at an impasse, but then the Surfer uses his board to hit her from behind. He straps her into one of the machines in the Parlor, and turns on the dream machine (which, I guess, he was somehow able to program with a specific dream off panel?). The storekeeper is not that happy that the Surfer expects him to keep her there forever, but the Surfer dismisses these concerns too. We see that in her dream, Avatar is flying around in space with the Surfer.
- Even though it came out later, it looks like Annual #7 fits here, continuity-wise. Morg is free of Tyrant, and is on his way back to Galactus. Along the way, he tears apart some Skrull ships (is it weird that Skrull spaceships are the same colour as their skin?). The Surfer is sitting on an asteroid with Genis-Vell, talking about the events of the recent Cosmic Powers miniseries (I’ve never heard of this before now, but it looks like a six-parter that had Thanos, Terrax, Ganymede, Jack of Hearts, and Legacy fight against Tyrant, and it’s the reason Morg got free). We learn that Genis has decided to strike out on his own again, and they talk about the Surfer’s sense of responsibility before departing. On Galactus’s Worldship, which looks different than it’s ever been drawn before, Firelord is chatting with Air-Walker while working on his robot body. They are attacked by Morg, who tells them he’s there to replace them as Galactus’s herald. A fight starts, and Morg does a lot of damage to Gabriel’s body. He’s about to destroy him completely but Firelord steps in, and we see Gabriel crawl away. Morg notices that Gabriel is gone now, but that’s when Galactus shows up, and seems pleased that Morg is back. The Surfer is flying through space thinking about Genis when Gabriel grabs onto his board and uses the last of his energy to tell the Surfer what’s happened. The Surfer flies off, apparently leaving what remains of Gabriel’s body behind. Galactus tells Morg to kill Firelord, but the Surfer arrives in time to stop him (he must have been close). Galactus is not happy to see the Surfer getting involved, but pretty soon he and Morg are fighting for pages and pages. After blowing up a planetoid with their combined rage, the Surfer punches Morg out. Galactus comes to talk to him and the Surfer makes it clear that he won’t kill Morg, even though he knows he should. He tries to convince Galactus to not keep him as his herald, but Galactus likes the guy, so instead the Surfer demands that Galactus save the lives of Firelord and Air-Walker. As it turns out, the only way Gabriel’s mind can be preserved is to download it into the Worldship (something that I think never got referenced again). Firelord does this, although it makes him very sad (I’m pretty sure these two are lovers, but it’s never clearly stated as such). After being uploaded, Gabriel says goodbye to Firelord, who leaves with the Surfer, leaving Galactus with Morg.
- The backup story features Legacy. Genis is fleeing a trio of pursuers through what looks like a sewer, and hits a dead end. The large aliens approach, and he gets ready for a fight. Through a flashback, we see that Genis decided to leave Titan and said goodbye to his mother and Starfox. He visited his father’s grave, and then returned to Calculex, hoping to do some heroic deeds. He stopped someone from mugging a guy, and was approached by a large fearsome looking alien who recognized him, guessing he was Mar-Vell’s son. The guy wanted to talk to Genis, but he fought back and fled into the tunnels, which is where we return to the present. As it turns out, the guy is someone that Mar-Vell saved years ago, and he just wanted to thank Genis for that.
- Issue ninety-three starts the Down To Earth four-part story, and features the debut of Bart Sears on art, with some help from Tom Grindberg (who appears to be aping Sears’s style, and not Mike Mignola anymore). Spider-Man has a purse snatcher hanging from a building, and his interrogation is interrupted when the Surfer comes flying past at great speed. The Surfer approaches Four Freedoms Plaza, where he surprises Ben Grimm as he gets out of the shower, causing him to drop his towel. Ben lets him in, and the Surfer explains that he’s on Earth because he attended Rick Jones’s wedding. He’s surprised to see that Ben’s rocky face is scarred, and learns that Reed Richards and Doctor Doom have both died, Ant-Man has joined the team, and Johnny has married a Skrull. The Surfer is about to share some of his own sad news when Johnny enters the room. The Surfer tells them that Nova, Frankie Raye has died (ages ago, and before they probably all saw each other in the Infinity Crusade). Johnny immediately gets angry with the Surfer for being so clinical and cold, and loses his temper, “flaming on” and attacking him. He blasts the Surfer through the window, and keeps attacking. The Surfer sees this anger for what it is, and their fight gets noticed by Captain America and Black Widow. Cap contacts Ben and tells him if he can’t get it under control, the Avengers will. The fight between the two men ends up on the ground, and the Surfer realizes they are in the wreckage of Doctor Strange’s house. Ben and Ant-Man fly the Fantasticar to the scene of the fight, but find the two men talking quietly about how hard recent events have been for Johnny, as he apologizes for his behaviour. They all head back to the FF’s place and talk some more. Scott interrupts them to let them know about some strange seismic readings in a stable tectonic area. They decide to investigate, and the Surfer asks to join in. Scott tells them that they’re headed for Monster Island, where we see Moondragon and Drax hanging out (why do we need to see Warlock and his crew in this book again so soon?).
- Despite having announced that Bart Sears was the new regular artist on this book, one issue later, Tom Grindberg is on his own, using a more standard style. The Surfer, Thing, Human Torch, and Ant-Man approach Monster Island, where they are attacked by some monsters. The Fantasticar gets dumped onto the island, and while the more powerful members of the group fight the large monsters, some Moloids make off with Ant-Man, at the command of the Mole Man. Someone unseen confronts the Mole Man, and suddenly all the creatures break off their attack, and the Moloids leave Scott behind. The heroes convene, and are joined by Adam Warlock and Drax, the Destroyer, who are with Mole Man. Warlock makes it clear that Mole Man should not have attacked, and he storms off. Scott explains that they are there to investigate a seismic disturbance, and Adam says he’ll allow it, but can’t join them. He asks the Surfer to speak to him in private, and takes him to the top of his castle. There, they discuss Adam’s sense that the Surfer is in danger, which comes from their having shared souls once before. To understand more, Adam wants to commune with him, which the Surfer is reluctant to do, having not been comfortable linking with Adam’s soul before. When hearing that he is in danger, the Surfer agrees, and Adam senses that someone is going to tempt the Surfer with his desires, but he can’t fully understand his vision. He can tell that there’s an entity coming for the Surfer’s soul, and warns him that he should keep this a secret from his friends (who he is just randomly helping anyway). The Surfer joins the FF as they prepare to enter the catacombs. Gamora and Warlock talk about the Surfer’s coming battle, and how he has to handle it alone. Elsewhere underground, we see the arms of a blackish creature attack a misshapen other creature.
- Scot Eaton drew this issue. The Surfer accompanies Ant-Man, the Torch, and the Thing into the tunnels beneath Monster Island. Scott keeps an eye on these seismic readings, which continue to cause him concern, and they are all surprised when they are attacked by a half dozen Skrulls. The Skrulls aren’t much of a threat, and after Johnny realizes that he recognizes them, the fight ends with the Skrulls surrendering. Soon, they are standing around a fire talking, and we learn that these Skrulls, who the FF dealt with once before, were left under the Earth to keep an eye on a Skrull weapon called the Inorganic Technotroid. I guess it’s some kind of AI that imprinted itself on some monsters, and the Skrulls haven’t been able to deal with it, nor can they call for help because they had to take apart their ship and repurpose their comms equipment so they can watch TV. The Skrulls want the heroes to help them, but Ben doesn’t want to. Scott and the Surfer agree to help. We see an odd page that shows some kind of obelisk either rising out of lava or just sitting in it. Soon, the heroes have found the Technotroid, which is a big three-armed, three-legged robot thing. They hope that it will feel comfortable with Ben since he’s a monster, but when he approaches, it attacks him, and we get a few pages of them fighting it. It’s pretty powerful, so they struggle with it (it makes no sense that the Surfer can’t destroy it). Scott shrinks and heads inside it, where we see him doing things with wires. He tells the others he’s reprogrammed the Technotroid (so now Scott Lang is able to alter complex Skrull coding by pulling on wires?). It calms down, and doesn’t respond when the Skrulls, who were hiding nearby, command it to attack. Scott explains that this was part of his reprogramming, and then offers to repair their equipment so they can get picked up by the others (it’s odd that the fact that the Surfer was a key helper in the Kree-Skrull War and this doesn’t get brought up). As the heroes return to their journey, they turn around and find that there’s someone following them, which looks like the Hulk.
- Now Jim Hall is drawing this book. For whatever reason, The Thing is pretty upset that the Hulk (in his clean-cut, intelligent, Pantheon stage still), is underground at the same time as them. After the Surfer stops the two from starting a fight, Hulk explains that his people detected the same strange readings, so now they decide to continue exploring together. Banner and the Surfer talk about why the Surfer stayed on Earth after Rick Jones’s wedding (he misses the planet sometimes), and discuss Mephisto. They come across an area where the tunnel they’re in has collapsed, and after a lot of discussion, the Surfer decides to use his transmutation powers to remove the rock in his path. They are shocked to discover what looks like an ancient Atlantean burial site, practically a small city, and Scott and Banner are excited to explore it, putting off their investigation of seismic irregularities (this storyline has a lot of stalling factors). When Scott touches an obelisk, the image of a defender appears, and it commands other images that can’t stop them to try to stop them (I don’t know, I’m losing interest). They disperse the images, but the cavern above the site begins to collapse, and soon they are ducking large rocks. Hulk and Thing hold up some of the debris so the others have space, and Ant Man shrinks to look for a way out. The Surfer blasts a path towards where Scott went after they lose radio contact with him, and soon find themselves in a tunnel leading to a massive open space – the column we saw standing over some lava before is there. They determine this is the source of the weird readings they received, which have now stopped. They think they can see a body on top of the rock formation, so the Surfer flies over, and returns holding Nova, who is alive. (Honestly, what the hell is this storyline? This is part four of four, but…).
- Ant-Man narrates the first half of issue ninety-seven, explaining how after getting Nova back to Four Freedoms Plaza, the FF (now joined by Sue Richards), ran tests on Nova to make sure it’s really her. The Surfer is quiet until Scott clears Nova as being genuine, and then asks her what she wants. She wants to return to the stars, so she says goodbye to the Fantastic Four and she and the Surfer head to space. As they fly, they talk about the fact that Nova remembers nothing of being dead or how she ended up in that cavern on Earth. The Surfer brings her up to date on Morg being alive and Galactus’s herald again, and Nova suggests they go hunt down a treasure she remembers hearing about on a dead planet called Tultac. The Surfer is surprised she would be interested in riches but agrees to accompany her on her quest. Terrax has taken over a vessel that once belonged to Thanos, and orders his robots to take him to Tultac so he can hunt for the same treasure. The Surfer and Nova arrive at the desert planet, and immediately find a hatch hidden under sand (the Surfer’s cosmic senses find it, but I’m not sure why Nova’s don’t). They enter and find a number of dead bodies. The Surfer spots a single trap and disables it, which allows them to access a vault door, behind which they find a ton of jewels and gold. Nova is excited and is confused that none of this tempts the Surfer. He tells her that Warlock warned him of temptation. Just then Terrax enters and grabs Nova, telling the Surfer he’ll kill her unless he hands over all of the treasure. Terrax explains he’s going to use the treasure to fund an army so he can take over a planet. The Surfer agrees to give it all to him, but then turns it all into sand. They fight, and Nova gets Terrax’s axe away from him. Seeing he can’t win, Terrax accepts defeat and gets up to leave, knowing the Surfer won’t hurt him. Terrax suggests they could be friends one day, and leaves. Nova is a little upset at losing the treasure, but figures something else will come along to keep them busy. We see that the Elder of the Universe, the Champion, is standing over a pile of corpses wondering who he can fight next.
- The Champion bursts into Thanos’s home, wanting to retrieve the Power Gem, but Thanos, without even saying a word, simply teleports him away. Nova and the Surfer are hanging out together, and Nova is still mourning the loss of the treasure the Surfer destroyed. She quickly gets over it, and then comes on pretty strong to the Surfer. They are interrupted by a shockwave caused by the destruction of a nearby planet. They investigate, and learn that the planet was destroyed by Champion in a fit of rage. He explains that after Thanos left him adrift in Thanos Quest #1, he fell to a planet where the inhabitants thought he was a god, and gave him a pair of wristlets that enhanced his powers. He grew bored of ruling over them, so he killed them all and went looking for Thanos. The Surfer is furious to learn that he killed so many, and wants to fight, but Nova calms him down. She lets slip that Drax, the Destroyer, has the Power Gem now, and Champion decides to go looking for him. The Surfer and Nova move to stop him, and soon enough, the Surfer and the Elder are fighting. The Surfer struggles against the enhanced Champion, and turns to Nova for help, but she turns and runs. Champion gets the upper hand, although the Surfer rallies. The fight is interrupted by the return of Nova, with Drax (really, I don’t think Marz understands how vast outer space is). With one big hit, Drax embeds the Champion into the large piece of rubble they are standing on, trapping him. Drax leaves, and Nova explains that she figured that Drax wouldn’t be as restrained as the Surfer in this fight, so she went to get him. Nova removes the wristlets from Champion and gives them to the Surfer, suggesting he should safeguard their power. The Surfer is tempted to use them (is this another of Warlock’s prophecies?) but instead destroys them. Nova holds his hand.
- A pirate vessel, belonging to a Captain Vuulk, holds Nova prisoner and tries to escape the Silver Surfer. He smashes his way in and says he’s there for his friend. Before that, the Surfer and Nova were on a planet called Omnaah, where crystal gardens grow. The Surfer brought Nova there because the planet is special and restive for him. Nova started a conversation about their relationship, and began to open her soul to him, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Syrrh, the sole inhabitant of the planet and the being that tends to the gardens. Syrrh explained how the Surfer once saved his life and transmuted the planet so he could live there. As they talked, the pirates snuck up on them. Nova suggested that she and the Surfer live on this planet, and the Surfer considered it, but also brought up the name of Shalla Bal, his love. That’s when the pirates struck, damaging the garden and giving the Surfer reason to cover Syrrh. Some of the pirates caught Nova and put a collar on her that returned her power and any energy sent her way. The Captain explained that he wanted to sell Nova into slavery, and then he shot Syrrh, causing the Surfer to tend to him while they escaped. The Surfer healed his friend, and promised to return to heal his garden. This brings us back to the present, with the Surfer on Vuulk’s ship. He blasts all the other pirates, blasts Vuulk, and frees Nova from her collar. He disables the pirates’ ship, and carries Nova off. Back in space, they talk, and the Surfer finally admits that he’s developed feelings for Nova. He pledges her his body, mind, and soul, and after they kiss, she starts to transform. Before his eyes, Nova turns into Mephisto, who claims him as his possession now.
- Issue one hundred opens with Mephisto gloating over his win, and the Surfer finding it hard to believe that the demon would go so far to trap the Surfer. The Surfer is not able to get rid of Mephisto by blasting him, and the demon reaches into his chest and plucks out a small gem representing the Surfer’s soul. Mephisto takes him to his realm (is it ever explicitly called Hell?) and gloats some more. The Surfer continues to refuse to accept this turn of events, and tries to fight him again. Mephisto makes it clear just how powerful he is here, melting the Surfer and reforming him. Mephisto explains that he decided he wanted the Surfer’s soul again after seeing how he struggles to be good at all times, and the conversation of course returns to how Galactus had altered the Surfer’s soul to live with the guilt of leading him to so many worlds that he destroyed. Wanting to rid the Surfer of hope, he shows him the souls that the Surfer has condemned to his realm. Mephisto summons the souls of the Surfer’s parents (have they ever explored the notion that other planets would share a common conception of the afterlife?), which shocks him, despite the fact that they both died by suicide. His mother’s shade tells him to stay true to himself before they are sent back to the pits. The Surfer tries to save them, and then, enraged, attacks Mephisto again. Mephisto shows him that he’s always been hollow, and tries to make him think that resistance is hopeless. This just causes the Surfer to rally, and he fights through Mephisto’s horde of flying demons, and attacks Mephisto with more power than he used before. Mephisto grows and becomes more monstrous, but the Surfer overwhelms him. He grabs the demon, who ages and withers under the Surfer’s blows, until finally, he dies. The Surfer restores his soul and sees the various shades leaving Mephisto’s realm. He has a brief conversation with his parents before they transition to a higher plane, and he tries to explain how he feels after having betrayed his vow to never kill. The Surfer finds himself alone in space again, feeling broken. He decides that he should go see Shalla Bal so he can heal. As he flies off, we see that Mephisto isn’t dead, but is watching him and feeling victorious, knowing that his apparent death will cause the Surfer more suffering. On Zenn-la, Shalla Bal looks out at the night sky wondering about the Surfer, before she is called back inside by her new lover.
After this, Marz plotted another two issues, but we’ve basically reached the end of his run. Marz probably has the longest run of any writer with this character, but I’m not sure that he accomplished a whole lot with the Surfer. The character is largely resistant to change, and it felt more and more like this title was largely subservient to other books (Starlin’s Warlock titles especially) and to launch and establish new characters (Legacy).
During this half of Marz’s run, there are only a few issues that are not connected to an event (Infinity Crusade), a tie-in (Blood and Thunder), or prominently feature other Marvel characters with books of their own (like the Down To Earth storyline, which has the Fantastic Four and, for some reason, the Hulk). Of those few remaining issues, they tend to focus on Legacy, or are the build up to the big fight with Mephisto. I think the only Surfer-focused stories in this run are the two-parter where he spends his time in Virtual Reality fighting anti-Science barbarians, and the Nova/Mephisto story. It’s like Marz knew there wasn’t much that can be done with the Surfer on his own.
And that makes sense to me. He has unlimited cosmic power that means he doesn’t need to eat or rest. He rides around space by himself, with no possessions or obligations to others. Sure, he wants to do good, or be good, but what does that really mean? For the most part, he just wanders around until someone he knows finds him and involves him in some drama.
The Thor/Warlock crossover was really a pretty terrible story that did not need twelve or thirteen chapters to tell. There was just generally a sense that Marz was spinning his wheels, and I figure that it was all part of the build-up to issue 100. That must be why it took the Surfer and the FF four issues to track down a “seismic disturbance”. And why Mephisto, posing as Nova, took a few more issues to keep tempting the Surfer with riches and power (this leaves me to wonder if Mephisto also manipulated Terrax into confronting the Surfer).
If anything, some of the most consequential parts of this run came from the Annuals, which introduced Genis-Vell, and also showed another fight with Morg. The main book was really just there through this run. Individually, with the exception of Blood and Thunder, none of these issues were terrible, but they did not add up to be more than the sum of their parts.
Part of the problem might be the lack of consistent artist on the title. I thought it was odd that they announced Bart Sears as the ongoing artist, but he didn’t even finish a single issue before he was replaced by a string of fill-in artists. Tom Grindberg, was the most consistently present artist in this run, but his style seemed to shift a lot, and was anything but consistent. I did like the issues drawn by Jim Hall, and have no idea what became of him, as his name is not familiar to me. This book suffered from the departure of Ron Lim, even though his work was not as compelling as it was during the height of this book.
I thought that the introduction of Legacy was interesting, but I didn’t much like him as an arrogant 90s anti-hero type. This did remind me that I’m interested in tracking down and reading Peter David’s run with Genis-Vell, as after Avengers Forever I started to really like the character. I should add that to my list of titles to hunt for…
Anyway, at this point, as 1995 begins and Marvel moves into its darkest period, quality-wise, I’m tempted to stop reading, or at least jump up to the JM DeMatteis run that I bought half of (Jon J Muth art drew me in), but I’m equally tempted to see how bad things got. I noticed that after Marz left the book, it was handled by a writer I am unfamiliar with. Maybe it got really good? Yeah, right…
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