Behold - THE SILVER SURFER! Yup, here's the shiny, chrome-
domed one himself in the 1988 hardback graphic novel entitled
PARABLE (plotted and scripted by STAN LEE), which first appeared
in a two-issue comicbook presentation earlier that same year.
Behold, also, what MOEBIUS (the non de plume of artist JEAN
GIRAUD) writes about his rendition of the character in his reflections
at the back of the book:
"From a strictly academic standpoint, some might say that my Silver
Surfer may be better than that of other American artists. But I think this
is a very incomplete and arguable point of view."
In fact, I'd go further. I'd say it's so
unlikely a point of view that it would
never have occurred to anybody had he himself not cleverly implanted the
suggestion into people's minds, while pre-emptively protecting himself from
accusations of vanity (or delusion) by 'modestly' claiming not to subscribe
to the idea. However, the notion of him perhaps being the best Silver
Surfer artist to date has doubtless now
taken root.
Obviously, not everyone will subscribe to the view, but - with one
sentence - he has probably ensured his inclusion as a contender in
any future discussions as to who the best illustrator of the former herald
of GALACTUS might be. And (clever him) he's the one who introduced
the thought - which had to be 'verbalised' first, as it could never have
come from merely looking at the book itself. (Don't get me wrong -
there are some nice pictures, but overall it's disappointing.)
So, well done Moebius. The fact remains 'though, that while Parable
is a nicely written story, it hardly rates up there with the classic issues
illustrated by JOHN BUSCEMA. The art is professional enough, and it is
interesting to see another 'take' on the character of NORRIN RADD, but
Moebius's ego is the main reason why Stan's plot and scripting are so
drastically diluted in their impact, and why the finished product is so
disappointingly underwhelming.
His ego? Yes. Consider what he has to say about lettering for example:
"To me, the lettering is a form of graphology. It reflects your own style
and personality."
"That's why I don't really understand how an artist can entrust something
that important to a hired hand, no matter how good he may be."
"To me, it's monstrous to have an important part of the look of a page
determined by an outsider."
"My letter is alive. It dances on the paper. It reflects my personality."
"I'd...rather have my own letters than the intrusion of someone else's style
on my page. I really fail to understand how artists can tolerate this."
"The excuse of legibility is, I think, a very poor one. It is something that
can be done away with."
Hark at the conceit of the man. If you're reading this and happen to
know Moebius, kindly give him a good hard slap across the kipper
the next time you see him for talking utter b*ll*cks.
Parable is extremely difficult to read. The balloons and captions are
too big and intrusive, and the lettering is sloppy and scratchy, making
it hard to decipher in many places, resulting in a start-stop-go back again
reading experience. It's the comics equivalent of watching a DVD which
drags, sticks, skips and suffers from sound drop-out. Incidentally, don't
be fooled by these enhanced scans from the superior-printed book
edition - the comicbook printings are far, FAR worse.
Clearly Moebius's main mistake is in thinking that a story exists
for the purpose of reflecting the artist's personality. I'm not interested in
Moebius's personality (or that of any other writer or artist, come to that).
At least, it's not my primary concern when I buy a comic, book, or DVD.
I bought Parable because I'm interested in the Silver Surfer, not Moebius.
The purpose of a comic, or any other form of storytelling, is to say "Look
at that, look at him, look at them, look at the premise, the story, the
situation" - not "Look at me!".
Of course, it goes without saying that any body of work - whether
it be comics, books, music, movies, poetry, sculpture, any form of art,
in fact - will reveal, to a greater or lesser extent, some aspect of the
creator's personality, whether he wishes it to or not. However, that
should be a secondary result, apparent only after enjoyment of -
and reflection on - the work itself.
It's a bit like looking through a window at an exquisite view
beyond. As one stands there, drinking in the scene, after a while one's
focus shifts and the image of one's own reflection in the glass suddenly
makes itself known, even if it is somewhat indistinct and transparent.
In a vaguely similar manner, that's how one should regard an artist in
comparison to his work - it's the work that should be the main source
of interest and fascination, not the artist, although that may (and
often does) follow.
Moebius's views on lettering are simply absurd. All that his own lettering
reflects about him is that he isn't very accomplished in the art. He even
admits that "...my lettering on some pages is not always as good as I'd like
it to be." Also, "...maybe I rushed a little too much in places." Yeah - all the
way through the book by the look of it. What this reveals about the man is
that he's more interested in projecting and promoting his 'personality' at
the expense of the story. Or why else would he settle for something
less than it could be?
The best products are (usually) produced by the best craftsmen. This
is true for every field of endeavour. Sometimes one man can do more
than one task well, but rarely can one man do all tasks as well as a team
of individual specialists. If Moebius feels that comics exist for the purpose
of reflecting the artist's personality, not only should he draw and letter
them, he should create his own characters, write his own stories, colour
his own strips, design, edit and publish the things to boot.
In illustrating a story by another writer, he acknowledges the
collaborative nature of comicbooks, so it seems misguided (to say
nothing of egocentric) not to allow someone better qualified than him-
self to render the script in a way that makes it more readily accessible
to the reader, and also complements the art more effectively than
his own sub-standard attempts at 'graphology'.
Most artists don't "tolerate" what Moebius complains about - they're
grateful for it. They understand that producing comicbooks is a business,
not a conceit, and that the published product is better for having a variety
of professionally proficient practitioners participating in the project. A good
penciller benefits from having a good inker, and they both benefit from
having a good colourist and a good letterer because they all realize that
the end result is greater than the sum of its parts. (To use a
well-worn phrase.)
In conclusion, Moebius admits that his art is "
erratic" and his lettering
is "
a little rushed" and "
not always as good" as he'd like it to be. His art
in the book is serviceable at best, his lettering diabolical, and his attitude
insulting. Had
JOHN BUSCEMA drawn the book, it would've been a more
than worthy addition to the seventeen issues he was responsible for in the
'60s. How could it
fail to be, given that
Stan plotted and scripted it?
As it stands, however, the power, fluency and relevance of the
story have been so compromised by the art and lettering as to reduce
it to nothing more than a mildly interesting-but-unsatisfying footnote in
the hitherto noteworthy (in the main) annals of the
Star-Spanning
Sentinel of the Spaceways.
Let's hope that MARVEL one day reletters the story to an
acceptable professional standard, and gives Stan's story the justice
it deserves. Meanwhile, Big John can rest in peace, his reputation
fully intact. When it comes to drawing the Surfer, there's little likeli-
hood that Moebius will ever steal Buscema's crown - despite his
self-serving semi-suggestion to the contrary.
 |
Here's how it should be done. Art by John Buscema,
lettering by Phil Felix |
