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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS. Cover art by JOE JUSKO |
As all true Marvelites will know, The SILVER SURFER had his own mag in the late 1960s which ran for 18 issues, the first 17 being illustrated by Big JOHN BUSCEMA. However, there's a 'sort of' 18th ish he got to do (with STAN LEE), in the form of the 1988 hardback graphic novel, which had one large panel per page. As you'd expect from Big John, he delivered a superbly-drawn adventure, and this is one book that should be on the shelves of every dyed-in-the-wool Silver Surfer fan.
When JACK KIRBY first introduced NORRIN RADD into the pages of The FANTASTIC FOUR, he imbued him with a strange, other-worldly quality that suited the character to a 't'. He drew him in a fluid way, that captured perfectly the manner in which surfers 'bob and weave' on the waves. Within a very short time though, Jack's figurework had become much more blocky and static (maybe because of a reduction in size of the artboards he drew on), which is probably why Stan decided to give the Surfer's regular mag to Buscema.
One only has to look at the 18th and final issue of the Surfer's own mag (which Jack illustrated) to see the wisdom of Stan's decision. In contrast to Jack's Surfer, John's version is lithe, fluid, and flexible, and has an innate nobility that was no longer evident in Jack's rendition of the silvery one. You might disagree with my assessment, but I have persuasive proof of it. What's that you say? Show you? Okay then, I will. I now present the following exhibits for your consideration.
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