The marvel cosmic universe always seemed a little daunting to me, mainly because until the Guardians of the Galaxy hit the big screen I never had an overwhelming interest to go online and research runs or where to begin understanding events such as Annihilation, but one character that kept popping up and looked interesting was Silver Surfer. I never knew much of the character outside of the 2007 Fantastic Four movie, but he always seemed like he had a cool design and an interesting role in the Marvel universe. A cosmic surfer who heralds the destruction by a planet-eating giant named Galactus… what’s not to like?



So when I saw Donny Cates was to lead a new series with Tradd Moore and Dave Stewart I decided that was going to be my jumping on point for the character, and it didn’t disappoint.



The first issue is one of the best-looking books I’ve seen in a long, long time. From the amazing cover art to awesome interiors, it’s hard to finish the book and not flick back through the pages to soak in the brilliant scenes brought to life by Moore and Stewart. Norrin Radd’s character design is great, he looks like a mix of human and alien. Seeing the amount of work that must have gone into the anatomy of his body as he moves and twist through the pages a sight to behold as well as the emotions shown of his face with a mix of the silver and black ink outlining his emotional state. I haven’t read many books featuring Tradd Moore or Dave Stewart before but this first issue is the type of genius work that would make me follow them to any future projects.



Donny Cates has become a big name in the last few years, his work speaks for itself and none more so than God Country for me. His Image title is one of my favorite books from the publisher. Here, with Norrin Radd there isn’t as much dialogue, which I don’t see as a negative to the book but rather as an extra weight added to the impact of the very poetic flow of the dialogue. Especially seen on the page where he submits the blackness after saving the other Guardians. “I am taken under. And in the darkness…. I succumb. I drown. And I am lost”. That’s just a taste of the emotional weight put into issue #1.



It’s also worth giving a nod to the very first and very last page of this issue. The first starts off with a throwback to the Stan’s Soapbox column of November 1968 were he addresses racism and bigotry. It’s hard to believe that the same message needs to be said now as it was then. Hitting home to the fact that even with the amount of hard work brought to the fight against racism and bigotry, we are still very much in the early days of this ongoing battle. The last page is a message from Cates himself which I won’t spoil here because it’s a very good read and shows the impact comics have on everyone and how a story and the person who works on such can have an impact on their readers. I love personal notes like this, it shows how important the characters are the authors and artists and how they value the character just as much as every fan out there.

Even without a previous understanding of the character, by the end of this issue, I came away with a knowledge of what type of person he views himself as and how that might impact his actions throughout the rest of this series. As well as looking forward to the next issue very much and wanting to see where this story goes, which is exactly the take away I look for after reading the first issue of any title. I’m sure the first time Silver Surfer readers are as excited as long-time readers after a great start to this series.

