Back Issue #135 June 2022 (magazine review).
As you can see from the cover, this ‘Back Issue’ contains the Silver Surfer but is really looking at all silver-named comicbook characters. If you want a touch of irony, silver along with gold is very hard to reproduce in the colour palate available.
Even when its done on a cover, there is a laminated process to achieve it. Yet, comicbook characters with ‘silver’ in their name have been manifest over the years than any other metal. I hope editor Mike Eury considers covering the other metals sometime, even if it has to be done as a collective.
The era of the Silver Surfer’s history is from the 1970s, after his 17 issue run in the late 1960s. Some characters were destined not to be dropped and even though Stan Lee saw the Surfer as his own property not to be used by others, Norrin Radd’s popularity was sufficient for guest-appearances and a return with Lee/Kirby and even a Lee/Moebius combination. The Surfer also warrants a second article covering his third series sans Stan Lee.
It was inevitable that the Surfer had to leave Earth or he would have only had a limited number of plots to play with. Galactus really does need a better recruitment plan considering the number of heralds he’s had in recent decades. Oh, there’s also an art gallery of the Surfer by various artists. Of these, its seeing the pencils of the first ‘Silver Surfer’ comic redrawn by John Buscema showing how tight his pencils were that most fascinated me.
I was less familiar with Jack Kirby’s 6-part ‘Silver Star’ but appreciates that Allan Harvey doesn’t hold back in his assessment of the Pacific Comics series.
In contrast, Stephan Friedt’s look at ‘Silverheels’ as being the first painted comicbook series in 1987. I had a think and checked and ‘Moonshadow’ came out earlier in 1985, but we in the UK had comicstrips doing that back in the 1960s. Even so, looking at the art here and spotting that it is available as a graphic novel has made me interested in taking a look at it.
Now here’s an oddity, the four non-canon 1993 Marvel Comics for Drake’s Cakes by Dewey Cassell will have completists hunting them up because of X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk and Surfer appearances across them.
I only caught the Silver Banshee’s early appearances in DC Comics. I always wondered at the name because banshees are an Irish not Scots myth and would adding a colour really get around any infringement with Marvel. Oddly, James Heath Lantz doesn’t address these problems but you do get her history here.
Finally, Silver Sablinova aka Silver Sable, Marvel’s premiere female mercenary leader who also had a habit of giving careers to ex-criminals. You have to love the cover when she faces off the Punisher.
Oh, there’s also some more pages of Hostess ads featuring Marvel, DC and other cartoon characters. More than enough for you to get your fillings.
GF Willmetts
June 2022
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6904. Direct from them, you can get it for $10.95 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_54&products_id=1654
