Essential Silver Surfer Vol.1 (three out of five stars)

ESSENTIAL SILVER SURFER VOL.1

I'm nearly finished reading Essential Silver Surfer Vol.1, and thus far its been a fun look at the Sentinel of the Spaceways earliest tales in the Marvel Universe. And I love Jack Kirby's artwork, as usual. But I do have a few gripes about the series.

My main complaint with the series is that virtually all of the Silver Surfer comics are the same. Far too much time is devoted to the Surfer's lamentations that he is imprisoned on Earth. The Surfer's constant whining about his exile, his insistent groaning about being apart from his beloved Shalla Bal, and the bi-polar attitude (one moment he pities warlike men, the next he hates them, only to pity them again, until their actions make him hate mankind again, and so on . . . . ) he exhibits throughout the series, coupled with Stan Lee's heavy handed, somewhat clumsy messianic allusions were probably a large reason the Surfer's original series was canceled short of it's 20th issue. I find that, despite my enjoyment of the character, even I am a little relieved that I'm almost finished with this particular chapter in the history of the 'Surfer.

That said, I am looking forward to Essential Silver Surfer Vol.2 (which I recently purchased), and the as yet unpublished Essential Silver Surfer volumes to come. I didn't read the 'Surfer's 80's series, and hopefully it will greatly expand on the character and flesh him out more. I understand that he is a tragic character. But I've had quite enough of the three-page long mournful soliloquy's . I want to see 'Surfer kicking some butt and taking names .