Book of Doom: Silver Surfer Requiem #1

In a strange coincidence, a couple weekends ago I was in Florida and my father-in-law broke out his quite amazing collection of ’60s and ’70s comics. The highlight, though, was the first issue of Silver Surfer, which established the creation of Mr. Shiny Britches and started his series of independent adventures. And now that’s all coming to an end, apparently.

For such a monumentous (cough, cough) occasion, it’s only fitting that we examine this first entry into the depressing missive as our Book of Doom (patent pending). My very first impression came from the cover (seen at right), and how painter Esad Ribic seemed to really accentuate Norrin’s Raddness. Weird. That aside, this book does a very good job of answering the question, “How do you write a series around a character with no personality?” Answer: You put lots of exciting stuff around him. Sadly, nothing remotely exciting happens in this book. The most action comes when the Thing picks up some furniture. No, really.

But, yes, this is a book about death, a heady topic, so of course there shouldn’t be any explosions, etc. Except that Mr. Radd doesn’t really seem to care at all that he’s dying. And if he doesn’t care, I sure as heck don’t. And while I’m sure some folks love Ribic’s painting style, I found all the people to be portrayed in a very luster-less way, as if they were as dead as the Silver Surfer is about to be. Emotionless, through and through, just like Radd himself.

That’s enough from me. Let’s hear what our good pal and guest blogger Googum from Random Happenstance had to say:

“Maybe someone knows: why is this Requiem instead of The End? And that makes me a nerd for continuity right there…

I was a little skittish on this, even though I’ve been a Silver Surfer fan since the Englehart/Rogers #1 from 1987. I didn’t realize until I sat down to write this, but I hadn’t read any of Straczynski’s comics since around the end of Supreme Power, or the Spider-Totem business. It’s like I know he can do good work, he just…hasn’t.

Still, while this issue didn’t knock my socks off–there’s a lot of setup to get to the point that’s more-or-less given away in the solicits–I did enjoy it. The Fantastic Four guests, and their dialog, and later their grief, doesn’t seem forced. The Thing has a funny moment or two, but it’s in-character, not just comic relief. The Surfer’s speech isn’t as natural, but then, it’s not supposed to be. If you’ve read Surfer comics before, you probably have an idea of what he’s supposed to sound like: I’d say like an alien poet laureate, a superhero Shakespeare with the guilt of millions of lost lives. And it’s really easy to turn that into a parody. Straczynski gets it without making it too overblown or melodramatic, and while his Surfer doesn’t seem to have the same stages of grief that we mortals do, I wouldn’t expect him to. (Unless, of course, that’s coming later in the series.)

I hadn’t seen Essad Ribic’s art before, but he does a good job. I thought it looked a little like Jon J. Muth, and nothing wrong with that. His Reed looks a little old and haggard, but Ribic really nails a couple pages that homage the John Buscema Surfer. My only worry on the art front would be this turning into yet another terminally late book, or Ribic being replaced halfway through.

One dumb question: why thank Stan Lee and John Buscema and not Jack Kirby? (Unless he gets his own thanks in a later issue.)

Overall, Requiem was a pleasant surprise, and I’m on board probably for the duration. Is it something that will be accessible to new readers or fans of the movie? Eh, it’s not completely inaccessible, and that’s a step in the right direction. If you’re a longtime Surfer fan, it’s a different genre than the last Surfer limited (the space opera action of Annihilation) and light-years above the one before that (twelve issues in the style of Communion).”

One thumbs down, one thumbs up. With the tie-breaker, here’s our very own Fin Fang Doom:

“So the Silver Surfer is dying. I suppose I should have expected as much just by looking at the title. But I really couldn’t care less.

I’ve never really cared about the Silver Surfer. I’ve read very few solo Surfer stories. In everything else I’ve read, he’s been little more than plot device. Need a solemn figure to reflect on events in the cosmic scheme of things? Use the Surfer. Need a huge source of power to aid/menace/allow Dr. Doom the chance to destroy our beloved heroes? Use the Surfer. Need someone to not grab the Infinity Gauntlet off of Thanos’ hand? Use the Surfer.

I can’t say I’ve ever read a single bit of character development involving the guy other than “he’s sad.” If great power comes with great responsibility, then cosmic power must come with cosmic responsibilities, and that’s bound to get a tad depressing after a while. It makes sense, but it’s still not something I’m particularly compelled to read about, even when it looks as pretty as it does here.

I’m usually a fan of J. Michael Stracynski’s comics. I’ve very much enjoyed his work on Amazing Spider-Man (yes, even Sins Past). His Fantastic Four was good, but it suffered from not being written by Mark Waid and penciled by Mike Weiringo (as it was immediately before he began his run). Supreme Power was great, and Squadron Supreme used to be good when it actually came out. But his writing here just didn’t appeal to me. Of course, this series clearly isn’t aimed at me. It’s supposed to be for hardcore Silver Surfer fans, which I’m told do in fact exist.

I won’t even go as far as to say this issue was bad. We’ve had a lot (and I mean A LOT) of bad Books of Doom, and those issues always leave me with an uneasy feeling after I get done with them. Silver Surfer: Requiem didn’t give me one of those feelings. I was almost a little pleased after reading the issue, but then again looking at beautiful artwork for fifteen minutes is bound to leave you feeling a little happy. I probably couldn’t ever enjoy this series as anything other than a showcase for the excellent art by Esad Ribic, but that alone might be worth the cover price. I might even pick up the next issue since it appears to be guest-star Spider-Man, who I do care about a tremendous amount.

And who knows; maybe something will actually happen in that one.”

Wow, we’ll call that ambivalence, meaning we’ve got a tie on our hands. That means it’s in your hands, dear readers, to decide whether this book is any damn good. Because, you know, people care what we think!