Every Dawn has it’s Silver Lining (Silver Surfer Omnibus Review)
SILVER SURFER OMNIBUS (BY SLOTT & ALLRED)
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Mike Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Rating: 10/10
Song: Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra
If you’ve been following along on my fantastic journey reading through Silver Surfer: Black, then you’d know that although I’m a noob to his adventures, I am deeply enthralled with his character and his current exploits. But in between issues, I found myself wanting. I need more stories of the Spaceways and adventures beyond our nebula. So, I went to my Comic Lounge buds and asked what I should read next. Shah and Trevor quickly suggested Dan Slott and Mike Allred’s Silver Surfer run. Unfortunately for me, no trades were in print yet and all omnibuses were out of print. Luckily for me, I have the one of the coolest LCS’s around and my bud Luke at Arsenal Comics provided me a chance to read the Omnibus.
BEST. DECISION. EVER
What can I say about this run that has not already been said? One of the most creative and captivating stories of the modern era of comics, both in it’s writing and in it’s art. Why the Allreds and Slott haven’t collaborated on another title is beyond me. Seeing as both Dan and Mike are the storytellers, everything from the outer-worldly backdrops to the tiny titans of Brundlebus 3 looked and felt naturally in sync with each other. The character design was unique in it’s own right, there was an elegant pageantry to every character’s physical form. Every character looked individualized and the dialogue between them fleshed them out to have the most eccentric of personalities and were almost immediately lovable, which is the best way I can describe this run: lovable.
To put it simply, this story is about the Silver Surfer and his adventures with a human woman through space and time. To put it a bit more fanboy-ish, this story literally has everything I could ask for in a comic book. Wonderfully composed characters with well-paced development, clever storylines without too many cliché tropes, and of course, humor in the face of danger.
In this story arc, we see a very different Surfer. The morose and melancholy inner-monologues change rather quickly through the beginning of this story and soon thereafter, the absence of Uatu, the Watcher’s story telling narration is replaced by Eternity and the Never Queen. He is accompanied by Dawn Greenwood after it is revealed by Space/Time magic that it is she who is the most important being in Norrin Radd’s life. But as always with humans, we are unpredictable and surprising. Norrin Radd’s progression as the usual “stick-in-the-cosmic-mud” builds into loving Demi-god is such an amazing thing to witness. You never really know how miserable a character is until you finally see that character happy. Throughout most of this series the Surfer is the most pleasant and well-spoken characters I’ve read in a long while. His excitement in showing Dawn the Spaceways is like the feeling you get when you show you’re significant other an amazing comic book. You know exactly when and where that person’s jaw will drop but it still fills you with such great joy to finally be able to share it with someone else.
Now, although the Silver Surfer is the absolute protagonist of this entire story, it’s a lowly powerless human by the name of Dawn Greenwood who steals the show. I love her. Her reactions to everything in space is how I’d imagine my own reaction to things. Her sense of adventure is so refreshing and so far away from the damsel in distress trope, that she’s more like a partner than a tag-along. But really, she’s the backbone of this story. She displays a humanity that used to be a commonplace in our society. A sincere innocence that will remind you why a character like this need to exist in comics.
I have a list called “Comics I Cry About in Public” and this run easily made its way to the top 5 of the list. There are times when you hear about books that have so much hyped surrounding it, you finally get around to reading it and it’s lackluster. The hype doesn’t live up to its story. That is not the case here. I was told very little about it and I researched very little about it. I jumped right in. Much like how I jumped in to reading Silver Surfer Black. It was a decision that I feel has changed my outlook on things in a strange unpredictable way. And I, like Norrin Raddm showing Dawn Greenwood the edge of Eternity, am so excited to share this with you and see you’re faces light up from this wonderful story about two lovers in space.