A MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL
By Stan Lee & John Buscema, with Tom DeFalco (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-427-6
This self-indulgent but oddly entertaining galactic eye-candy featuring the legendary icon of the counter-culture generation once again sees the ex-herald of planet-devouring Galactus as a tragic saviour and Christ metaphor. Now however it’s not our troubled humanity but the overwhelming power of slavers from space that threatens humanity, and there’s a lot less breast-beating and soul-searching and rather more cosmic action.
The story by Stan Lee (and Keith Pollard) has a rather odd genesis. Commissioned in the early 1980s by Jim Shooter, Lee’s original plot was apparently much transformed in the eight years it took to draw. By the time it was dialogued it was a much different beast and Lee almost jokingly disowns it in his afterword. Nevertheless there’s lots to enjoy for the fan who doesn’t expect too much in this tale of love and death in the great beyond.
After a frantic rush through cosmic gulfs the Silver Surfer crashes into the home of Reed and Sue Richards, just ahead of the colossal invasion craft of the monstrous Mrrungo-Mu, who has been drawn to our world by the well-intentioned but naïve Nasa probe Voyager III.
The Surfer’s homeworld Zenn-La has already been depopulated by the awesome space slaver and Earth is next. Moving swiftly, and exploiting the good intentions of an Earth scientist, the Enslavers incapacitate all the world’s super-beings and prepare to enjoy their latest conquest, but they have not accounted for the vengeful resistance of the Surfer or the debilitating power of the love Mrrungo-Mu is himself slave to: for the unbeatable alien is weak and helpless before the haughty aloofness and emotional distance of his supposed chattel Tnneya…
Despite being dafter than a bag of space-weasels in far too many places, there is still an obvious love of the old, classic Marvel tales delivered at an enthusiastic pace that informs these beautifully drawn pages and the action sequences are a joy to behold. If you love cosmic adventure and can swallow a lot of silliness, this might just be worth a little of your time and money.
© 1990 Marvel Entertainment Group/Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.