{"id":32872,"date":"2025-05-15T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=32872"},"modified":"2025-05-13T16:46:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T16:46:19","slug":"silver-surfer-epic-collection-volume-1-when-calls-galactus-1966-1968","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/05\/15\/silver-surfer-epic-collection-volume-1-when-calls-galactus-1966-1968\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver Surfer Epic Collection volume 1: When Calls Galactus (1966-1968)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Stan Lee<\/strong> & Jack Kirby<\/strong>, Marie Severin<\/strong>, Joe Sinnott<\/strong>, Frank Giacoia<\/strong> & various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-0-7851-9002-8 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

I gather there\u2019s a degree of pre-condemnation in the usual quarters regarding the upcoming Fantastic Four<\/strong> film regarding the gender of one of the imaginary alien characters in it. Guys – and it is of course guys – it\u2019s NOT REAL. It\u2019s not even the comics you purport to love. It\u2019s just another movie designed to appeal to the largest number of movie fans possessing only rudimentary knowledge of what involved. If you genuinely want to uphold the purity of the comics incarnations, buy a book like this one. Heck, buy a bunch and hand them out to people you\u2019d like to impress and convert.<\/em><\/p>\n

Or you could lurk in your mancave whining and trying to be relevant to people who just don\u2019t care…<\/em><\/p>\n

Cautiously bi-monthly and cover-dated November 1961, Fantastic Four <\/strong>#1 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein & Christopher Rule) was crude: rough, passionate and uncontrolled excitement. Thrill-hungry readers pounced on it and the raw storytelling caught a wave of change starting to build in America. It and succeeding issues changed comicbooks forever.<\/p>\n

In eight short years FF<\/strong> became the indisputable core and most consistently groundbreaking series of Marvel\u2019s ever-unfolding web of cosmic creation: bombarding readers with a ceaseless salvo of new concepts and characters. Kirby was in his conceptual prime, unleashing his vast imagination on plot after spectacular plot. Clearly inspired, Lee scripted some of the most passionate superhero sagas that Marvel – or any publisher – had or has ever seen. Both were on an unstoppable roll, at the height of their creative powers, and full of the confidence only success brings. The King was particularly eager to see how far the genre and medium could be pushed. A forge of stunning creativity and endless excitement, Fantastic Four <\/strong>was the forge and proving ground for dozens of future stars and mesmerising concepts, none more timely or apt than freewheeling cosmic wanderer and moral barometer The Silver Surfer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Collecting every scrap of pertinent material from Fantastic Four<\/strong> #48-50, 55-61, 72, 74-77 FF<\/strong> Annual<\/strong> #5 and Tales to Astonish<\/strong> #92-93, this compendium reprints all appearances of the Starry-eyed Sentinel spanning March 1966 to August 1968 (admittedly some only in excerpt): a chronological countdown to the outcast winning his own landmark title.<\/p>\n

Although pretty much a last-minute addition to Fantastic Four<\/strong> #48-50\u2019s Galactus Trilogy<\/em>, Jack\u2019s scintillating creation quickly became a watchword for depth and subtext in the Marvel Universe, one Stan Lee kept as his own personal toy for many years to come. The debut was a creative highlight from a period where the Lee\/Kirby partnership was utterly on fire. The tale is all power and epic grandeur and has never been surpassed for drama, thrills and sheer entertainment, so you should really read it in all its glory.<\/p>\n

Here, however, and without preamble the wonderment commences with a mere portion of \u2018The Coming of Galactus!\u2019<\/em> (by Lee, Kirby & Joe Sinnott from FF <\/strong>#48) as halfway through a storyline, the origins of The Inhumans<\/strong> saga is swiftly wrapped up (by page 6!) with the entire clandestine race sealed behind an impenetrable dome called the Negative Zone <\/em>(later retitled Negative Barrier<\/em> to avoid confusion with the gateway to subspace Reed Richards<\/em> worked on for years).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a cosmic entity approaches Earth, preceded by a gleaming herald on a surfboard of pure, shining cosmic energy…<\/p>\n

I suspect this experimental – and uncomfortable – approach to narrative mechanics was calculated and deliberate, mirroring the way TV soap operas were increasingly delivering interwoven storylines, and used as a means to keep readers glued to the series. They needn\u2019t have bothered. The stories and concepts were enough…<\/p>\n

Issue #49 declares \u2018If this be Doomsday!\u2019<\/em> and sees planet-eating Galactus setting up shop over the Baxter Building despite the team\u2019s best efforts, whilst his coldly gleaming herald has his humanity accidentally rekindled by simply conversing with The Thing<\/strong>\u2019s blind girlfriend Alicia Masters<\/em>. The first 13 pages of FF<\/strong> #50 concludes \u2018The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer!\u2019<\/em> as the reawakened ethical core of the Surfer and gallantry of the human heroes buys enough time for Richards and the Human Torch<\/strong> to literally save the world with a boldly-borrowed Deus ex Machina gadget…\"\"
\nOnce again, the tale ends mid-issue, with the remainder concentrating on the team getting back to \u201cnormal\u201d, but that\u2019s the work of a different review. Here, we resume with FF<\/strong> #55 as \u2018When Strikes the Silver Surfer!\u2019 <\/em>sees the naive alien exiled on Earth by his former master and uncomprehendingly locked in brutal battle with the Thing, whose insecurities over his relationship with Alicia explode into searing jealousy when the soaring skyrider pays a purely platonic visit…<\/p>\n

A portentous excerpt from #56 then tantalisingly teases another forthcoming epic. Fantastic Four<\/strong> #57-60 is Lee & Kirby at their utmost best; with unbearable tension, incredible drama and breathtaking action on all fronts as the most dangerous man on Earth steals the Surfer\u2019s Power Cosmic, even as the Inhumans finally win their freedom and we discover the tragic secret of mighty mute Black Bolt<\/strong> in all its awesome fury.<\/p>\n

It begins with a jailbreak by The Sandman<\/em> in #57\u2019s \u2018Enter… Dr. Doom!\u2019<\/em>; escalates in \u2018The Dismal Dregs of Defeat!\u2019<\/em> as Doom tests his limitless stolen power in acts of random cruelty and destruction; builds to a crescendo in \u2018Doomsday!\u2019<\/em> with the heroes\u2019 utter defeat and abject humiliation, before culminating in brains and valour saving the day – and all humanity – in truly magnificent manner with \u2018The Peril and the Power!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

A 2-page postscript from #61 then shows the return to the Silver Surfer of his purloined life-energies, but there was never really a dull moment: no sooner had the exile returned to solitary wandering than he encounters another of Earth\u2019s incredible denizens. It coincided with a new narrative tone for The Hulk<\/strong> in his solo feature in split-book Tales to Astonish<\/strong>. After months on the run, fugitive Bruce Banner<\/em> reached a \u2018Turning Point!\u2019<\/em> (TtA<\/strong> #92, June 1967, by Lee and superb, criminally underrated Marie Severin & Frank Giacoia), wherein the Jade Giant – hunted through a terrified New York City – has a close encounter with a gleaming light in the sky…
\n\"\"
\nBack then, the Hulk didn\u2019t really team-up with visiting stars, he just got mad and smashed them. Such was certainly the case when he became \u2018He Who Strikes the Silver Surfer!\u2019<\/em>, ironically battling with and driving off a fellow outcast who held the power to cure him of his atomic affliction…<\/p>\n

The skyrider was only driven as far as November\u2019s Fantastic Four Annual<\/strong> #5, where – after a Kirby & Giacoia pin-up depicting a colossal group shot of Galactus, The Watcher<\/em>, Silver Surfer and others – the rapidly rising star-in-the-making enjoyed his first solo appearance. \u2018The Peerless Power of the Silver Surfer\u2019<\/em> (Lee, Kirby & Giacoia) is a pithily potent fable of ambition and ingratitude, reintroducing and upgrading the threat-level of The Mad Thinker<\/em>\u2019s lethal AI murder-machine Quasimodo<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Things went quiet until FF<\/strong> #72 (March 1968) and \u2018Where Soars the Silver Surfer!\u2019<\/em>, as the cruelly imprisoned wanderer goes cage-crazy and attacks humanity, forcing the quarrelsome quartet to make a valiant but violent intervention. Slightly calmer, the skyrider returns in #74 \u2018When Calls Galactus!\u2019<\/em> as the world-eater revisits Terra, demanding his former herald once more become a food-finding slave. However, despite his increasingly aggressive world-shaking probes and the FF\u2019s holding action against the ravenous invader\u2019s robotic Punisher<\/em>, mighty Galactus cannot locate his target.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the Surfer has already – and utterly obliviously – departed for \u2018World Within Worlds!\u2019<\/em>, forcing Reed, Ben & Johnny\u2019s pursuit to save humanity from consumption. When the pioneering micronauts are subsequently attacked by sadistic alien empath Psycho Man<\/em>, our heroes are subsequently \u2018Stranded in Sub-Atomica!\u2019<\/em>
\n\"\"
\nAs they struggle to survive, Galactus applies ever-more pressure in \u2018Shall Earth Endure?\u2019<\/em>, until a now-fully-apprised Surfer turns himself in to save humanity by finding the great Devourer an alternative snack. His reward is to be summarily slapped back into captivity here as soon as ungrateful Galactus finishes feeding, just in time to begin his own landmark series – but that\u2019s also the subject of another review, another time…<\/p>\n

Art lovers and history buffs can also enjoy a bountiful bonanza at the back of this volume: fascinating freebies including pages of original Kirby art, cover reproduction of earlier collection Silver Surfer: The Coming of Galactus!<\/strong> (by Ron Lim, Dan Panosian & Paul Mounts), composite cover art for Wizard Ace Edition: Fantastic Four <\/strong>(2002) #48 by Mike Wieringo, Karl Kesel & Mounts, Jos\u00e9 Ladr\u00f6nn\u2019s cover for The<\/strong> Fantastic Four Omnibus volume 2 <\/strong>and Dean White\u2019s painted cover based on FF<\/strong> #49 (for Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four<\/strong> volume 5). Also on show is a gallery of new covers crafted for 1970s reprint series Marvel\u2019s Greatest Comics<\/strong> (#35-7 by John Buscema & Sinnott, Sal Buscema, Gil Kane & Giacoia) and Marvel Triple Action<\/strong> #1-4 (John B & Giacoia, Kane & John Romita, Vince Colletta and Sal B & Sinnott) which previously reprinted the material contained herein.<\/p>\n

Epic, revolutionary and unutterably unmissable, these stories made Marvel the unassailable leaders in fantasy entertainment and remain some of the most important superhero comics ever crafted. The verve, conceptual scope and sheer enthusiasm shines through on every page and the wonder is there for you to share. If you\u2019ve never thrilled to these spectacular sagas then this book of marvels is the perfect key to another – far brighter – world and time.
\n\u00a9 2019 MARVEL. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, Marie Severin, Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-0-7851-9002-8 (TPB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. I gather there\u2019s a degree of pre-condemnation in the usual quarters regarding the upcoming Fantastic Four film regarding the gender of one of the imaginary alien … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Silver Surfer Epic Collection volume 1: When Calls Galactus (1966-1968)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[165,317,54,332,98,189,117,79,107,157],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-black-panther","category-doctor-doom","category-fantastic-four","category-gil-kane","category-hulk","category-inhumans","category-jack-kirby","category-marvel-superheroes","category-science-fiction","category-silver-surfer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8yc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32872"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32880,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32872\/revisions\/32880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}