He's back! SILVER SURFER gets yet another #1.
© 2003 Marvel Characters Inc.

Mania Grade: A
Authors: Dan Chariton and Stacy Weiss, Milx
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $2.25

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SILVER SURFER (VOL. 4) #1

In the ravaged plains of the Sudan, a young child is offered to a being the tribesmen call the Shining One. In New Orleans, Denise Waters' autistic daughter Ellie is abducted by a mysterious silvery figure, a creature that closely resembles the alien face that Ellie has been drawing for a week now. Who is this godlike individual, and what interest does he have in taking the children of planet Earth?

You obviously know the answer to the first question. It's that second one, of course, that the latest SILVER SURFER series hangs upon. In a recent interview with NEWSARAMA.COM, the Malaysian artist Milx compared reading Chariton and Weiss' script to reading something written by the director M. Night Shyamalan - he described it as having that same sense of mystery that makes Shyamalan's films so successful. That's the best description I've ever heard for the effect that this first issue has on the reader, because this series has "mystery" written all over it.

First off, this is not your father's Silver Surfer. Norrin Radd doesn't even appear until the second-to-last page of the book, and when he does, it's a startling moment, like seeing something you've known all your life as if it's brand new once again. Secondly, Chariton and Weiss spend so much time with Denise and Ellie, and we become so wrapped up in their story, that by the time the Surfer makes his appearance, we're seeing him as they see him: the mother with awe and fear, the daughter with sheer wonder. And the upshot of it all is, we're just as horrified for the child's safety - we know this is Norrin Radd, but God only knows what he's up to this time. This was the former herald of Galactus, after all, no matter what he's done since. It's a storyline so perfectly conceived that if Shyamalan hasn't already been on the phone negotiating the film rights, I'll be worried for the man's sanity.

He won't be needing any storyboards, either. Milx's artwork is some of the most pristine and detailed I have ever seen, and not just his Moebius-inspired rendering of the Surfer either. As I've mentioned here and there before, I live in New Orleans, and Milx has obviously been here at least once - his depiction of Jackson Square and other features of the French Quarter is completely accurate, but there's no comparison between Milx's work and Rags Morales' equally accurate but less technically startling depiction of "St. Roch" in DC's HAWKMAN. Sure, it's just a background setting, but in Milx's hands, everything is important.

I had my doubts when I heard that a new SILVER SURFER book was hitting the streets. This is Norrin Radd's fourth time at bat, after all, and while the previous series under this title have gone a little distance, they've never quite been able to capture the potential that this notoriously difficult to write for character has. Between the three of them, Chariton, Weiss, and Milx have captured it. Here's hoping the second issue - and indeed, the rest of what we can only hope is a long and successful series - continues to do so.