The Silver Surfer Animated Series Was A Trip
The 90s were the golden age of animated adaptations of classic comic series, countless comic series, whether iconic or obscure, were brought to the small screen for a new generation. There were so many hits that some got lost in the shuffle, leaving hidden gems almost 30 years in the past. Hidden gems like Silver Surfer: The Animated Series.
Silver Surfer was created by Larry Brody, who also wrote for the 90's Spider-Man series and the Spawn animated series. The series aired on Fox Kids in 1998 alongside X-Men and Spider-Man and was owned in part by both Marvel and Saban Entertainment.
Created in 1966 by comic book legend Jack Kirby, The Silver Surfer was designed to be a new addition to the Fantastic Four team, a role he filled and has since outgrown. Rumor has it that Kirby designed the character on a whim while he and Stan Lee were working on a Fantastic Four issue. Kirby allegedly designed the character as a surfer because he was sick of drawing spaceships. Silver Surfer begins his story as a herald of the planet devouring supervillain Galactus, but he swiftly turns against his master to defend Earth, leaving him stuck there as punishment.
The most immediately striking aspect of the Silver Surfer animated series is the unique animation style. In a bizarre choice, the series merges classic cel-based animation with early computer animation to create a unique tapestry of visual art. The most consistent example is Galactus, who is a fully polygonal PlayStation 1 era character model against hand-drawn backgrounds and next to a hand-drawn Surfer. This is used to tremendous effect to grant an unsettling otherworldliness to the massive figure of Galactus. Even when it doesn't look good, it looks weird in a special way that really sticks in the mind.
There are countless Marvel Comics characters that have not been adapted beyond the comics page, but some make their first leap into the small screen. Silver Surfer was the first onscreen appearance of a number of iconic Marvel characters, though often altered from their source material. Thanos is now best known as the ultimate villain of the MCU, but his first screentime was in the three-part pilot of Silver Surfer, where he goes on to be the series primary antagonist. Though essentially unrecognizable, Drax the Destroyer's first onscreen appearance came in episode 5 of the series. Characters still not depicted in the MCU also made their first appearance in this show, including the magus Adam Warlock and Mjolnir wielding monster Beta Ray Bill.
The Silver Surfer is originally an astronomer called Norrin Radd from a planet called Zenn-La. In the first episode of the series, Norrin sees Galactus coming to destroy the planet and devises a plan to save his world. He rockets into space and offers the Devourer a deal, if Galactus will agree to leave Zenn-La alone, Norrin will swear his life to serving him as his herald. The heralding position entails searching the infinity of space to find only the best planets for Galactus' consumption, so Norrin is granted a fraction of the immense Power Cosmic to better search the galaxy. This turns him into the Silver Surfer, but it also erases his memory and dulls his morality. Still, Surfer is overcome with guilt and eventually betrays his master and begins searching the universe for his missing home planet.
After breaking his pact with Galactus, he is allowed to keep his chunk of the Power Cosmic and begins surfing the cosmos. The show is serialized, a story of the Surfer making his way from planet to planet, dealing with their problems and fighting off the evil Thanos. Much like Silver Surfer's solo comics, the average episode deals with issues like pollution, slavery, and imperialism in the context of alien societies. The series takes inspiration from a variety of classic science fiction, naming characters and episodes after Isaac Asimov or Doc Smith works. The story of a single episode was written by the legendary Harlan Ellison.
The Marvel Universe, like all comic universes, operates on multiple levels of scale, from bustling cities to infinite expanses of space. The larger scale has a tendency to get complicated and high-concept, which can turn off unprepared new fans. Adapting these higher-order narratives with multiple alien societies is a harrowing quest, which can take a ton of pre-work. The Sliver Surfer series deserves some serious credit for rushing right into the wacky 60's space opera corner of Marvel and making it both immediately identifiable and genuinely fun. Silver Surfer is a fantastical journey into epic science fiction with a unique art style and top-notch writing. The worst part about it is that there isn't very much of it.
Silver Surfer: The Animated Series was canceled after its first season, reportedly due to a rights dispute between its two owners. Despite its tragic fate, Silver Surfer is a hidden gem of the 90's Marvel animated stable that Marvel fans should seek out. All 13 episodes of this once-lost series are now available to stream on Disney+, so fans can experience the eclectic quest of the Silver Surfer today.
Post a Comment