Silver Surfer

Did You Know?

• The Silver Surfer is the seventh figurine in the Classic Marvel Figurine Collection.
• The Silver Surfer starred in his own all-prism trading card series in 1993, released by Comics Images.

Publication history

The Silver Surfer was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appearing in The Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first issue of a three-issue arc known as "The Galactus Trilogy." Jack Kirby stated that his conception of the Silver Surfer was a human being from space in a particular form, inspired by the surfing trend in California. He elaborated that he could not draw an ordinary teenager surfing, so he drew a surfboard with a man from outer space on it.

Kirby further explained that his inspirations came from needing to create characters that were no longer stereotypes, and he turned to the Bible, coming up with Galactus. He described the Silver Surfer as the fallen angel, noting that when Galactus relegated him to Earth, that was the beginning of his adventures. The character debuted as an unplanned addition to the story. When Kirby turned in his pencil art, he included a new character he and Lee had not discussed.

Stan Lee recalled seeing a nut on some sort of flying surfboard in the middle of the story they had carefully worked out. Kirby explained that the antagonist Galactus should have a herald, and he created the surfboard because he was tired of drawing spaceships. Lee overcame his initial skepticism and began adding characterization, and the Silver Surfer became a key part of the unfolding story.

Fictional character biography

Norrin Radd is from the utopian planet Zenn-La in the Deneb star system of the Milky Way galaxy. He is the son of Jartran and Elmar Radd and has a half-brother, Fennan Radd. Zenn-La's ancient civilization had lost the will to strive, leaving Radd restless. Facing the destruction of his world by Galactus, Radd bargained to serve as his herald in return for the safety of Zenn-La and his lover Shalla-Bal.

Galactus endowed him with the Power Cosmic, transforming him into the Silver Surfer. Radd intended to lead Galactus to uninhabited planets, but Galactus tampered with his soul. After serving for an unspecified time, the Surfer summoned Galactus to Earth, where he met the Fantastic Four and Alicia Masters. Touched by their nobility, he rebelled against Galactus, who was driven off but confined the Surfer to Earth with an invisible barrier.

During his exile, the Surfer fought Doctor Doom and Mephisto. He banded together with the Hulk and Namor as the Titans Three, which became the Defenders with Doctor Strange. The Surfer eventually pierced the barrier with Reed Richards' aid and temporarily escaped Earth, discovering his homeworld ravaged and Shalla-Bal abducted by Mephisto. He returned to Earth, defeated Mephisto, and endowed Shalla-Bal with a portion of his Power Cosmic to revitalize Zenn-La.

Other versions

An alternate universe version of the Silver Surfer from Earth X appears in Universe X, accompanied by Shalla-Bal, whom Franklin Richards as Galactus turned into a second Silver Surfer. An alternate universe version from Earth-691 appears in Guardians of the Galaxy #24-25, becoming the Keeper and possessing quantum bands that augment his connection to the Power Cosmic. An alternate universe version from Earth-552 appears in Exiles, a military scientist who accidentally destroyed his world and became Galactus's herald, later killed by a cosmically empowered Sabretooth.

An alternate universe version appears in Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances. An alternate universe version from Earth-2149 appears in Marvel Zombies #5, where he is killed by zombies who absorb his powers. An alternate universe version from Earth-982 appears in Last Planet Standing #5, merging with Galactus to undo his damage. The corpse of an alternate universe version from Earth-9591 appears in Ruins #1, theorized to have died from shock after clawing open his chest. In the Ultimate Marvel imprint, a cosmic entity called Gah Lak Tus commands shapeshifting silver humanoid drones.

In other media

The Norrin Radd incarnation of the Silver Surfer appears in The Fantastic Four (1967), voiced by Vic Perrin. He appears in Fantastic Four (1994), voiced by Robin Sachs in the first season and Edward Albert in the series finale. He appears in a self-titled TV series, voiced by Paul Essiembre. He appears in The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by Mikey Kelley, speaking with a surfer dude accent; in the second season he becomes the Dark Surfer before being purified.

He appears in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "Fear Itself", voiced by Brent Spiner. In 1989, film students Erik Fleming and Robert Letterman approached Marvel Studios and Constantin Film's producer Bernd Eichinger to make a short film as a proof of concept for CGI rendering of a silver human figure. Supervised by Steven Robiner, the five-minute short was completed in 1991 and premiered at First Look USC Film Festival on September 21, 1993, leading to interest in a feature-length project.

Andrew Kevin Walker wrote a script for 20th Century Fox in 2000, but nothing came of it. The Norrin Radd incarnation appears in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, portrayed by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne; this version's board serves as the source of his powers and a beacon for Galactus.