Silver Surfer #1
Storytellers: Dan Slott and Michael Allred
Color Art: Laura Allred
Release Date: 1/20/16
I really enjoyed the last volume of Silver Surfer and thought it was some of Dan Slott’s best work. It was truly an under the radar series. Now find out if the new volume of Silver Surfer lives up to the last.
Plot Summary
Dawn and Norrin has had some fun space adventures over the past few months, but in this issue Dawn is ready to go home to visit her family. Dawn and her family celebrate all the holidays she missed, but sadly the fun doesn’t last for long because a group of aliens are stealing all of Earth’s art. This includes famous movie, television, and book characters. Now Dawn and Silver Surfer have to fight these aliens, who look just like Dawn’s favorite fictional characters.
Story
As someone who loved the last volume of Silver Surfer, I thought this issue was a great opener to a new volume of fun adventures with Dawn and Norrin. I am usually not a big cosmic fan, but I think Silver Surfer has a good balance between the cosmic adventures and grounded storytelling. This issue really showcased that balance.
My favorite issues of Silver Surfer tend to be the issues featuring Dawn’s family. I like that they accept Dawn’s adventures with Norrin, and always make Dawn feel at home when she returns. They aren’t angry at her for missing big life changes, and I am glad that this series skips that drama.
An aspect I also really like about Silver Surfer is how creative the series can be, and this is another thing that they showed perfectly in this issue. The aliens in the story take away art, and there is this perfect piece of dialogue that Dawn gives to show why fictional characters are so important. She explains how these characters become part of our lives and sometimes shape who we are. I really liked the premise behind these villains, but I hope in the future they shape these aliens a bit more. It was really interesting to see them as other characters, but I want to see them interesting as themselves also.
The negative part of the issue was the cliffhanger with the Thing. They could have saved the Thing’s story for the next issue. The cliffhanger felt a little out of place for me.
Another slight negative towards this issue is that for an All-New, All Different Marvel title I thought this could have been a bit more new reader friendly. Maybe taking a page or two to explain to the readers who Dawn and Norrin are to each other.
Art
I really enjoy Michael and Laura Allred’s art style for this book! It’s bright and colorful and fits Dan Slott’s unique/creative storytelling. The artwork especially pops in this issue when the aliens are taking away the art from Earth.
Another scene I really enjoyed was when Dawn was saying hello to her family through an alien camera. Through the artwork of that scene Allred shows Dawn’s personality perfectly.
Verdict
This issue showcases everything I loved about the last volume of Silver Surfer, and there seems to be some interesting adventures in store for Norrin and Dawn. This is the best I have seen Silver Surfer in years!