Customer Reviews

Silver Surfer: Parable

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm someone who is slowly leaving the superherogenre in comics. Next to that I never was a very big fan of Stan Lee as a writer. My surpirse was big when I started reading this and noticed the actual depth in here.

An enormous spaceship enters earth and the world is in fear. It lands and a creature who calls himself Galactus comes out. At first people are in fear and nobody dares to displease him. Earth is entirely without war or terrorism for a moment. A fake disciple steps up and tells how Galactus is the returning incarnation of the Messiah. Because there has been worldpeace since Galactus landed the disciple is believed. People start worshipping the creature from beyond and follow Galactus' every worth. Questioning nothing. The entire world is soon in chaos. The Silver Surfer decides to step up out of the anonymous mass and tries to convince people to stop listening to Galactus. An 'act against God'...

Although the dialogue is full of cliches it's never bothering here, it reads away fluently. And what's more important, the story itself is interesting and honestly thought-provoking. Not only is a fight between good vs bad presented here, but it also makes you think on what grounds you decide something is good or bad. It emphasizes the importance of one thinking for oneself instead of blindly following something you believe in. To never stop questioning. A free mind is everything.
The art by Moebius, although not his best, is very good as well. His imaging of Silver Surfer is probably the best I'be seen so far. I'd definately recommend this to both superhero fans as non-superhero fans.

With a smooth calculated story that borders on religious teachings and fluid art by Moebius this is the best graphic novel available from Marvel Comics. The book is visualy astounding; with loose pencils that rely on inks the book has a flow that no other can match. It moves like cinema and Stan Lee wrote it. Moebius and Stan Lee. How can you go wrong?

Marvel has a real problem with keeping their best works in print. They've been making progress over the past few years, however, and this is one of them.

Written by one of the "founding fathers" of the Marvel Universe, Stan Lee used this book to make a return to one of his most outstanding creations. His Surfer tales of old had a style like none of his others, capturing basic themes in stories of galactic scope, with more than a hint of allegory and religious reference. This story reads like one of his classic tales. The art is provided by Moebius, and the Surfer has never looked better. Moebius' fine-line work, detail, and soft colors beautifully capture the mood of this story. I wish he would turn his attention to more work like this, but with the sorry writing in today's American super-hero comics, I can't blame him for keeping a low profile.

Stories don't come along like this very often, so check it out. It's in a softcover printing, so it's affordable. The only problem I have with the story is some of the Surfer's dialogue, which sounds as if it were lifted from fortune cookies or self-help books.

I too was surprised at the depths of this story. The art was very enjoyable and created another level of depth to the story, it stood out from most that I was accustomed to. The lettering was slightly difficult to read at times, but also had it's merits. The theme is very reminiscent of a Rod Serling "Twilight Zone" story from the past.

I haven't read any material from Stan Lee for years. I also haven't read any material from Mobiues in years. So reading this graphic novel was a treat for me.

The story was solid. The art was solid. Everything about the book was solid.

It was not a masterpiece, but still I found it to be a solid 4 star read.