Sunday, May 1, 2016

Silver Surfer, Vol. 1: New Dawn

Silver Surfer, Vol. 1: New DawnSilver Surfer, Vol. 1: New Dawn by Dan Slott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Silver Surfer, sentinel of the spaceways, finds the Impericon, the city where anything is possible. Why does the Never Queen want it destroyed? And what does an Earth girl named Dawn Greenwood have to do with anything?

Confession time: The Silver Surfer is one of those characters that I was always semi-interested in but never quite understood when I was a lad. When I saw Dan Slott, the man who made Spider-Man interesting again, was helming it with Mike Allred, creator of Madman doing the art, I just couldn't resist.

New Dawn is a very quirky take on the Silver Surfer. Slott is a big Doctor Who fan and his portrayal of The Silver Surfer and his companion, Dawn, feels very Who-esque. It's a humorous but still respectful take on the Silver Surfer and I found it way more enjoyable than the twelve or fifteen issues of the Surfer I tried reading in the late 1980's.

I liked the Impericon concept and the Never Queen but my favorite part is the relationship between Dawn and the Surfer. While the space stuff was awesome, I loved when the Silver Surfer visited Anchor Bay with Dawn to meet her family. Sure, Doctor Strange and the Hulk showed up but it was still really cool. I have to wonder if Mike Allred had some influence on the characterization of the Surfer because his quirky innocent nature reminded me of Madman a few times.

It's not perfect but I don't really have anything bad to say about New Dawn. I always thought of the Surfer as a stuffy character but Slott and Allredy breathe new life into him. Four out of five stars.

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