Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Going into the 1960s,
Stan Lee’s duties at Marvel Comics had grown exponentially to the
point his time was a premium. He and Jack
Kirby had just propelled the company into a new era with the debut of Fantastic Four vol. 1#1 in 1961, with more and more
superheroes joining them every year. Lee was editing and writing a good portion
of Marvel’s output at the time. With deadlines looming and artists sitting idly
by waiting for the next script, Lee devised a way to keep production going
around his hectic schedule: let the artists tell the story.
Galactus arrives.
In what would come to
be dubbed “The
Marvel Method,” Lee would discuss the plot of a book with the artist either
at length or in a brief quickly-typed page and then let the artist go to town.
The artist would then give Lee the completed artwork with some notes on what
was going on in the story, and Lee would write the dialogue and sound effects
and hand it off to the letterer. Lee had already been
working this way with Kirby, whose profile in the industry granted him some creative
freedom, and with Steve
Ditko, although that stemmed from a growing
animosity between the two, and had resulted in some of the company’s best-selling
books. Over the years, this method of writing has led
to debate over how much Lee actually contributed to the books that bore his
name; especially when one considers the case of Fantastic Four vol. 1#48 (1966).
Norrin's sacrifice.
Galactus
is a cosmic entity with an overwhelming hunger that could only be satisfied by
consuming the entire life force of a planet, rendering it dead and inert. Finally,
Galactus set his sights on Earth leaving the heroic Fantastic
Four with the herculean task of saving their planet. In what was intended
to be a simple story of the Fantastic Four versus the massive Galactus, artist Jack Kirby had snuck in a new
character of his own creation: The Silver Surfer, a being whose body was
entirely covered in silver and who rode a silvery surf board through the cosmos.
Kirby postulated that a being like Galactus would have a herald as a sort of
advance scout to do the heavy searching for sustenance sources, to which
Galactus would then follow. The reason for Surfer’s mode of transport was
because Kirby had grown tired of drawing spaceships.
Creation of the Surfer.
The
Surfer began as Norrin Radd, citizen of the planet Zenn-La, which was once on
Galactus’ menu. To save his planet and the love of his life, Shalla-Bal, Radd
offered himself up as Galactus’ herald to aid in his quest with the intention
of leading Galactus to suitable planets devoid of sentient life; thus, sparing
billions. Galactus infused Radd with the Power Cosmic, turning him into the
Silver Surfer. But it came with a price: Radd’s soul had been altered by
Galactus, making him forget his intentions.
Alicia reawakens the Surfer's humanity.
Lee,
initially skeptical of the character, grew to appreciate him and the Surfer
became an integral part of the story as he would become touched by the nobility
of the Thing’s
then-girlfriend, blind sculptress Alicia Masters,
and turn against his master. Galactus is driven off, exiling Radd to Earth with
the erection of an invisible barrier around the planet. Popular with readers, the
Surfer would return for several guest-starring spots in Fantastic Four before gaining his own series in 1968, the first of
several, and becoming a mainstay in the Marvel Universe. In 1967, Surfer made
his animation debut on Hanna-Barbera’s
Fantastic Fourcartoon voiced by Vic
Perrin, and then had his origin retold in the 1994 version as part of The Marvel Action Houron
Sundays voiced by Robin Sachs.
Norrin and Shalla-Bal.
Fox Kids head Margaret Loesch had
successfully brought Marvel to television in the 1990s with the hit shows X-Men:
The Animated Seriesand Spider-Man:
The Animated Series. Also having an affinity for the Silver Surfer, he
was the subject of the next Marvel offering for the network. Developed by Larry Brody, the series was heavily influenced
by the work of Kirby and inker Joe Sinnott
in its look for both settings and the characters designed by Roy Burdine and Shannon Denton. To create an original
visual presentation, the series was done in a blend of traditional cel
animation and computer animation; particularly for the scenes set in space and
Galactus himself. The computer animation was overseen by art director Dale Hendrickson.
Galactus.
Silver Surfer debuted on FOX on February 7, 1998 and
was co-produced by Saban International. They
chose to begin the series with a retelling of the Surfer’s (Paul Essiembre)
origin; however, the Fantastic Four was omitted in the Surfer’s decision to
save Earth to keep the show’s focus on the Surfer entirely. And, instead of
being trapped on Earth, Galactus (James Blendick) punished Surfer by hiding
Zenn-La from him. The series was notable for being the most verbose of any
action-oriented cartoon; duplicating the dense monologues Lee would script for
the character in the comics. Along with Brody, the series was written by Michael Steven Gregory, Dallas L. Barnes, Harlan Ellison, D.C. Fontana, Mark Hoffmeier, Christopher Kane, Jeffrey Knokey, Andrea Lawrence, Alan Swayze and Brooks Wachtel. Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (under the alias Kussa
Mahchi) served as the series composers, and animation duties were handled by AKOM.
Surfer vs. Thanos.
While Galactus would
make appearances throughout the show’s run, the ultimate villain of the show
was Thanos (Gary Krawford), an all-powerful being set on destroying the
universe to win the love of Lady Chaos (changed from Death
due to FOX’s standards and practices, voiced by Lally Chadeau). Like the other
Marvel shows of the decade, Silver Surfer
featured guest-appearances by other Marvel characters; particularly from
their space-based stable. Amongst them were Uatu the Watcher (Colin Fox), a
being part of a race dedicated to observing history as it transpired without
interfering; the genetically engineered perfect being Adam Warlock
and his dark counterpart, the Magus
(both Oliver Becker); Pip the Troll
(Robert Bockstael), a teleporting
being created as part of the Kree’s slave labor
force; space mercenary Nebula (Jennifer
Dale); Ego the
Living Planet (Roy Lewis);
Gamora (Mary Long & Alison Sealy-Smith), the most
dangerous woman in the galaxy; Galactus’ new herald from Earth, Nova,
aka Frankie Raye (Tara Rosling),
who served as an alternative love interest for the Surfer; Drax the Destroyer (Norm Spencer), a cyborg with an
organic brain created by Thanos’ father (brother in the show due to a typo) Mentor (Cedric Smith) to battle Thanos; Beta Ray Bill
(Karl Pruner), who in the
comics was associated with the Norse thunder god Thor but instead
merely shared characteristics with him, and whose people were locked in a group
dream utilizing Zenn-La technology; and the cosmic entities Eternity (John Neville), the embodiment
of the multiverse, and Infinity (Elizabeth Shepherd),
representing the totality of space.
Beta Ray Bill.
When the show was
in production, Marvel was undergoing
financial trouble that would result in its eventual bankruptcy and
subsequent reorganization. This also led to some legal disputes between Marvel
and Saban. The first season had been completed and aired, and production for
the second season had already begun. After 8 scripts for season two had been
written, production was shut down while both parties worked it out. Ultimately,
Silver Surfer ended up being
cancelled by Fox despite its strong performance in the ratings in favor of
starting over fresh with Marvel and looking into new properties for adaptation.
That took the form of Spider-Man Unlimited, also helmed by Brody,and Avengers: United They Stand, both
debuting in 1999.
Nova.
In
the time since, Brody has released the series bible, the scripts for the first
season, and the scripts for season two on his website, along with additional
material. Silver Surfer was the last
Marvel cartoon to be relatively faithful to the source material as all of the
programs since have had a focus on drastically reinventing the characters and
story by either changing locations, adjusting character’s ages, or being based
on movie properties. In 2019, it became one of the launch titles for the
streaming service Disney+.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 1” (2/7/98) – Galactus comes
to feed on Zenn-La, and Norrin Radd offers himself as Galactus’ herald if he
spares the planet.
“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 2” (2/14/98) – Surfer, devoid
of memory, undergoes his new task as herald, but finds deep feelings stirring
inside of him.
“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 3” (2/21/98) – Galactus
threatens Earth, sparking the return of Surfer’s memory and causing him to
rebel against his master.
“The Planet of Dr. Moreau” (2/28/98) – Searching for a way back to
Zenn-La, Surfer ends up entangled in a battle against the Kree.
“Learning Curve Part 1” (3/7/98) – Surfer’s search for Zenn-La leads
him to the Universal Library, base of the knowledge of the Watchers, and to
trouble.
“Learning Curve Part 2” (3/14/98) – Surfer must choose between
obtaining all knowledge in the universe or remaining human and free.
“Innervisions” (4/4/98) – To save a planet, Surfer must destroy the
foundation of its existence.
“Antibody” (4/11/98) – Galactus
is dying, and only the Surfer can save him.
“Second Foundation” (4/25/98) – Nova attempts to help Surfer find
Zenn-La, but they end up on the Skrull homeworld instead.
“Radical Justice” (5/2/98) – Galactus’ survivors capture Surfer and
put him on trial for crimes against all life.
“The Forever War” (5/29/98) – Surfer must accomplish a task for the
Kree before they will allow him audience with their Supreme Intelligent for
help home.
“Return to Zenn-La” (5/9/98) – Surfer
finally returns home, but soon discovers it’s a construct of Ego, the Living
Planet, who seeks to repay his debt.
“The End of Eternity, Part 1”
(5/16/98) – Eternity and Infinity recruit Surfer to stop Thanos from causing
time to flow backwards, thus destroying the universe.
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