Every Silver Surfer #1 Ever

It’s a rare supporting character who can go on to headline their own adventures. But ever since his debut in FANTASTIC FOUR #48 in 1966, the Silver Surfer has been in a class of his own.

Norrin Radd was exiled to Earth after defying his master, Galactus, to save humanity. And for two decades, his adventures were largely confined to a single planet. But in the mid-80s, the Surfer was once again free to explore the universe...

Now, the Sentinel of the Spaceways is set to return in next month's SILVER SURFER: BLACK #1! 

Donny Cates and artist Tradd Moore are following up on the Surfer’s disappearance in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1, when the Surfer and many other cosmic powers were sucked into a blackhole, seemingly never to be seen again. But how did the Surfer manage to survive? The answers are coming soon.

To celebrate the new series, Marvel.com is looking back at ten of his previous #1 issues.

SILVER SURFER #1 (1968)

For the very first Silver Surfer series, Stan Lee was joined by artist John Buscema for the first 17 issues, before Jack Kirby illustrated the final ish. But the first issue was a seminal moment for the Surfer, as it revealed his history as Norrin Radd, an otherwise ordinary man on Zenn-La. To save his planet from Galactus, Norrin agreed to become his Herald. And thus the Silver Surfer was born!

Unfortunately, the Silver Surfer was also forced to abandon his first love, Shalla Bal. But her role in his story was far from over...

SILVER SURFER #1 (1982)

Sixteen years after the character's debut, Lee joined forces with artist John Byrne for a special one-shot story that depicted the aftermath of the Surfer’s betrayal of Galactus.

The Devourer of Worlds revisited Zenn-La and left it a lifeless planet, with starving people who were desperate to stay alive. Mephisto kidnapped Shalla Bal and brought her back to Earth, which meant the Surfer had to give up his newfound freedom before sending his lover home. But he didn’t send her back empty handed, even though it was half a decade before the Surfer saw Shalla Bal again.

SILVER SURFER #1 (1987)

After two decades, the Silver Surfer finally had his own ongoing series again. Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers shook up the status quo by freeing the Surfer from Earth and allowing him to reconcile with Galactus in the first issue by rescuing Nova, who was the Herald at the time.

Subsequent issues reunited the Surfer with Shalla Bal, who had transformed Zenn-La into an intergalactic power. Later, when Jim Starlin joined the series, he used the pages of SILVER SURFER to lay the groundwork for INFINITY GAUNTLET. The series lasted 146 incredible issues before ending in 1998.

SILVER SURFER #1 (2003)

The SILVER SURFER ongoing series by co-writers Dan Chariton and Stacy Weiss is a bit of an outlier.

For starters, the Surfer only appears in the last few pages of the first issue; Chariton and Weiss were joined by the artist known as Milx on a story about a young mother and her daughter who was seemingly kidnapped by the Surfer. The series presented the Surfer as a Messianic figure, and it ran for 14 issues.

ANNIHILATION: SILVER SURFER #1 (2006)

Keith Giffen and artist Renato Arlem brought the Surfer squarely back into continuity during the ANNIHILATION event. For ANNIHILATION: SILVER SURFER, Giffen and Arlem put the Surfer in the odd position of uniting Galactus’ current and former Heralds against a common enemy that threatened them all: the Annihilation Wave.

But by the end of the four-issue limited series, the Heralds had new adversaries: the space gods known as Tenebrous and Aegis.

SILVER SURFER: REQUIEM #1 (2007)

Can the Silver Surfer die? That was a question explored by J. Michael Straczynski and artist Esad Ribic in SILVER SURFER: REQUIEM #1.

After a long life that was extended by the Power Cosmic, the Surfer’s silver skin was chipping away and failing him. That forced the Surfer to confront his own impending mortality...

SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME #1 (2007)

Simon Spurrier and artist Ten Eng Huat followed REQUIEM with their own Silver Surfer tale. In SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME, the Surfer came across an idyllic planet that seemed like a perfect utopia in space. The Surfer was so initially taken by it that he even considered making it his new home.

Unfortunately, the darker side of this utopia was revealed before the four-issue limited series came to an end.

SILVER SURFER #1 (2010)

After the events of ANNIHILATION, the Silver Surfer was once again the Herald of Galactus, and Greg Pak and artist Stephen Segovia brought the Surfer back down to Earth in a five-issue series.

In the first issue, the Surfer grappled with the loss of his ability to feel physically and emotionally. But the High Evolutionary proved to be a much bigger problem for him in this tale...

SILVER SURFER #1 (2014)

In 2014, Dan Slott and artists Mike and Laura Allred gave the Silver Surfer one of his biggest makeovers to date.

For this series, the Surfer found a companion, Dawn Greenwood, who gave him a fresh perspective on life in the universe. The first issue established Dawn’s mundane life on Earth while the Surfer explored the impossible space palace known as the Impericon. Dawn was soon kidnapped from Earth because it was determined that she was the most important person in the Surfer’s life. And she was...they just didn’t know it at the time.

SILVER SURFER #1 (2016)

After SECRET WARS, Slott and the Allreds continued their run with a brand new SILVER SURFER series. For the first issue, the Surfer and Dawn came back to Earth for a belated holiday with her family before facing an unusual alien threat.

This half of the run brought the Surfer and Dawn even closer together by giving them a chance to grow old and have a real life. In the end, the Surfer had to let Dawn go, but she left a lasting impact on him and on everyone they met in the cosmos.

SILVER SURFER: BLACK #1 (2019)

Spinning out of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1, almost the entire galaxy's defenders have been blown through a black hole, including the Silver Surfer! But the story doesn't end there... In order to fight back the oblivion, Surfer will have to fight to save his own soul and not lose himself to the void.

Follow the Sentinel of the Spaceways on a journey that will change him forever!

Pre-order your issue of SILVER SURFER: BLACK #1 at your local comic shop now! Then pick it up on June 12!