Read @ Joe’s

Fun.

Pure, undiluted, make-you-smile fun. How’s that for a review on Dan Slott and Mike Allred’s Silver Surfer: New Dawn graphic novel?

Title: Silver Surfer: New Dawn (2017) Author: Dan Slott // Mike Allred Publisher: Marvel Comics Book jacket: The Silver Surfer, the lone sentinel of the skyways, is about to discover that the best way to see it… is with someone else. Joe says: Pure, undiluted, make-you-smile fun.

The Surfer has always been a personal favorite. Be it Stan “The Man” Lee and Big John Buscema’s angst-ridden late sixties run, or the Jim Starlin-Ron Marz-Ron Lim galaxy-crushing saga from the eighties and nineties. But many times, the Surfer’s stories can be heavy, both emotionally and thematically, with deep ties to back-story and cosmic ramifications involving the greater Marvel Universe. Not so here. Seen through the wide-and-accepting eyes of Dawn Greenwood, Slott’s clever scripting has the reader jump into the action with catch-up-as-you-go dialogue as Allred’s visuals hearken back to a Kirby-infused style yet retain his trademark pop-culture feel. The result is a lighthearted, fast-and-fun romp that ends much too soon.

Slott and Allred get the Surfer from Zenn-La and the human from Anchor Bay together at the Impericon, a patchwork palace that boasts both pleasure and secrets. Dawn clearly thinks well on her feet, and soon gets the feel for the Surfer’s board, even giving it a name: Toomie. (Just read it out loud in a Surfer-like voice to get the pun.) They help the Never Queen, run into the Guardians of the Galaxy (whatever), and even team up with two of the original Defenders: Dr Strange and the Incredible Hulk. Through it all, Slott humanizes the Surfer’s usual aloofness and and brings astronomical wonder to the Earthgirl, Dawn.

Although Slott unabashedly steals the concept and motif for these stories from Doctor Who, the format works. The Silver Surfer, as a former herald of the world-devourer Galactus and now wielder of the power cosmic, makes for a great master with Dawn as a completely-likable and understanding companion. Yeah, his surfboard is not bigger on the inside, but it does respond to vocal commands.

And Dawn? She actually makes the Surfer laugh. Which then makes me laugh.

So yeah, fun. Cosmic style.