Silver Surfer: Judgment Day!

 

One project from Marvel which completely slipped under my radar in 1988 was the Silver Surfer: Judgment Day graphic novel--plotted by artist John Buscema and Marvel Editor-In-Chief Tom DeFalco, scripted by Stan Lee, and clocking in at sixty-two pages. The story's climax features a confrontation between the Surfer's perpetual menace, the demon Mephisto, and his former master, Galactus--with Nova, the current herald of the planet devourer, playing the role of unwitting accomplice caught up in Mephisto's web of deceit.

In addition, as will become quickly evident, Buscema has decided to contribute full-page art for the entire story--perhaps a complication as far as tying together the visuals in a meaningful way while awaiting sufficient captions and dialog to hopefully provide a riveting and engrossing experience for the reader. This work would be years removed from the books of the Silver Age where Lee hit his peak in doing just that, for the most part--but while Lee would prove to be more than adequate in handling the Surfer's 1978 graphic novel delineated by Jack Kirby, a story where a writer had the luxury of dealing with more conventional panels which offered the opportunity for details and subtleties that would do a great deal to invest the reader in the story, here there is instead mostly grandiosity to account for, along with Mephisto's trademark guile and relentlessness which tend to transfer easily from story to story without much variation. Given the format which Buscema has settled on, is Lee up to what's being asked of him?

This excerpt from the story's Foreword almost gives the matter a sense of mitigation after the fact, though that may be reading too much into it:

All of that being said, it was an interesting venture for Buscema and Lee to undertake, and, I don't doubt, a successful one. John Byrne took his own steps with such a format two years earlier with a 22-page story for Marvel Fanfare--the difference of course being that it played out on a third of the scale, but also having the advantage of the artist and writer being on the same page, as it were, in terms of a tighter meshing of story and art (at least to the extent that such a format would allow). The same could be said for Walt Simonson's similar effort in a story published toward the end of his run on Mighty Thor just a few months later.  Here, the bar is raised a bit for Lee, who fared well with his collaboration with Kirby as well as his one-shot story with Byrne (the latter also having involved Mephisto) but must now go beyond DeFalco's and Buscema's outline to craft a compelling and engaging tale, with virtually each page holding a measure of responsibility for its success.

The story begins with another failed attempt by Mephisto to entrap the Surfer and thus seize his soul. And as the demon ponders his latest setback, it's clear that his resolve to achieve his goal is as steadfast as ever.

"Again the deadly plan of Mephisto has been put to rout! But what does it matter?" A refrain that has become as worn as a doormat by now where the Surfer is concerned.

From there, the Surfer catches a respite with the arrival of Nova, the scene nicely handled by Lee and offering some insight which gives us a sense of the passage of time for two beings who call the stars their home and whose travels take them beyond their furthest reaches--as well as how rare and welcome contact with a fellow wanderer might come to them.

The encounter is also a glimpse into the contrast between the life the Surfer once led and the mantle which Nova has now assumed as the herald whose task it is to search for a suitable world which will sate the hunger of Galactus with its life force. How interesting to see the Surfer take a back seat when it comes time to make a decision on whether to select such a world which lies in their path, delegating that choice solely to the one who will bear the responsibility for that choice.

Clearly Nova has come a long way from the woman who stepped forward on the fateful day that Galactus again came to Earth and offered herself as his new herald--the consequences to other life forms in the universe be damned.

Yet perhaps the past isn't as buried for Nova as both Galactus and ourselves had believed, when we see Nova fall into the same trap the Surfer had avoided and become corrupted by the words of Mephisto (though not by name)--and in so doing, picking up a thread which Byrne introduced five years earlier which had her questioning whether she was falling in love with Galactus. From that point on, Nova has no scruples about leading him to worlds teeming with life, as eager as she has now become to win his approbation and, hopefully, more.

Consequently, the being whose approach had in the past caused entire races to either flee their worlds or perish to the last man in resistance begins to once more decimate whatever planet is in his herald's line of sight.

It's a spectacular series of images by Buscema which Lee scripts with all due grimness and fatality. And as information comes his way on the series of disasters which mark the coming of Galactus, the Surfer sets out to stop Nova from helping her master to commit more atrocities--and in so doing, effectively thwarts the intentions of Galactus, though he and Nova both pay the price.

As hopeless as things now look as far as either the marooned Surfer or Nova being able to further interfere with Galactus, for Mephisto the way is paved to take advantage of that helplessness and strike his long-desired bargain with the Surfer--achieving a goal that has eluded him, even as Nova at last understands her part in this drama.

Unbeknownst to Mephisto, Nova quickly acts to do what she can to help both herself and the Surfer, though our next sight is inevitably that of Mephisto's domain, where it seems the demon is in no hurry to fulfill his promise to the pair--particularly when there was "fine print" in his offer that made no mention of when that promise would be satisfied. But Nova's earlier effort to signal her master succeeds--assuring that two wielders of great power meet to decide just who will fall prostrate before the other, even as the Surfer forms a plan that might bring an end to the conflict.

During this story, Lee has fairly consistently handled the ways and workings of Galactus which have demonstrated the same level of detachment, the same unexplainable, indeterminate manner, that the character has maintained in previous appearances. As farewells go, then, we can expect to find nothing less--or, as the Surfer notes, nothing more--in the offing, which Lee seems to realize is quite fitting for the nevertheless optimistic note that the Surfer strikes on his departure, bringing an end as well to this impressive piece of work from both artist and writer.

As for Mephisto--well, we can take a guess as to the note he's going to strike.

Sigh. Until next time, pal.