As writer Simon Spurrier has candidly acknowledged, the miniseries Silver Surfer: In Thy Name was commissioned on the grounds that Marvel wanted to have a Silver Surfer story on the shelves when the Fantastic Four 2 DVD came out.

Come to think of it, that seems a little short-sighted to me.  If I were Marvel, I would want the trade paperback in the bookstores when the DVD came out.  I wouldn't want a Silver Surfer mini coming out in time to release a collected edition through mainstream channels four months after everyone's forgotten about the movie.  But hey, it's their business, and there's always the J Michael Straczynski story that just finished.

The actual story in this miniseries has nothing to do with the movie.  Nor does it have anything to do with the Silver Surfer's present continuity, in which he's back as the herald of Galactus.  Instead, this story takes the Surfer's former status quo as a well-intentioned cosmic wanderer.  We're either out of continuity altogether or somewhere in the past, and it doesn't really matter which.

The story treads a familiar path.  The Surfer encounters a utopian alien culture, of peace, learning and friendship.  Everything seems just great.  But you won't be surprised to learn that there's a dark underbelly.  This is an old standard set-up for stories about visiting alien worlds, and to be honest, the first issue mostly bounces through it efficiently without offering anything very different.  But the final page brings out Spurrier's real big idea for the series, which has plenty of potential for an angst-ridden moralist like the Surfer.

You might remember artist Tan Eng Huat being pushed as the next big thing by DC a few years ago, when he drew a short-lived Doom Patrol relaunch in a heavily angular fashion.  His style has changed beyond recognition since those days, and with the addition of strong pastel colours from Jose Villarrubia, it now has a softer, more European feel to it.  It's often beautiful stuff.  There's still room for improvement, though.  The art tends towards rather small figures in cluttered panels, at times looking like a scaled-down reproduction of work that was meant to be 50% larger.  Still, it's easy to see why editors get so excited about this guy - and this is so different from his Doom Patrol work as to show that he's got real range.

A solid issue.  The world probably didn't need another Silver Surfer miniseries, but at least it's getting one that shows promise.

Rating: B

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