Sequential Scholars

The concluding page of Silver Surfer: Parable, in which the Surfer hovers above the earth, victorious but once more alone.

But ultimately, the debt to past tales endures. Mœbius’ visualizations of Galactus and the Silver Surfer take different paths to similar conclusions, wherein surviving a confrontation with the cosmic divine leads to both affirmation and isolation. 14/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable, in which the Surfer strips away the rags that initially concealed him to reveal his familiar, glittering form.

Alternatively, Mœbius’ visualizations bear the scars of past stories, just as the Surfer finds himself slipping between his present (our future) and his real (imaginary) past). The weight of history clings to him like the rags that initially conceal his glittering form. 13/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable, in which the Surfer strikes an iconic, perhaps Christ-like pose while confronting Galactus.

Mœbius’ visualizations of Galactus and the Silver Surfer capture the sense of wonder and sublimity associated with these characters’ first appearances while indulging in a more contemplative iconicity–like a vivid, subjective memory of a memorable event. 12/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable showing a close-up of the Surfer confronting Galactus.

But Moebius’ delicate linework also, at times, makes both the Surfer and Galactus seem unusually vulnerable. As contrasted with the thick, bold lines of Kirby, Mœbius’ even, detailed linework can make Galactus feel weighty and weary. 11/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable in which the Surfer confronts a raucous public who refuse to listen to his warnings about Galactus.

Yet through his contemplative grace, Mœbius’ Surfer speaks to what Alicia Masters, in the original story, calls the character’s defining “nobility” and “loneliness.” Indeed, while Moebius’ humanizes the Surfer, he also clearly distinguishes him from the masses of humanity. 10/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable in which the Surfer sails away as Galactus continues destroying the city.

But Moebius’ approach to action is also dramatically different. Where Kirby’s Surfer attacks Galactus directly, Moebius’ surfer dodges & weaves. And Moebius eschews breakneck action in favour framing & whitespace that evokes contemplative stillness within active tableaus. 9/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable in which Galactus crushes the Surfer in his hands, then releases him.

In a contextualizing essay, Mœbius says he didn’t maintain a specific size for Galactus, but rather “modified Galactus’ proportions throughout the story… These changes do not bother me because they’re part of the mythical nature of the character.” 8/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable, in which a tiny Silver Surfer shoots cosmic rays at a very large Galactus.

Galactus also towers over the Silver Surfer, emphasizing a “David vs Goliath” dynamic that helps humanize the Surfer and underscore his role as humanity’s champion. At times, the tiny Surfer’s cosmic blasts appear hopelessly futile, like an insect biting an elephant. 7/14

A page from Silver Surfer: Parable, showing the described scene.

As in the original Kirby-drawn story, Mœbius’ Galactus towers over the city and its denizens. His size is monumental, his body seemingly indestructible as he effortlessly tramples cars and carelessly topples skyscrapers. 6/14

A page from Fantastic Four #50, showing the described scene.

Yet Borenstein also emphasizes Kirby’s careful contrasting of the cosmic with the mundane, as on this page, which includes Reed and Sue tenderly comforting Johnny Storm amid the teen’s existential crisis, contrasted with a dramatic tableau of the Surfer battling Galactus. 5/14

A page from Fantastic Four #49, showing the team gazing up at Galactus and the Watcher. The quote is from Eliot Borsenstein’s book Marvel Comics of the 1970: The World Inside Your Head.

Eliot Borenstein argues that in the original Galactus story, “the cosmic scale of godlike beings threatens to completely eclipse our own ordinary world (indeed, to swallow it whole).” The Fantastic Four often share the reader’s perspective, gazing skyward in helpless awe. 4/14

A tiny Silver Surfer confronts a very large Galactus in a page from Silver Surfer: Parable. The quote is from Charles Hatfield’s book Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby.

Mœbius’ action scenes are similarly but differently forceful. For instance, to emphasize Galactus’ divine threat and his thematic contrast with the Silver Surfer, he incorporates manipulations of size and scale that could be seen as broadly referencing Kirby. 3/14

A page from Fantastic Four #49 showing the Four in dynamic battle with an opponent.

Jack Kirby, artist of the original Galactus Trilogy, is known for his exaggerated, dynamic bodies, which Charles Hatfield describes as “vectors of force.” Hatfield also observes the “breakneck pace” of Kirby’s storytelling as perhaps its defining feature. 2/14

The cover of Silver Surfer: Parable #1, drawn by Mœbius, featuring Galactus and the Silver Surfer.

“Silver Surfer: Parable” (1988), by Stan Lee & celebrated French creator Mœbius, imagines #Galactus returning to Earth, where he’s opposed by the Surfer. Mœbius’ visualization of these iconic characters both extends & reinterprets themes from previous stories. 1/14 #FantasticFour

Today @sequentialscholars.bsky.social: scholar Charles Hatfield's reading of Jack Kirby's contribution to The Galactus Trilogy! #FantasticFour #JackKirby #Galactus #SilverSurfer

Writer’s commentary: Hatfield is a) brilliant, b) super kind, and c) a massive inspiration for my entire career. He was my external reader for my PhD defense and I was fanboying the entire time (despite a truly hilarious degree of sleep deprivation).

“The Silver Surfer, a clear example of the kind of improvisation that characterizes mid-sixties Marvel, is the device that makes this first chapter tick…When the Surfer arrives, he is a portent, a promise, of impending apocalypse.” 7/7

“‘The Coming of Galactus,’ anticipates its end, for which we are prepared in two ways: first, by seeing the Surfer’s progress through space, toward Earth; second, through apocalyptic signs – a sky filled with flames, then with floating rocks or ‘debris’” 6/7

“The first chapter’s climactic splash, a full-page panel dominated by the big ‘reveal’ of Galactus, derives its power from the way it fulfills the suspense generated by the dozen or so pages preceding it.” 5/7

“The device of the Surfer allows us to approach Galactus obliquely, to imagine what kind of being would need a ‘herald’ this imposing to prepare the way for his arrival.” 4/7

“Much of the story’s drama stems from the Surfer, as he transitions from plot device (his arrival heralds the coming of Galactus) to character. Introducing the Surfer, as eccentric a gimmick as any Kirby had come up with, was an ingenious narrative stroke” 3/7

Hatfield writes, “The central character, as it turns out, is the one who mediates between the human and the godlike, the Surfer, who unpredictably blooms from a mere functionary of the plot – a cold, unemotional harbinger of doom – into and articulate and tormented hero.” 2/7

In his Eisner-winning monograph, “Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby,” Charles Hatfield argues that the “Coming of Galactus” works as well as it does because of the framing of that arrival created by the coming of The Silver Surfer first. #FantasticFour #Silver Surfer 1/7

After Fantastic Four#1—& the many new heroes inspired by the title’s success—superheroes would no longer be good or do good for the sake of it. Heroism became a journey and constant struggle with and against a hostile public & within the hearts and minds of the characters. 12/12

The Fantastic Four weren’t the superhero genre’s first volatile protagonists; Namor the Sub-Mariner was an anti-hero more than a decade before. Yet the Fantastic Four convincingly embodied an important shift in the genre within the postwar, post-Comics Code era. 11/12

Yet the Four’s monstrousness doesn’t reside solely (or even primarily) in the flesh. The team’s origin reveals differently volatile personalities. Reed is arrogant; Sue is insecure; Johnny is a hothead; Ben is jealous & violent, trying to kill Reed after his transformation. 10/12

In these opening pages, the Fantastic Four are unfairly perceived as dangerous. But they also *are* dangerous, with unstable, destabilizing bodies that can’t be seen, are too large for the world around them, and burn and melt objects and people through simple proximity. 9/12

Finally, a hunter missile with a nuclear warhead is fired at the Torch. He’s saved by Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, whose elastic arms pluck the missile out of the air and carry the injured through an upper window of a high rise to where the rest of the team is waiting. 8/12

Taking the air as a streak of flame, the Torch is attacked by the Air Force, who see only a mysterious “flying flaming object.” The Torch’s desperate pleas of, “No! No! Stay back!” fall on deaf ears; Johnny burns through a jet aircraft, forcing the pilot to eject. 7/12

Next, we find Johnny Storm/the Human Torch surveying repairs to his sports car. He immediately bursts into flame, melting through the roof of his own car as a gaping mechanic says, “What’s happening to you?... You’re turning into... *gasp* a—a human torch!” 6/12