Matt Meyer
TASCHEN announces SILVER SURFER: 1968-1970, all of Norrin Radd’s adventures from this seminal period in Marvel history collected in one prestige volume! On sale NOW!
Introduced by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the fertile pages of The Fantastic Four, the Silver
Surfer quickly established himself as one of Marvel’s most far-out characters. Enslaved
by Galactus to prowl the cosmos for the demi-god’s next planet-sized meal, the Surfer was as
tragic a figure as any in comics—and he looked impossibly cool at the same time! A smash
hit with fans and a regular supporting character in Fantastic Four, the character struck a
creative nerve with Lee, who couldn’t wait to begin to tell some Surfer solo stories, but the
timing had to be right.
In the spring of 1968, things came together for both writer and character, with Lee giving the
Surfer Marvel’s very first ongoing double-sized book. Lee also recruited artist John Buscema,
who had recently been lending his extraordinary pencils to The Avengers. Together, they spun
off a run of legendary tales that helped define the character forevermore.
The feature stories from the entire 18-issue run of the 1968 Silver Surfer series are collected
in this cosmic-sized XXL tome from the Eisner Award-winning Marvel Comics Library
series. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for
reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company.
Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally
remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s
inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off a world-class 1960s printing press. A custom
paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the feel of the original
comics.
Texts by author and critic Douglas Wolk and Marvel artist Sal Buscema accompany original
artwork, photographs, and rare memorabilia.
The artists:
John Buscema (1927–2002) began working for Timely Comics in 1948 drawing Westerns,
crime comics, and horror/suspense. He left comics for commercial art but returned to
Marvel in 1966, establishing at Marvel a singular style of elegance and realism. Among his
long list of credits include The Silver Surfer, The Avengers, Sub-Mariner, The Fantastic Four,
and an indelible run on Robert E. Howard’s Conan in Conan the Barbarian and The Savage
Sword of Conan. In 1978, he collaborated with Stan Lee on a landmark instructional book
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.
Stan Lee (1922–2018) is known to millions as the man whose co-created super heroes propelled
Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. His co-creations include
Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and hundreds
of others. While the Chairman Emeritus of Marvel, he was also the Chief Creative Officer
of POW! Entertainment, where he created numerous new characters and stories in areas
including publishing, film, TV reality, stage, documentary, and multimedia.
The author:
Douglas Wolk is a multiple-Eisner-winning author of All of the Marvels and Reading Comics
and has written about comics and pop music for The New York Times, Time, The Washington
Post, Rolling Stone, The Believer, among others. He teaches comics history at Portland State
University.
The contributing author:
Sal Buscema is one of the most prolific comic artists in Marvel history, with long runs on
titles like Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, The Defenders, Thor, and the licensed property
ROM. His first work at Marvel was inking his brother John’s work on The Silver Surfer.
He helped launch the series The Spectacular Spider-Man in 1976 and returned to the title
years later to pencil and ink a much-lauded 100-issue run. In the 1990s, he helped make
Spider-Girl one of the most talked about titles of the era. He remains active in the industry,
inking The Blue Baron.
About the series:
MARVEL COMICS LIBRARY is an exclusive, long-term collaboration between
TASCHEN and Marvel. The rarest classic comics, including Spider-Man, Avengers, and
Fantastic Four are meticulously reproduced in their original glory, in extra-large format. The
library offers collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lay their hands on the world’s
most desirable comics. Each volume includes an essay by a comic book historian alongside
archival photographs, ephemera, and original comic book artwork.
For more information, go to
https://www.taschen.com/en/books/comics/08135/marvel-silver-surfer-1968-1970/
