Like many of Marvel's "hide the hero" books these days, I don't know if this Silver Surfer by way of M. Night Shyamalan take is sustainable over the long run... but it certainly makes for a compelling first issue, and most likely first story arc. Chariton and Weiss spend most of their time this issue not on Silver Surfer, but on establishing the characters of a struggling mother and her autistic daughter, as well as hinting that she could be somehow involved with the Surfer. Chariton and Weiss's story of a child who can't love her mother back visibly, and the pain and struggles that caused, hit home for this new dad, and their ending, though not a wholly happy one, struck home as well. In addition, Milx does an impressive job of conveying both the cosmic, alien feel of the Surfer, the scorched land in Africa and the hustle and bustle of modern New Orleans, complementing the script very effectively.
This is the fourth ongoing series about the Surfer, but it's the first one that doesn't follow directly in the mode of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, exploring things from the Surfer's point-of-view. It's a strange shift, and part of me misses the Surfer waxing philosophical about his place in the stars and in humanity, but what Chariton and Weiss have substituted is a much stronger feeling of the alien aspects of the Surfer instead of the more relatable human characteristics. This silent, mysterious visitor from the stars comes across as potentially sinister, even though his after-effects seem generally positive, and Milx gives the Surfer a blank, alien expression and glowing countenance that calls to mind angels and gods rather than just aliens.
Where the strength of this story comes is from the reaction of some of humanity to this more mysterious Surfer. Chariton, Weiss and Milx do a very effective job of setting the scene in the South Sudan, explaining the horrible conditions there and presenting a place where the Surfer taking a child could be a positive thing rather than just kidnapping. The rituals and preparations, not to mention the fiery after-effects, read more like magic ritual than interaction with a super-hero, and it starts the book off on just the right eerie, otherworldly tone.
Most of the issue, however, focuses on Denise and her daughter Ellie. Ellie, like almost every autistic child in fiction, spends her time drawing something no one else understands but the reader knows to have some significance. It's a cliche, to be sure, but it still works, largely because Chariton and Weiss do such a great job of conveying the pain that Denise feels, how much she loves her daughter even though her daughter can't respond to it, as well as showing Denise's struggles in daily life. The parallels between Denise's inherited religion of voodoo and the inevitable visit of the Surfer is also played up in a clever fashion, and given the way he responds to ritual early on, it leaves me wondering what the Surfer is actually up to, and just how aware he is of the religions that have sprung up around him.
This first issue is not so much about the Silver Surfer as it is setting up the world around him, and hinting that maybe he's got a larger agenda that will be explored in this story arc. It's difficult to judge the series a failure or a success until I see how the potential is followed up on, but this is certainly a strong start, and if Chariton, Weiss and Milx can avoid some of the pitfalls of decompressed storytelling and barely-visible heroes that have plagued some of Marvel's other books, they could have a really solid opening story here.
