WHO CREATED THE SURFER? (OR...THE SIMPLY SENSATIONAL SILVER SURFER SOFTLY AND SMOOTHLY SOARS AND SKIMS O'ER THE SUPERBLY SPARKLING STARRY SKYWAYS OF STARTLINGLY STUNNING AND SPECTACULAR SPACE...)

Who created the SILVER SURFER? If you know anything about comics you'll probably reply "JACK KIRBY" - but you'd be wrong! Well, you'd be right - but you'd also be wrong. Confused? You soon will be!

Truly it was Jack who originated and introduced the idea of GALACTUS having a silver-skinned herald on a surfboard who searched for suitable planets to supply his master's need to feed off their energy - no argument there. However, a character does not really come to "life" until he is presented in his fullest and final form to the panting public. In other words, it's not necessarily the initial, basic idea in someone's mind which defines a character (or concept) - it's what appears on the printed pages of the published magazine which establishes how he (or it) is perceived by the world at large.  

So - who is the Surfer? The Silver Surfer, formerly NORRIN RADD of the planet ZENN-LA, sacrificed himself to Galactus by swearing to serve him if he would only spare the Surfer's home planet from destruction. That was all STAN LEE's idea - even the name "Silver Surfer" is said to have sprung from Stan's fertile mind. (Apparently Jack had only referred to the character as "the Surfer" in his margin notes.) It's obvious that Jack envisaged the Surfer as having had no prior existence before Galactus created him by means of his "power cosmic". That's why the Surfer had seemingly never considered the consequences of his actions on the millions of beings who had perished as a result of him serving "the big G". It wasn't until his encounter with BEN GRIMM's blind girlfriend, ALICIA MASTERS, that he developed a sense of empathy for other living creatures - it was only then that he discovered he had a "soul".

Stan, on the other hand, thought that the Surfer would work better as a noble, tragic figure if he had made some kind of heart-rending sacrifice on a quasi-religious scale. Norrin Radd had essentially "died" in order to save every living person on his world - the comparisons to CHRIST are obvious - and serve to elevate the Surfer to an almost saint-like status - a "saviour" even. True, there is an inherent dichotomy in this concept of the Surfer's origin. Surely someone who cared enough for the inhabitants of his own planet would not so randomly and recklessly doom countless billions of other intelligent life-forms to cosmic destruction? We are left to assume that Galactus has exerted a subtle influence on the mind of his herald, numbing his consciousness to the fate he inflicts on hapless planets as he scours the cosmos. Galactus has caused the Surfer to forget his past, and in so doing, enables him to act as his official "food-finder" with a clear and untroubled conscience. Until, of course, Alicia's tenderness helps reawaken his former and forgotten "humanity".

Well, it's arguable, I suppose, as to what version of the Surfer works best, but it's Stan's concept of the character which has permeated and defined the comic-buying public's perception of who the silver-skinned sky-rider is and how he came to be. So, who created the Silver Surfer?

Stan Lee AND Jack Kirby - but not necessarily in that order.