Wednesday, January 31, 2007

For a change, not one of my favorite panels...oh, all right, I kinda like it:
The temptation to include 'DOINGGG!' in that last panel must have been almost overpowering.
Just a personal preference, you understand, but I prefer the Silver Surfer's board to be a physical object, a tangible thing, a blunt instrument. Not a sheet of energy to be created and recreated, not a disposable manifestation of the Surfer's power to be dispersed upon landing, and definitely not a Nerf plaything.

The Surfer's board should be like Thor's hammer or Captain America's shield; inviolate and indestructible. (Except on the rarest of occasions when it's dramatically necessary and/or cool.) It should be an object of power and respect and treated as such, by other characters and writers alike. (Even if the Surfer hits someone over the head with it.) Why I feel strongly about this, I couldn't say, but I feel the same way about this as others felt about Spidey's organic webshooters.

That said, I had a friend that violently hated that last panel there, but I'm pretty sure someone like the Surfer wouldn't just let the Hulk shatter his kneecap trying to break his board. The Surfer would use enough power to let the Hulk bend it; kind of the same way you might humor a little kid acting out.

I'm wondering how the new Fantastic Four movie will have the Silver Surfer's board now. I always thought it looked better with the tailfin, but I confess that might just be me.

From Incredible Hulk #250, written by Bill Mantlo, art by Sal Buscema.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like a long board with a fin. I'm old enough to remember when a sleek dude in swimtrunks with a board under his arm was a powerful pin-up image.

But for the new movie? It would look goofy, I think. I'd go with a disc of solid energy to stand on when he is floating, that stretches out like a board when he soars. If he gets knocked out, it disappears, but otherwise he should never touch the ground. He would look absurd sitting in a chair.