A Review by Paul O'Brien
If you enjoy comic book characters crossing over to animation (and who doesn't), then FOX has to be the channel for you. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES was clearly a ground-breaking show which opened up the field for many more superheroes. FOX also brought yet another incarnation of Spider-Man back to Saturday mornings, adding a very successful X-Men cartoon as well. Marvel has since signed an exclusive deal with producers to create about six or seven shows over the next decade or so, simply to expand the success of these early heroes.
SILVER SURFER represents the newest generation of FOX/ Marvel cartoons, one that will be soon followed by Captain America and (hopefully) the Avengers. My immediate reaction to choosing to go with Silver Surfer first, however, was doubt--why start with him? Silver Surfer is certainly one of the big heroes in the Marvel Universe and a classic Lee/ Kirby creation. But his comic has never sold terribly well, and I've always felt the series was confused by lack of direction, clarity, and organization. So how could a cartoon about the Surfer possibly succeed? And if it doesn't succeed, could it bode well for much more promising ventures of the future like Captain America and Avengers? (Remember the 1980's movie deals, after all . . . many hot Marvel projects were in pre-production, including Daredevil, but the series was started with--Howard the Duck. Exit Marvel movies, of any quality or budget at least.)
SILVER SURFER has allayed my fears by being both a commercial success (ratings are high, and more episodes have been ordered) and a fair creative success. I emphasize "fair," though, which is primarily what this review is about: gauging the quality of the cartoon. My overall impression of the Silver Surfer cartoon after its first season is that it has faithfully represented our comic book hero and offered some stimulating and original visuals than usual. Unfortunately, the series is still plagued by general writing woes and the fundamental flaws of the character and world themselves.
I was expecting a slight variation of the X-Men cartoon, and granted, the illustrated animation is pretty much the same (roughly average animation). But what really surprised me is how well computer animation has been integrated into the program. With FOX's Spider-Man cartoon, it seemed gratuitous, tacked-on, and sloppy . . . overall, unnecessary and distracting. The Silver Surfer cartoon, however, has managed to incorporate it more regularly and smoothly into every episode, to the point that whole characters, like Galactus, can be computer animated without any severe stretches of our sensibilities. One of the techniques that seems to facilitate this blend of computer and illustrated animation is what seems to be drawings which animators then use computer technology to animate . . . rather than completely CGI creations, like REBOOT, the raw animated material is still illustrated but simply moved around by computer. This grants greater fluidity to motion, and like I said, it makes the completely CGI moments less startling. Since SILVER SURFER takes place primarily in a space, SF environment, too, CG graphics and animation are well suited for images of space, the smoothness of spaceship travel, and other effects.
I also grant that, though again the shadows are too dark, too outlined, the overall visuals of the show are vivid and interesting. The range of alien life, crafts, and environments is pretty creative and stimulating, something a literally down to Earth show like X-MEN never got as much chance to show. I am pleased that, overall, Marvel staples like the Skrull, Kree, and others are drawn accurately.
And overall, Silver Surfer and his supporting crew are written accurately as well. I had heard that they would tone down the Surfer's grand powers, but I haven't seen any of that, really . . . he has all the abilities we have come to expect from him. Galactus is no less a threat here than in the comic, and with only minor variations, Surfer bad guys are treated well. This at least shows their fidelity to the original, and earns the series a C at the very least. It's unfortunate that certain episodes need to be cleaned up for the sake of the series--as when Galactus attacks Earth, but no other Marvel hero is around to do anything about it (?!?)--but it's understandable and forgivable.
I'm impressed, too, that they've gotten several good SF writers, even famous ones, to write episodes for the show. SILVER SURFER is very SF rich, and that's an original spin away from traditional superhero story-telling. But though conceptually original and heady, I still have to point out what I consider severe problems with dialogue, pacing, and character development. It's as if writers can take a cartoon only so seriously . . . dialogue is overdramatic, pacing is frantic (but much less so than SPIDER-MAN), and characters sometimes work--like Pip the Troll, surprisingly--but often fall flat.
One such character is the Surfer himself. THE SILVER SURFER has always been about a spiritual outcast of sorts, someone kept away from his home and forced into ethical dilemmas. I fear, however, that the Surfer has been defined more by his questions--who am I? Where do I belong? Where is my home?--than by who he actually is. In the effort to dramatize torment and a hero's quest, they've forgotten to work on character subtleties and personality traits. I find the Surfer almost boring . . . ask me to describe his character using three adjectives, and I could barely give you even one.
But is this the cartoon's fault? No, it's not, because to my mind, this is how the Silver Surfer has always been. Though Marvel has few truly cosmic heroes, the Surfer has never been fleshed out as a character like Daredevil or Spider-Man have. In general, comics seem to develop characters who are more human while they leave cosmic characters more abstract (compare the animated Superman and animated Batman if you don't believe me). It could be that the great powers simply intoxicate writers--they want to play with the fireworks and forget to do their homework along the way--but more probably, writers have trouble identifying with cosmic characters but have no trouble with the Peter Parkers and the Bruce Waynes. In turn, we have trouble identifying with the cosmic heroes, too.
And Silver Surfer is, pound for pound, one of the most cosmic heroes of them all . . . and his lack of character development unfortunately reflects that. I can't rave about the Silver Surfer cartoon, therefore, because it's still lacking those essentials, and I do believe the show too heavily relies upon graphics and SF plot gimmicks, elements that can never replace proper writing. But those elements aren't exactly bad either-- in fact, they are certainly more than enough to commend the series and stay tuned.
Paul O'Brien is a graduate student in English Literature at San Jose State University. He has a degree in philosophy from UCLA, and has been a comic book fan since 1985.