Exit Stage Left: Silver Surfer #18

Silver Surfer #18 proves that while you can go home again, it may be too late to do much good. The Silver Surfer series was Marvel’s most ambitious project of the late 60s. It was a larger book targeted at a more mature audience. Stan Lee and John Buscema were trying to do something different and while it seemed quite novel at first, the leaden dialogue and ‘villain of the month’ story lines quickly sapped much of the energy out of the series. In an attempt to bring back some of the old magic, Jack Kirby was parachuted in for a showdown between two of his finest contributions to the Marvel Universe – the Surfer and the Inhumans. It’s a decent issue, but nothing truly groundbreaking. I’m not sure what the overall game plan was at Marvel with regard to this series as while a “Next Issue” was announced, so was Kirby’s departure.