The Silver Surfer... so he works

Been thinking about the Silver Surfer.

By me, the Silver Surfer is one of the most incredible ideas in comics, and the whole story is one of the best ones in SF. But the comics keep getting cancelled, and that may be (never saw the last series, but certainly in the case of the Ordure) because they were poorly written.

I can think of a lot of reasons for this - SS is such a powerful character that it is difficult to present him with any challenges. He is doubly alien - a creature at least superficially from another world who has been transformed into one of the most powerful beings Earth has ever seen - so it's difficult to find something human to relate to.

So - how to make stories about him work? What author could do him justice? What illustrator? Should he be soaring the spaceways or confined to earth? What about his relationship with Galactus (still dead?), the FF, etc.? Would he work 'powered down?' Can we just ignore the whole Order thing?

I think Alan Moore could do him well, but I understand he has sworn never to work for Marvel again. How good is Neil Gaiman?

The original stories seemed to work because the SS had a struggle, he had humanity (more than most humans he encountered) and because he was written as a deeply moral person and an outcast, someone frightened and despised despite his almost incalculable power, a true stranger in a strange land. It's difficult to articulate this, but I feel the early SS writing showed the core of the SS myth, the idea in its purest form, and that's maybe what successful future writers have to go back to to make him work.

Is that the way to do him now?

If anyone hasn't read Essential SS volume 1 (probably in a series of one) yet, go do it now. It's brilliant.

BDC.

PS - Ever notice that, like Thor, TSS's power is such that it demands its own grammar, that 'noun adjective' thing? It's always the Power Cosmic, not cosmic power. When he was on earth and disguised as a human being, he didn't wear a Hat Brown.

Very. Go read Sandman now, and see him handle a highly alienated protagonist.

It's possible that the Silver Surfer will show up in his '1602' series.

That's French grammar

Damn right. I would hate to see a powered down SS,as you say his battles should be internal, rather than external. Pwered down so he struggles against, I don't know, Iron Man, he would not be the same character with the same problems, and that's what I want.

I know the Ultimates are not the Avengers, and I can see why it was necessary for the story, but I still didn't like seeing U Thor get whipped by U Magneto and then Colossus, whereas I would normally expect to see him cane the two of them without breathing hard.

Interesting idea about Nocenti, too. Thanks for the reply.