Writer Gerry Conway was on his way out, to be replaced by the far-superior Roy Thomas. However, Thomas had punctuality problems. So, to help him with his deadline, Len “I created Swamp Thing” Wein signed on to cowrite these three issues.
There’s very little new ground trod here, but it isn’t an awful story. It starts with Silver Surfer again coming after the F4:
We learn the reason is that somehow Dr. Doom got a hold of Shalla-Bal, Norrin Radd’s true love.
Shalla has CRS, though (Can’t Remember S#it). She kisses chrome dome hoping it will jar something loose.
It doesn’t, though, and in the end we learn Mephisto was behind it all. The Fantastic Four really aren’t necessary to this story at all. But it’s not bad as a Surfer tale.
Len Wein (#155 and 156), Roy Thomas (#156 and 157), Rich Buckler
I liked it. I thought it was epic. It contained all the great FF/Surfer/Dr. Doom “tropes”, to use a term that has seemed to come from nowhere, and everybody in Hollywood is trying to get their turn at using. The thing I liked most about this trilogy is how well it underscored that, even though the Silver Surfer is arguably the most powerful being on this planet, it just doesn’t seem like a lot of fun to be the Surfer. He’s constantly battling all manner of evildoers and alien invaders on behalf of a world that fears, mistrusts, and hates him, simply because he IS so powerful, and so far above humanity. ( he’d be a good fit for the X-Men ) His biggest problem by far is being constantly plagued by Mephisto, who will always do so as long as the Surfer remains marooned on Earth. ( Mephisto’s realm of influence seems to be limited to Planet Earth ) Nevertheless, he still manages to spirit the lovely Shalla Bal to our world, to use as a pawn in his latest sinister scheme to win the Surfer’s soul. Shalla herself seems to have nothing to do in this arc but to play the damsel in distress. ( which she does well- a breath of fresh air in contrast to the relentless wave of uber-liberated “Claremont Chicks” on the way ) This arc was the last great story featuring Medusa and the Human Torch’s celebrated and lamented red costume, so it holds a fond place in my memory for that reason as well. It seemed to me that a loooooooooooooooooong time had transpired between 1971 and 1974-5, so the return of the Doomsman from 1971 was quite a bit of a pleasant surprise. This story is also notable for having established that Galactus had implemented at least one extra back-up safeguard to prevent the Surfer from escaping the Earth, a story-point that was totally ignored in the premiere issue of Norrin’s second series in 1987. It has always seemed to me that Galactus went to an awful lot of work to create all these measures to keep the Surfer from escaping the Earth when all he really needed to do was to completely eliminate ALL the Surfer’s superpowers- just turn him back into Norrin Radd!! That would be punishment enough, not to have all this staggering cosmic power to defend himself against everything and everyone here on Earth! Of course, following that, if old Norrin could hitch a ride somehow back to Zenn-La, ( unlikely- Earth doesn’t possess that level of space-travel technology in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries ) that would be entirely up to him! Galactus doesn’t strike me as completely unfair or unsporting. I disagree with Mr. Ekko’s assertion that Roy Thomas is a superior writer to Gerry Conway. They’re both legendary in their respective abilities, but Conway possesses a talent for writing that is sheer Shakespearean in it’s scope. I hesitate to critique Thomas at this point for any reason, considering how elderly he is by now. I love the old guy, but he’s Stephen King and Gerry Conway is Ernest Hemingway, n’est ce pas? Anyway, for all these reasons and more, I really enjoyed this mid-Seventies excursion into FF/Dr.Doom/Silver Surfer magnificence! Word up!