Silver Surfer’s first solo book was cancelled with #18. The final panel promised a “next” that was never written. Here’s what it showed:
In this “untold” story, we learn why Surfer was crazy on the final page of the final issue of his first series. The answer is…Psycho Man. He captures Surfer and puts him in a tube.
Spidey, too.
You get put in a tube! And you get put in a tube!
Everybody’s tubin’!
I think this is the first time Spider-Man had to fight tongs.
Also, a bunch of old people are in tubes.
Their adventure in the microverse eventually leads to Annihilus.
Fun is had by all. Seriously, this was actually a pretty fun read.
If this is supposedly what happened immediately following the conclusion of the Silver Surfer’s classic late Sixties series, ( “The Psycho-Man made him do it!!!” )then I am seriously pissed, and disappointed, because I have waited a full fucking fifty-three years to see what happened next, here!! The Silver Surfer occasionally goes berserk against Mankind in retaliation against his imprisonment on Planet Earth. ( see ‘Fantastic Four’# 72, for instance ) It’s very easy to understand. Telling the Silver Surfer that he cannot leave a single planet is like telling a normal human being with an automobile or a motorcycle that he or she cannot leave town. Of course he/they would freak out. Why do we need to use the ‘Psycho-Man’ ( an idiotic excuse for a villain to begin with ) as a MacGuffin to explain away the Surfer’s justifiable hizzy-tizz?? The fact of the matter is, everybody here on Earth IS always trying to destroy the Surfer!! That would piss ME off, too!! It’s just a good thing that ol’ Norrin is almost all-powerful, because with HIS social luck, without his awesome levels of power, somebody would eventually accomplish it!! As the Surfer is, if anything, more intelligent than 99% of the Terran population, if I were he, I would just simply accept the fact that it is my lot in life to defend this planet against all manner of threats, whether it’s ingrateful population appreciates it, or not. Hey! At least the man has a purpose in life! His PREVIOUS purpose was flying all around outer space finding planets for Galactus to eat!! I would say that “Defender of Earth” is a pretty serious upgrade from his former occupation as Harbinger of Doom!! Sometimes in life, you just gotta count your blessings! At the conclusion of ‘Silver Surfer’ # 18, I always assumed Norrin just flew around, obliterated some military posts, and got confronted by the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and maybe even Dr. Strange, who all had very nice chats with Norrin about his attitude ( after smacking him down, of course ) until he calmed down, and went back on his merry surfing way. After reading this issue of ‘Webspinners’, I believe I am just going to remain with that assumption.