InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "As you wish."

kali921 (kali921) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-06-09 12:26:00

Entry tags:

char: galactus, char: mary jane watson, char: silver surfer/norrin radd, char: spider-man/peter parker, creator: esad ribic, creator: gabriele dell'otto, creator: j. michael straczynski, creator: keith giffen, creator: renato arlem, event: annihilation, publisher: marvel comics, series: one perfect moment week, title: silver surfer

Three Perfect Moments: the Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, and MJ Watson
I see that no one has posted a One Perfect Moment for the Silvery Scion of Zenn-La -- the Sentinel of the Spaceways himself -- that being the divine Silver Surfer.

I am here to remedy this tragic oversight.

I'm going to actually go out on a limb here and say that the Perfect Moments contained in this post are going to have the most beautiful art and writing of any Perfect Moments posted this week. Oh yeah, I went there.

So, the first scans that this post contains, in one seven-page sequence, not one but THREE Perfect Moments for the Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, and MJ.

These first scans come from Silver Surfer: Requiem, that being an out of continuity miniseries that was scribed by J. Michael Straczynski in 2006. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful things ever to appear in the medium of superhero comics; Esad Ribic did the luscious yet simultaneously subdued and highly evocative art, and it perfectly complemented the tragedy of this story. In fact, my understanding is that Ribic painted each and every panel.

I warn you: this story is sad and extraordinarily beautiful. JMS obviously has a huge love for Surfer, and it shows. I don't know anyone who has read SS: Requiem who didn't wind up literally sobbing their eyes out by the end.

Fans of the Spider marriage take note: in retrospect, I have to wonder if JMS knew that Marvel editorial was on their way to ending the Spider marriage when JMS wrote this Surfer mini, because in the context of OMD, the scene I'm posting here reads like a big affirmation of Peter and MJ's marriage and a "f**k you" to the group of people at Marvel that ended it.

Herein are Three Perfect Moments: a One Perfect Moment for the Silver Surfer, a One Perfect Moment for Peter, and a One Perfect Moment for MJ. Actually, let's add another one: it's a One Perfect Moment for Peter and MJ's marriage, too.

Context: Norrin Radd is dying. In this scene, while he's saying his good-byes to Earth before he returns to Zenn-La for his final days, he runs into Peter, and they have a talk.

Norrin wants to give a gift to Earth before he leaves.

And so he does. Oh, boy, he does.

Surfer offers Peter a chance to briefly experience what it is to wield the Power Cosmic.

Peter decides that he'd rather Norrin give that chance to the person he loves most in the entire universe, so Norrin touches MJ with the Power Cosmic and lets her take his board.

Three Perfect Moments: this is why Surfer is a Golden God of compassion and love, why Peter is smart, and why the Spider marriage rocked:

MJ is back a while later:

That is what it means to be the Silver Surfer.

But no One Perfect Moment Post is complete without showing one of the most important figures in Norrin's history, that being of course the Ravager of Worlds.

These next scans are from Annihilation: Silver Surfer. One of the few things that the previous iteration of Scans Daily seemed to universally agree upon was that Marvel's Annihilation crossover was absolutely superbly executed in terms of art, writing, continuity, plot, and pacing.

The Annihilation: Silver Surfer miniseries contained what is perhaps the very best scene between Surfer and Galactus that I've ever read.

Context: shit is hitting the fan all over the universe to the point that Galactus is worried. Norrin finds Galactus to ask for his help (!!!), and the following exchange occurs. It culminates in a page of pure distilled AWESOME.

Two Perfect Moments: Galactus and Surfer. Norrin makes the ultimate sacrifice, and you want to be clearing the area when Galactus *smiles.*

...Yeah, that is freakin' iconic and flat out the essence of what makes both Galactus and Surfer such great characters. Like the above scans from SS: Requiem, it's a perfect alchemy of art and writing.

As if that last page weren't enough, you want to know what happens next? This.

Beat THAT, Scans Daily!

And because this art can never be posted enough, Gabriele Dell'Otto's Surfer:

The first set of scans are from Silver Surfer: Requiem #2 with JMS on writing duties and Esad Ribic on art. The second set of scans are from Annihilation: Silver Surfer #3 with Keith Giffen writing and Renato Arlem handling the art.

(Post a new comment)

	rbenchley 2009-06-09 03:23 pm UTC (link)
	Very nice "perfect moment" selections. That scan with Galactus flashing that shit eating grin is probably my all time favorite Galactus moment (although I'm also fond of his appearance in Silver Surfer 15 where he got into a fist fight with the In-Betweener). (Reply to this) (Thread)

kali921
2009-06-09 03:27 pm UTC (link)

That and Ravenous -- arrogant and rapaciously confident Ravenous -- clasping his head with his hands and cowering when he realizes what Galactus is about to unleash.

But then, as I said above, the entire Annihilation event was just page after page of increasingly brilliant sequences of badassery, beautiful character moments, and masterful plotting and pacing. Man, it was so worth the money I paid for the hardback collections of Annihilation, and I bought the hardbacks AFTER I bought every single individual issue of the crossover while it was unfolding. Just top notch stuff in every way.

Ooooh, that reminds me, there's a Ronan the Accuser Perfect Moment in Annihilation! I must post that, too.

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	freivolk 2009-06-09 03:30 pm UTC (link)
	And they thrown such great moments away, so that Peter can be a "hip" bachelor again who dates different "chicks"? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kali921 2009-06-09 03:40 pm UTC (link)
	Sadly, yes. As if the Silver Surfer deciding to expend almost his very last bit of the Power Cosmic to give Earth five minutes of hope and peace -- five minutes that could be the catalyst for infinite possibilities -- wasn't enough of a coup d'etat in good storytelling, we get that lovely bit between MJ and Peter. And Marvel threw that away. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	midnightvoyager 2009-06-09 06:10 pm UTC (link)
	...weeps. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	joysweeper 2009-06-10 10:55 am UTC (link)
	Don't you know? Lust is a hip young thing. Love is the domain of withered old unrelatable people. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	freivolk 2009-06-10 05:21 pm UTC (link)
	Or so say the old unrelatable people who run Marvel. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	greenmask 2009-06-09 03:35 pm UTC (link)
	The art is interesting and that is a powerful Moment, but please explain to me: Gwen-hair on MJ? ?? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kali921 2009-06-09 03:41 pm UTC (link)
	You'll have to ask Esad Ribic. He drew MJ with straight red hair here, so I'm not seeing the Gwen hair - or do you mean the headband that MJ is wearing? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	greenmask 2009-06-09 03:45 pm UTC (link)
	Black headband and the lighting reeeeally makes it look blonde, not red. What with the wish fulfillment theme, it kind of weirded me out. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kali921 2009-06-09 03:50 pm UTC (link)
	Eh. For me, the sequence is strong enough on its own, a deeply meaningful affirmation of Peter's love for MJ, and if you read the entire issue, it's very clear that Peter is aaaaall about MJ in this micro-continuity. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

greenmask
2009-06-09 03:58 pm UTC (link)

Oh well if you can vouch for context, hurray!

I just hated House of M's "deepest desire = peter/gwen!!" so much, and this seemed like an echo. It seems an odd thing to overlook, the blond+headband being so very Gwen's, y'know?

But like I said. I'm glad I misread. I'll just re-write it in my head as a nod to the MJ-love outshining even superficial similarity to significant dead girlfriends. A super-plus!

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

kali921
2009-06-09 04:13 pm UTC (link)

I can vouch for context. And JMS was still writing 616 Spider-Man at that time, and while I by no means loved everything he did in his run, he DID seem to be a fan of Peter/MJ. Additionally, given that this Surfer miniseries is out of main continuity, if JMS had wanted it to be Petey/Gwen in this mini, I suspect that he would have simply written her into the mini and not bothered to include MJ at all. This mini is very elegantly sparse; there aren't a lot of people crowding up the pages, and JMS used only the characters that he obviously passionately loves. So the fact that MJ is even here? Takes away any creepy Gwen subtext for me personally. I suspect the Gwen vibe that you're getting is due to the way that you're viewing the art, and I don't think that JMS is responsible for the way that Ribic drew MJ or that Ribic secretly hates Peter/MJ or anything. But I totally understand where you're coming from, and agreed about House of M being fraught with fail when it comes to Gwen/Peter being Peter's secret wish.

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	greenmask 2009-06-09 04:16 pm UTC (link)
	Ahh relief. I want to read the rest of the mini now, too. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

kali921
2009-06-09 04:23 pm UTC (link)

Oh, read it. Overall? It's beautiful. Issue #3 digresses a bit, but the last issue, when Norrin returns to Zenn-La? I am seriously warning you: I'd read it in a place where you can sit quietly and stare at the wall afterwards, because it is heartbreaking. Marvel put it out in hardcover, and it's also easily found in other...mediums.

And, again, have tissue handy. JMS isn't pulling punches here. If Surfer has to die, this is the way that I wanted him to be sent off.

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	greenmask 2009-06-09 04:31 pm UTC (link)
	Ooh, movingly human space heartbreak? Everybody needs a bit sometimes! I'll skip the tissues though.. I am not a delicate weeper. Dabbing at my eyes gets in the way of the EMOTION. :D (Reply to this) (Parent)

jlbarnett
2009-06-10 08:34 am UTC (link)

Maybe it's meant as a logical extension thing. Which is something that some of the greatest desires seemed to lack. What I mean is much as he loves MJ and was torn up by Uncle Ben one of his greatest desires would have been to save Gwen, or at least never have her in the position where she would have died. So maybe it goes from there that he felt if she hadn't died they probably would have married.

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	hybrid2 2009-06-09 03:42 pm UTC (link)
	I did'nt like having the surfer back as Galactus herald and now responcible for killing billions of peoples. And hated when he tried to blame he's actions on Skaar,in Skaar son of Hulk. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kali921 2009-06-09 03:45 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I also hated that. It was the one flaw of Annihilation (aside from Gamora's weird characterization in the Ronan mini), and I also detest how Marvel is dealing with the fallout by continuing to have Norrin be the Herald. Annihilation should have ended with Galactus releasing Norrin. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	joysweeper 2009-06-10 10:56 am UTC (link)
	I always like seeing the Requiem scans. (Reply to this)

	proteus_lives 2009-06-10 11:58 am UTC (link)
	Requiem was such a great mini. (Reply to this)