At the beginning of the year, I
said I’d have a few surprises and new projects in store for you in 2022. This
is one of them: discussing and reviewing audiobooks. I’m a fiction writer
myself and I listen to audiobooks on a daily basis. Audible is my go-to place
for books. I’ll focus on discussing and reviewing books that might cater to
readers of the Harbinger of D.O.O.M. blog and listeners of doom/stoner/metal
music. I’m thinking comic book-related, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy novels. From
Star Wars and Star Trek to Marvel’s line of superhero prose books, for instance.
My pick to get things going is one of Marvel’s reissues of those old novels from the 1970s and 1990s, being published in audiobook format for the very first time. There’s a ton of them slated for release throughout the rest of the year featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, and many more. But first, let me give you a little info on my background with comic books. I collected comics from around 1982 to 1998 (age 7 to 24). I had my very own comic book store for a year back in the ‘90s here in Montreal. I no longer collect comics, nor do I care much about the Marvel cinematic universe. I’ve seen a bunch of the movies, of course, out of curiosity or due to tagging along to the theatre with friends and ex-girlfriends, but I don’t have much interest in them or in what Marvel Comics have become in this day and age. I’m old school and my favorite eras are the Silver Age (1956–1970) and Bronze Age (1970–1985) of comics, no matter how dated, cheesy, or simplistic it might feel to modern readers or someone who was born in the 21st century. This is why when Marvel started releasing those old treasures of out-of-print books on Audible, it got me giddy again to read (listen) to them.
So, yeah, nostalgia is a big
factor here, but also a lot of these books (especially some of the ones
published in the ‘90s) were actually damn good stories written by awesome
writers who were familiar with the Marvel Universe or worked at Marvel Comics
like Peter David, Chris Claremont, Tom DeFalco, David Michelinie, and Greg Cox,
to name a few.
The book I’ll talk about today is
Fantastic Four: Redemption of the Silver
Surfer. Written by Michael Jan Friedman and first published in 1997, the
official synopsis of the book reads like this: “When three of the Fantastic Four are lured into the Negative Zone by
the evil Blastaar, the Invisible Woman enlists the Silver Surfer to help. But
they face an even greater threat: Prodigion, a destroyer of worlds akin to
Galactus, the planet devourer to whom the Surfer was once Herald. Can the
Surfer atone for his past actions with Galactus? And is Prodigion truly a
Negative Zone version of Galactus ... or is the truth deadlier than even the
world's greatest heroes can imagine?” The audiobook is narrated by Andrew Eiden
and was released on February 8, 2022.
Friedman is no stranger to comic
books and genre fiction, having written a plethora of DC comics and Star Trek
novels in the ‘90s. His grasp of the Fantastic Four is solid and this book
feels like a story that could’ve been written in comic book form. You can
easily picture some of Jack Kirby or John Byrne’s wonderful artwork in your
mind as the story unfolds. In order to enjoy this book though, you have to be a
fan of the Fantastic Four, and I’d even argue that you’d have to be partial to
the Silver Surfer as well. There’s a reason why the Surfer figures so
prominently on the book cover—this is a Surfer-centric story, and at times it
almost feels like the FF are supporting characters. There’s nothing wrong with
that if you’re a Marvel fan, but some readers might feel cheated by not having
enough of the very first team of Marvel superheroes show up in their own book.
For the record, the Fantastic Four have always been my favorite superhero team
and I’m especially fond of John Byrne’s lengthy run in the ‘80s. It’s also one
of the reasons why I use their arch nemesis, Doctor Doom, as my avatar on the
blog and on Twitter. Also, this is one of the more spacey FF stories. There
were typically two kinds of stories where Marvel’s First Family was concerned: 1)
tales set in and around New York, on Earth where they fought villains like Doctor
Doom and the Mole Man and, 2) stories in space where they battled Galactus and
the Skrulls which at times felt more like sci-fi comics. Redemption of the Silver Surfer definitely falls in the latter
category.
That being said, this book is a fun
read and has aged better than I had anticipated. In terms of new villains, we
get Prodigion, a similar entity as Galactus (the devourer of worlds) but who
actually does the opposite of what Galactus does, being a life-giver. I won’t
get into details not to spoil it for you, but there’s a nice twist in the third
act. Instead of heralds to seek out worlds for him, he has a group of Outriders.
We also get one of my favorite Lee/Kirby creations, Blastaar, a villain from
the Negative Zone who causes mayhem as usual. Silver Surfer gets into a bit of
a romance in this one, and the FF are portrayed the way we’ve come to know and
love them: Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) is the father figure and scientist
looking for answers, Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), his wife, is always resourceful,
Johnny Storm (Human Torch), Sue’s younger brother, can be impulsive at times
but gets the job done, and last but not least, Ben Grimm (The Thing), the lovable
monster who never fails to provide quotable quips. Andrew Eiden does a terrific
job as narrator; he has a pleasant voice, a good reading pace, and changes his
voice from time to time to depict the different characters.
It’s a simple and
straight-forward story that should satisfy fans of the Fantastic Four, Silver
Surfer, Marvel Comics in general, and even sci-fi enthusiasts with the caveat
that it’s a product of its time and it isn’t as layered and elaborate as what
modern-day readers are used to. If you grew up or were collecting comics in the
‘70s, ’80s, and ‘90s, then I’d wager that you’ll have a blast with this audiobook.
Redemption of the Silver Surfer is a
fun trip down memory lane to simpler times when comic books weren’t as
mainstream and as big a part of pop culture as they are today.
Rating: Four stars out of five
Get your copy on Audible
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