The Good
After reading comics for many years, you tend to see similar stories told over and over. Usually there are enough variations to keep making them fresh and exciting. With this issue of SILVER SURFER, Dan Slott and Mike Allred shake up the story-telling landscape a bit. If you watched our recent interview with Dan, you have an idea how crazy things get and that their storytelling method required eleven extra pages.
Continuing from the previous arc, Silver Surfer has become indebted to a unique civilization of survivors. Because he originally lead Galactus to their worlds, he now has vowed to help them find paradise. That search is not an easy one with the lives of billions on the line. Along the way, we get the usual amazing art and colors by Mike and Laura Allred.
What makes the storytelling different here is the Möbius strip approach in the layouts. You have to read the story in a certain way which eventually leads you to flipping your book and backtracking through the other parts of pages you already read. Don't worry, it's not as confusing as it sounds. It does add to the experience in forcing you to pay attention to the page layout a little more along with the sense of wonder in how you might ever reach the end of the story.
The Bad
One of the things I love about this series is the relationship or interaction between Silver Surfer and Dawn Greenwood. (This doesn't necessarily imply a romantic one). The tension between the two over the outcome of this past story arc is a natural occurrence but it has changed the tone of the book a little. With this story mainly concerning Surfer searching for the perfect planet, there are some moments of repetition, which are meant to be there, as part of the story. There are some minor differences so it's not a matter of simply seeing the same scenes over and over but there is a bit that pulls you out of the story slightly as you already are familiar with parts.
The execution in the storytelling was brilliant but not one we'd want to see used again anytime too soon.
The Verdict
If you think you've seen every type of storytelling in comics before, you haven't read this issue yet. Dan Slott and Mike Allred take us on a visual journey that literally forces you to follow along in the comic in a way you haven't before. Bringing the previous story arc to a close, we are treated to a delightfully new approach to the story that fits in with everything that's going on. It's refreshing to see creators able to try something different. The process might feel slightly like a novelty but it does add some fun and excitement to the story and simply changes the way you read the comic. It forces you to change the way you'd read it. It's a successful experiment that you'll want to check out. Dan Slott and Mike Allred are having too much fun working on this book and that's definitely to our advantage.
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