Behind The Scenes

Written by Andy Mangels

He first appeared in March 1966, in Fantastic Four # 48, a mysterious and sleek figure who, as the text read, was called "the Silver Surfer, for want of a better name."  And yet, there could be no better name for the metallic-skinned man who zoomed through the celestial spaceways, riding aboard an equally metallic surfboard.  By the end of the issue, Marvel fans knew that he was the advance scout for Galactus, a world-devouring alien who had picked Earth as his next meal!

The Silver Surfer proved instantly popular, and was used extensively in the pages of the Fantastic Four and later in his own series.  Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's creation surives strong to this day, still soaring the spaceways, still spouting dialogue that could only be spoken by...well, the Silver Surfer.

Coming in February, the Silver Surfer will conquer a new dimension in his quest for peace and his beloved Shalla-Bal.  After a number of appearances in the recent Fantastic Four syndicated animated series (he did not appear in the FF's 1967 ABC series or the 1978 NBC series), the Silver Surfer will finally be headlining his own regular series on FOX!  Produced by Saban Entertainment, Silver Surfer will have 13 episodes, featuring many of Marvel's most popular space heroes and villains, from Galactus and Thanos to Warlock and Beta Ray Bill.

In the series, the Silver Surfer starts out as Galactus's herald, but quickly turns on his master when he realizes the horrors Galactus brings to the galaxy.  But when the Surfer tries to return home to Zenn-La, he discovers Galactus has hidden it away!  The Surfer must continue searching for his homeworld, using his comic powers to help others as he surfs through space.

Silver Surfer's Art Director is Dale Hendrickson, a talented man who has worked on The Simpsons for the last seven years, as well as on series for DIC, Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and Disney TV, including such super-hero series as Super Friends, New Adventures of Batman, Flash Gordon, and Masters of the Universe.  Hendrickson's job on Surfer is the computer animation producer.  "There was no computer department (at Saban) before I came here.  I built the department," he admits.

So, given the words "computer animation," can we look forward to CGI effects on the series?  "It's more like traditional animation assisted by CGI.  We hope to integrate it.  There's a dimension to it that's not normally there on traditional animation, but it's not a 3-D Reboot type of show either."  Most of the 3-D elements will have a hand-painted look, allowing the CGI elements to be better integrated into the hand-drawn animation.  "Everyone who has looked at it has said that it's like nothing they've ever seen, 3-D or 2-D.  It's just different.  It's a new level...fresher and more dynamic."  Although much of the CGI work will be for space scenes, Galactus will be rendered entirely in 3-D, as will some Kree bikers and soldiers that show up!

The designs of the Silver Surfer will be very traditional.  "We decided very early on that it had to be the Jack Kirby look," says Hendrickson.  "Graphically, it's the look I personally enjoy the most of all the renditions of the Surfer that I've looked at.  We structured the model sheets and drawings to be our version of that, keeping the essence of the Joe Sinnott inking lines and Kirby proportions.  That's for the traditional animation; when we have a 3-D character, we incorporate the Kirby linework as well.  Most of our background space painting is taken lovingly from Kirby comics showing that whole spattered dot thing he liked to do.  We've incorporated that with a very heavy brushstroke kind of look so it's a real strong painterly look."  Oddly, the late Jack Kirby is not given a screen credit on the series for his creation of or design for the Silver Surfer and Galactus.

The storylines for the series will be a mixture of old and new storylines.  "A lot of the older material has been a springboard for the new shows.  They didn't want to simply do comic books; they wanted to do an original series, but they want the flavor and feeling of all the original wokr...capturing the essence of the Surfer's mindset and trauma that's been set up in the comics.  We've really made it his story."  Related to that, the Fantastic Four do not appear in the series at all, even in the opening trilogy of episodes in which Galactus comes to devour Earth.  "We wanted to focus this on the Surfer and his story alone," admits Hendrickson.  "We did modify a little bit of history to bring him to Earth.  He still has his big battle royale with Galactus.  We just found a way to do that without bringing in the other characters."

However, as noted above, other Marvel heroes will show up in the series.  One episode has a whole planetful of Beta Ray Bill's people, plus the hammer-wielding alien himself, while Adam Warlock shows up fighting the Kree in an episode entitled "The Forever War."  Another familiar character is Nova, a replacement herald for Galactus.  "She comes from Earth," says Hendrickson.  "They show how she ends up (as his herald) and allude to her having some kind of mutant gene, which kind of leaves the door open for some elaboration in future episodes."  Nova appears in several episodes, and will develop a crush on the Surfer.

And speaking of future episodes, the producers are already working on specs and concepts for a second season.  "The last script of this season ends on kind of a cliff-hanger," says Hendrickson.  Everyone involved is hopeful that Silver Surfer will get a 26-episode commitment for its second season.  " I think Silver Surfer will revolutionize the look of animation, and hopefully we'll be able to continue.  We feel like we've just touched the surface on these first shows."