The Silver Surfer #4
Silver Surfer #4 (February 1969) records the first encounter — and first battle — between the Silver Surfer and Thor, a crossover pitting the Power Cosmic squarely against Asgardian might and establishing the template for how two outsized Marvel powerhouses could clash over a villain's deception rather than a genuine grievance. The issue also marks the debut of Sal Buscema as a published Marvel artist, beginning a creative partnership with his brother John that would define the visual identity of the series going forward. John Buscema himself reportedly regarded this issue as the high point of his Marvel work, a striking self-assessment from one of the company's most prolific Silver Age pencilers. The cover — two titanic figures locked in wordless combat on the Bifrost — has remained a touchstone of late-Silver Age design, consistently appearing on retrospective 'best covers' lists.
In "The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny!", the Silver Surfer finds himself caught in a cunning scheme when Loki manipulates him into aiding a plot against Thor. With the god of thunder's power looming and the trickster's motives unclear, the Surfer's instincts tell him something’s off—just as Loki vanishes, leaving him stranded on Earth. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic art by John Buscema, inks by Sal Buscema, and colors by Bill Everett, this 1969 Marvel classic captures the cosmic tension and mystery that define the Silver Surfer’s early adventures. The cover, penciled by John Buscema and inked by Sal Buscema, perfectly captures the issue’s dramatic clash of gods and deception.
In "The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny!", the Silver Surfer finds himself caught in a web of deception when Loki, ever the trickster, manipulates him into aiding a scheme against Thor. As thunder crashes across Asgard and the Surfer battles the god of thunder, doubts creep in—something feels off. Before he can uncover the truth, Loki vanishes with him, leaving the Surfer stranded on Earth, where the real danger may be just beginning.
In a whimsical twist of cosmic scale, the mighty alien warlord Tim Boo Ba reigns supreme—until a single drop of water from a curious Earth boy sends his entire world tumbling into chaos. Narrated by the Watcher, this absurdly grand tale unfolds with quiet menace as a child’s innocent splash becomes the undoing of a galactic conqueror.
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By issue #4, Stan Lee had grown protective of the Silver Surfer as a prestige project, giving the character an unusually generous double-sized, 25-cent format at a time when standard Marvel comics cost twelve cents. John Buscema had grown dissatisfied with Joe Sinnott's inking on the first three issues, feeling Sinnott's bold finishes were overriding his pencilwork; he asked Lee to bring in his younger brother Sal, who had only recently re-entered comics after years in commercial art. Sal's debut inks on issue #4 were uneven in places by his own admission, but John was ultimately pleased with the result, and the two brothers continued as a team through issue #7. The backup story — a retelling of 'The Terror of Tim Boo Ba' from Amazing Adult Fantasy #9 (Feb. 1962), penciled by Howard Purcell and inked by Paul Reinman — was framed anew with the Watcher as narrator, a device the series used throughout to give even its reprinted material cosmic gravitas.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First meeting and first battle between Silver Surfer and Thor, orchestrated by Loki, who tricks the Surfer into believing Thor intends to seize Asgard for himself.
- Marks the first published Marvel Comics work of Sal Buscema, who inked his brother John's pencils at John's specific request, replacing Joe Sinnott beginning with this issue.
- John Buscema reportedly cited Silver Surfer #4 as the personal highlight of his Marvel career, per a Roy Thomas account published in Alter Ego.
- The cover — penciled by John Buscema and inked by Sal Buscema — carried almost no cover text beyond the trade dress, a bold design choice shared that same month with Jim Steranko's Captain America #110.
- The issue is a 68-page giant priced at 25 cents, part of the unprecedented double-sized format Stan Lee secured for the entire early run of the series.
- Cameo appearances include the Hulk, the Thing, Hercules, Zeus, and Tomazooma the Living Totem (the latter a contemporary nod to Fantastic Four #80), plus flashback appearances of Galactus, Mephisto, and Shalla-Bal.
- The backup story, 'The Terror of Tim Boo Ba,' is a retelling — with the Watcher added as narrator — of a Stan Lee/Steve Ditko tale originally published in Amazing Adult Fantasy #9 (February 1962), drawn here by Howard Purcell with inks by Paul Reinman.
- The main story was reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces #4 (March 1980) and has been collected in Essential Silver Surfer Vol. 1, multiple Marvel Masterworks editions, the Silver Surfer Omnibus, Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema, Marvel-Verse: Loki, and the Taschen Marvel Comics Library Silver Surfer volume.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Fantask #3 (1969), L'Incredibile Devil #6 (1970), L'Incredibile Devil #7 (1970), TV21 #66 (1970), TV21 #67 (1971), TV21 #68 (1971), TV21 #69 (1971), TV21 #70 (1971), TV21 #71 (1971), Strange #49 (1974), Planet of the Apes #16 (1975), The Super-Heroes #7 (1975), The Super-Heroes #8 (1975), Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles #[nn] (1978), Nova #7 (1978), Nova #8 (1978), Fantasy Masterpieces #4 (1980), Marvel Strip #8 (1982), Strange Spécial Origines #163 (1983), Mighty Marvel Team-Up Thrillers #[nn] (1983), Grandes Heróis Marvel #16 (1987), Marvel Masterworks #15 (1990), Marvel Klassik #2 (1998), Essential Silver Surfer #1 (1998) + 21 more
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