It’s been just about a year since I last covered any release from Marvel. Not for any of the original boycotting reasons that I had been working with previously, but simply because there wasn’t a huge amount piquing my interest. But then the previews came through for a series doing something that I always enjoy: providing a definitive feeling ending for a major character. While many comic characters try to go on forever, seeing the other side of their bookend can create some more interesting stories. It’s why I needed to get into the first issue of Death of the Silver Surfer by Greg Pak, Sumit Kumar, Frank D’Arnata, and Joe Sabino.

Norrin Radd has been away for a while and still carries the regret of his purpose. Despite holding the Power Cosmic, as the Herald of Galactus, he’s responsible for trillions of deaths and hundreds of worlds being devoured. As powerful as he is, he can’t defy his purpose. But what if Galactus wasn’t around any longer? What purpose would the Surfer have without that collar around his neck? For him, it’s stopping a civil war raging on Earth and saving the life of a dying soldier. He has the power to do these things, so why not use them for good? There are, of course, consequences, especially when the Bureau of Alien Neutralization sends Kelly Koh to go after him to help their parent company, Eaglestar, achieve infinite growth for their shareholders.

Infinite growth feels like an ending already, doesn’t it? Even the man looking for it knows it’s impossible, but is still having to do it for financial reasons. While Norrin Radd can’t really die, he can still be exploited. As an alien, he’s a resource for a company to mine as much as it can until there’s nothing left—who cares if it’ll harm anything else so long as there’s money to be made. Even with Galactus gone, that pursuit of capital and growth at the expense of everyone and everything will be the death of us all. With the Power Cosmic, there’s only so much a character like the Silver Surfer can do to save planet with that sword hanging over it. From how things looks now, while this story may be around the death of a character who can’t die, the death may be of the planet he’s trying to protect.

We can see a character stopping wars, bringing people back to life, and trying to save as much as they can, but there’s only so much they can do in the face of systems that profit off of the suffering they’re looking to prevent. The final story of a character—their death, potentially—is usually where their own story reaches its conclusion. But what happens when the story is more about the death of the world they’re looking to protect? It’s less the death of a character and more the death of their purpose—even more so when it’s a character like the Silver Surfer. 

Get excited. Get ended.

Drew Barth (Episode 331, 485, 510, 651, & 674) resides in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida.