576 SIM, DAVE
the challenge of breaking the Surfer’s will. As with many comics characters, the themes
of willpower and moral clarity run deep in the narrative of Silver Surfer. Indeed, it is
Mephisto who desperately wants to corrupt the “courage [.. .] purity [and] lack of mal-
ice” exhibited by the Surfer. Here again Mephisto stands in as a tangible representation
of the baser instincts of human behavior opposed to the ideals of moral clarity.
Stan Lee’s Silver Surfer series also includes the origin story of the Silver Surfer.
Norrin Radd is an impatient scientist/astronomer from the planet Zenn-La, which has
achieved such a degree of scientifi c advancement that all of the wants of its inhabitants
are fulfi lled. Such a culture frustrates young Radd as “the spirit of high adventure
[and] the thrill of exploration” are lost on the contented people of Zenn-La. Anti-
utopian currents run throughout the origin story, as Radd’s individualism continually
comes into confl ict with the communal orientation of his advanced, seemingly utopian
society. As was often the case in the Marvel comics written by Stan Lee, the aliens and
monsters refl ect aspects of human behavior, drawing obvious parallels to the social
movements of the late 1960s. After the cancellation of the original series, the Silver
Surfer made various appearances in other Marvel titles including Fantastic Four and
Defenders. One-shots in 1978 and 1982 were followed by a continuing series in July
1987 that ran until issue #146 in November 1998, featuring the end of the Silver Surf-
er’s Earth-bound exile. Th is series is oriented toward science fi ction adventure, with
less time given to social commentary and introspection. Various subsequent one-shot
and special issues would feature the Surfer as a springboard for social commentary.
Placing the Surfer in the role of a messianic fi gure reaches its high point in Silver
Surfer: Parable, a two-part sequence written by Lee with art by Moebius, published in
1988 and 1989. In this story, addressing wide ranging themes such as religious fanati-
cism; in one scene the Surfer is depicted in a crucifi ed stance, with Lee’s script quoting
“Th ey know not what they do.” Th e depiction of the Silver Surfer in Parable thus takes
the character away from its origins as a Lucifer deifying the destroyer God Galactus.
Instead, his allegorical portrayal shifts to that of a Christlike, self-sacrifi cing fi gure
defending a populace that hates him; at the same time he searches for “an oasis of sanity
in this desert of [human] madness” that can reclaim his faith in humanity. Although
leaving little room for ambiguity, Parable is among the most signifi cant of Lee’s later
works commenting on the overall cultural materialism, social apathy, and religious
narrow-mindedness of 1980s America.
D. R. Hammontree
SIM, DAVE (1956–). A longtime resident of Kitchener, Ontario, Dave Sim is one of
the most successful self-publishers of comic books thus far. Th e creative work Sim is
most known for is Cerebus the Aardvark, a sprawling and often challenging series
published on a regular basis from 1977 until 2004. Prior to Cerebus, Sim contributed
to and published fanzines, as well as creative work, including stories for a variety of
independent publishers, and even a comic strip. Cerebus evolved from Sim’s fanzine
work, beginning as a sort of parody of various popular and, for the time, cutting-edge
