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despressolattes · 4 years

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AFTERMATH | CHARACTER FILES

book masterlist » book one masterlist

< previous chapter

I wanted to take a quick break just to reevaluate the character files, from Lilah's point of view. ——————

LILAH RAE MIKAELSON

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

Lilah is an ancient vampire who never got the chance to be a kid, and may be the most messed up of all of the troubled kids at the Salvatore School. From the start, she was living a life someone else chose for her: living with Dahlia because of a choice her grandmother Esther made, living the life of a vampire because of a choice Dahlia made for her.

The only choice she made for herself was to keep her family just beyond reach once she got free, and she grew into the habit of being a side character in her own life. With the aftermath of her father, her uncle, and her cousin's mom's deaths, she has started lashing out in anger, slacking on her studies. She has a history of being a ripper, but has been under control for over 500 years. Unfortunately, from the world she was thrown into, Lilah believes it is her job to make everyone else happy before herself.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

CHILD OF A MIKAELSON — Lilah learned that certain personality traits and behaviors came directly from her bloodline, ill-tempered, stubborn, and unconditionally loyal.

SAVIOR COMPLEX — She believes it is up to her to protect everyone else, even at the expense of her own happiness.

ABANDONMENT ISSUES — With the life she lived, she is scared every new person she meets will leave her one way or another: physically or by death.

DADDY ISSUES — While she refuses to acknowledge it, her everlasting love for her father has caused her to push away a lot of her relationships, including at one point, Hope, and currently, Roman Sienna.

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

Lilah needs to realize that her savior complex needs to be directed inward, and understand that she can't save everyone, but she can save herself.

HOPE ANDREA MIKAELSON

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

Hope Mikaelson may be the most unique of them all. She has grown up knowing she is the mythical tri-brid: part witch, part werewolf, and part vampire - a melage of supernatural lineasges once thought impossible.

Hope used to be unable to forge meaningful connections with the other students besides her cousin, Lilah, but has since formed close friendships with Rafael Waithe, Josie Saltzman, Milton Greasley, and Kaleb Hawkins; she has formed a frenemy relationship with Lizzie Saltzman; and she has found herself a boyfriend in Landon Kirby.

Due to her often disastrous past, she resigned herself to isolation for so long, and has slowly came out of that cave she concealed herself into. She considered it a path would would provide the least heartbreak, but has since decided she was wrong.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

PTSD — Hope suffers from bouts of what she describes as an "inner darkness." She believes this to be a side effect of her childhood possession by the villainous Hollow, but these episodes are just as likely to have been caused by the severe and repeated psychological traumas she has experienced.

DADDY ISSUES — As the child of Klaus Mikaelson, a man who many call 'evil', Hope will have to battle her fear of becoming her father, while holding fast to her love for him and the values he instilled in her: bravery, conviction, perseverance, and loyalty.

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

While she is getting better on the isolation side and the anger issues, Hope has a long way to go. She thinks she knows what is best for people because of her own hurt, and makes decisions that can often hurt people more than help. She has to learn to let people make their own decisions for themselves. Her fear of getting hurt is projected onto them, and she wants to protect them from the pain she feels herself.

Despite her past, she is a powerful young student with great potential. She also expressed the belief that her existence is some sort of "cosmic mistake." Surrendering to this mindset would mean buckling under the burner of her family legacy, and could lead Hope down a dark and uncharted path. As the tri-brid, Hope has the power to change the world, but she must first accept that she has not only the potential, but the willingness to become the hero she was born to be.

ROMAN SIENNA

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

Roman's past dates back decades. His story with the Mikaelsons started when Klaus Mikaelson pities his adopted mother, adopted sister, and himself after killing his adopted father. He lives in consent regret for his help in the death of Hayley Marshall, and loves Lilah Mikaelson fiercely. He tended to sit around quietly during Lilah's fits of isolation, believing that her distance may be a result of a mistrust he put into their relationship when he helped his mother, unknowingly, hurt her family. He is a listening ear for both Lilah and at times Hope, and wants to give back to Alaric, who took him in even after his wrongdoings.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

PTSD — After his father's death and being saved by his adopted mother, he felt indebted to her. He listened to anything she wanted, believing everything she did was good. This lead him down his path of mistakes.

CLASSIC CODEPENDENT — He relied on his adopted mother for acceptance, blindly trusting in her. He also relied on Lilah afterwards, seeking her love as a way to cope with how bad he felt with his mistakes.

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

He has left the Salvatore School to do independent recruiting, which may do him some good. Without being dependent on Lilah to feel less guilty, he may be able to forgive him for the mistakes he made, and also forgive the deceased Klaus Mikaelson for the harm he caused him as a young vampire.

LANDON KIRBY

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

He bounced between foster home to foster home. He has intelligence, loyalty, resilience, thoughtfulness, and charm. He has learned to subsist, on his own, by any means. With the best of intentions, he relies on deception as a defense mechanism to protect himself and those he cares about the most. He seems always on guard, especially since he never felt like he fit in at any of the schools he was at.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

RESILIENT RESPONSE TO TRAUMA — self explanatory

FEAR OF BEING ORDINARY — self explanatory

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

Landon's problems with honesty may continue to affect future relationships and connections with people. With a consistent home and counseling, he may be able to make a huge emotional recovery.

RAFAEL WAITHE

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

Rafael is a charminy, charismatic boy, who is extremely loyal to Landon for sticking around during the hardest moments of his life. While driving, he took a turn too fast, causing the death of his girlfriend at that time, and unlocking his werewolf gene. Rafael's time in foster care resulted in a traumatic childhood and anger issues that he is trying to keep under control. He seems to not be able to talk about his own feelings, and acts rationally.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

SAVIOR COMPLEX — Rafael thinks its his job to stick by Landon at all costs, making sure his foster brother is happy and safe, often times putting himself in danger or hindering his chances at being happy (like the time he left the Salvatore School because they wouldn't keep Landon).

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

His determination to live by the truth causes him to risk heartbreak when he realizes that the standards he has in people in his life cannot be lived up to in a world of supernatural. His feelings can become dangerous as he lacks the ability to act upon them, and can leave him reckless. If he doesn't work on conquering his inner demons and continues to conceal them under the mindset that he has to protect those around him, it'll end him hurting himself with the risk of him losing control of his violent tendencies.

ELIZABETH "LIZZIE" SALTZMAN

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

She has some psychology issues that she is aware of, and is attempting to fix. She doesn't want to hurt anyone, but has trouble controlling her inner voice from becoming her outer voice. She has a sinister lineage and a questionable biology, and posses the power to cause great harm. She has mood swings, can be self-absorbed, and over-possessive, even over things that are not in her possession. She is attached to the superficial and has trouble controlling her breakdowns.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

CHRONIC LOW SELF ESTEEM

SUPERIORITY COMPLEX — she masks her insecurity by pretending to be better than everyone else around her

BIPOLAR DISORDER — her highs are portrayed in ruthless narcissism, but her lows are violent outbursts that can hurt someone, herself or anyone else, if not contained properly

CONTROL ISSUES — she turns it into her job to create something picture perfect out of herself and those around her, always trying to manipulate the situation in her own way.

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

She has to address her image-control issues and accept help for her mental disorder. Otherwise, she will continue down the path she is on, pushing those that she wants to hold onto away.

JOSETTE "JOSIE" SALTZMAN

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

She is supposed to be the level headed of the twins, always taking care of Lizzie. She takes after her biological mother and her father more than her birth-mother, Caroline. She lives in the shadows of her sister in attempt to try to protect her sister from herself. She is quick to protect Lizzie, and always puts herself first.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

CLASSIC CODEPENDENT — She puts everyone else's needs before her own, sublimating her own problems to always be ready to help her sister's inner conflicts.

ABANDONMENT ISSUES — Loss of her biological mom, absentee birth mom, and a father who has divided attention.

FAMILY HISTORY OF PSYCHOSIS

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

She needs to learn to stand on her own, without internalizing her own needs and ignoring them. To live a life that doesn't drain her, she needs to step out of the shadows and not be dependent on being her sister's source of calm.

MILTON GREASLEY

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

Lilah doesn't know him well enough to know

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

Lilah doesn't know him well enough to know

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

Lilah doesn't know him well enough to know

ALARIC SALTZMAN

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

The man who loves the kids he works to protect. He is a father figure to many, providing a safe haven for kids who aren't always safe. His divided attention causes rifts between the two girls he fathered, and the other two who look to him as a father.

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

PROJECTION — the trauma of his past with the supernatural causes him to want to protect the students from it, not allowing them to learn certain things about the world.

GUILT — he is haunted by the legacy of the people he couldn't save, and the sacrifices he had to make along the way to safeguard his school and his children, fearing that the choices will either get the school exposed, or make him lose his children's trust.

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

If he continued to maintain the school alone, he will quickly be in over his head. In the face of increasingly dangerous situations, he must be careful not to keep the secrets from his daughters, and has to be better at dividing his attention from his daughters.

ARIANELLE VICTORIA "N/A"

I. BACKGROUND & BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS

she's a mystery

II. CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

still a mystery

III. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

to be updated as Lilah learns about her

——

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

#legacies #legacies cw #cw legacies #legacies imagines #legacies fanfiction #the originals fanfiction #the originals imagines #hope mikaelson #hope mikaelson fanfiction #mikaelson daughter #mikaelson children #mikaelson next generation

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fencer-x · 5 years

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Hello! I’ve been looking for some good books to read and was wondering if you had any recommendations? I seem to just wander around the bookstore not knowing where to start.

I confess I’ve been reading nothing but fics on fics on fics (Drarry exclusively lol) for a good year now, so I haven’t touched original works in ages, though I have several of the latest installments of my favorite series waiting until I run out of good Drarry fic... (please...god...free me from this hell........)

I’ve made several recommendations for excellent M/M original works (you can always check out my reccs tag for any recommendations as well, though it includes original novels as well as manga and fic). I pretty much only read M/M fantasy (with the very VERY occasional M/M scifi or supernatural book thrown in), so I hope that’s what you’re looking for XD

Here’s a “””””””brief””””””” recap of series I particularly enjoy and go back to reread often, along with details on who might like these books and why. They’re all available via Amazon (most as Kindle reads, but some as paperbacks; some are also available from other sources as well in other formats if you prefer, for example, epub) and at reasonable prices (all but one series are under $10 per book, some under $5).

It is entirely possible you’ve read all of these, since I’ve gushed about them many a time before, and if that’s the case, I apologize I can’t rec you anything new! But maybe it’s been a while if you’ve read these before and it’s time for a reread!

The Lord of the White Hell series, by Ginn Hale - [GOODREADS BLURB: "Kiram Kir-Zaki may be considered a mechanist prodigy among his own people, but when he becomes the first Haldiim ever admitted to the prestigious Sagrada Academy, he is thrown into a world where power, superstition and swordplay outweigh even the most scholarly of achievements. But when the intimidation from his Cadeleonian classmates turns bloody, Kiram unexpectedly finds himself befriended by Javier Tornesal, the leader of a group of cardsharps, duelists and lotharios who call themselves Hellions. However Javier is a dangerous friend to have. Wielder of the White Hell and sole heir of a dukedom, he is surrounded by rumors of forbidden seductions, murder and damnation. His enemies are many and any one of his secrets could not only end his life but Kiram’s as well."]

Read this if you like... magic and science working together, religion-borne racism and the difficulties of interracial as well as interreligious relationships, snarky aristocrats and a good mystery. And read the second book in the series definitely if you liked Yokozawa Takafumi no Baai or Sore Nari ni Shinken nan desu (I've found I really like stories where the rejected third-party from the main series gets his own happy ending, and Book 2 of this series is one such, building an entire new couple with the midway-through-the-story return of Book 1 couple so you get the best of both worlds.)

The Magpie Lord series by K.J.Charles - [GOODREADS BLURB: "Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry. Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude… and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual. Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die."]

Read this if you like...magic and 19th century UK settings and snarky aristocrats who guard their hearts fiercely. The dynamic is fantastic, and the writing itself is gorgeous.

Whyborn & Griffin series, by Jordan Hawk - [GOODREADS BLURB: (Summary of Book 1) “Love is dangerous. Ever since the tragic death of the friend he adored, Percival Endicott Whyborne has ruthlessly suppressed any desire for another man. Instead, he spends his days studying dead languages at the museum where he works. So when handsome ex-Pinkerton Griffin Flaherty approaches him to translate a mysterious book, Whyborne wants to finish the job and get rid of the detective as quickly as possible. Griffin left the Pinkertons after the death of his partner. Now in business for himself, he must investigate the murder of a wealthy young man. His only clue: an encrypted book that once belonged to the victim. As the investigation draws them closer, Griffin’s rakish charm threatens to shatter Whyborne’s iron control. But when they uncover evidence of a powerful cult determined to rule the world, Whyborne must choose: to remain safely alone, or to risk everything for the man he loves.”]

Read if you like... magic and the supernatural and 19th century US settings and Eldritch monsters and mystery and intrigue and adventure and era-appropriate treatment of homosexual relationships but with happy endings (and also couples of all types).

The Nightrunner series, by Lynn Flewelling - [GOODREADS BLURB: "When young Alec of Kerry is taken prisoner for a crime he didn’t commit, he is certain that his life is at an end. But one thing he never expected was his cellmate. Spy, rogue, thief, and noble, Seregil of Rhiminee is many things--none of them predictable. And when he offers to take on Alec as his apprentice, things may never be the same for either of them. Soon Alec is traveling roads he never knew existed, toward a war he never suspected was brewing. Before long he and Seregil are embroiled in a sinister plot that runs deeper than either can imagine, and that may cost them far more than their lives if they fail. But fortune is as unpredictable as Alec’s new mentor, and this time there just might be…Luck in the Shadows."]

Read this if you like... magic, spies, fantastic female characters, adventure, and intrigue. Read also if you love looooong series, as it's complete at 7 books!

Scarlet and the White Wolf series, by Kirby Crow - [GOODREADS BLURB: "Scarlet of Lysia is an honest pedlar, a young merchant traveling the wild, undefended roads to support his aging parents. Liall, called the Wolf of Omara, is the handsome, world-weary chieftain of a tribe of bandits blocking a mountain road that Scarlet needs to cross. When Liall jokingly demands a carnal toll for the privilege, Scarlet refuses and an inventive battle of wills ensues, with disastrous results. Scarlet is convinced that Liall is a worthless, immoral rogue, but when the hostile countryside explodes into violence and Liall unexpectedly fights to save the lives of Scarlet's family, Scarlet is forced to admit that the Wolf is not the worst ally he could have, but what price will proud Scarlet ultimately have to pay for Liall's friendship?"]

Read this if you like... weird twists on old fairy tales with amazing world-building, provided you're willing to put up with a little bit of a slog until the couple really gets on the same page.

Captive Prince, by C.S.Pacat - [GOODREADS BLURB: "Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos, but when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave. Beautiful, manipulative and deadly, his new master Prince Laurent epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country. For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else..."]

Read this if you like... phenomenal skill with the written word (I mean REALLY TOP NOTCH), fantastic characters with real evolution in relationships, amazingly intricate political intrigue (guaranteed to keep you guessing the whole way), enemies-to-friends-to-"I think if I gave you my heart, you would treat it tenderly"-to-...well, I won't spoil things 8D Please note the 'slavery' aspect that is heavily featured in Book 1. There is NO RAPE between the main characters, but there are forced sexual scenes between Damen and another minor character (n.b. minor as in not major, not minor as in a kid), and well, Laurent just isn't a very kind 'master', nor does he pretend to be. This is not your typical 'omg the slave falls in love with the master and vice versa!!' dreck, but do be aware that the first book deals intimately with those themes as Damen must play his part.

Wytch Kings series, by Jaye McKenna - [GOODREADS BLURB: (Summary of Book 1) "Prince Garrik is the Heir Presumptive of Altan, next in line to be crowned Wytch King. There’s only one problem: in order for Garrik to be crowned, he must possess Wytch power of his own, and thus far, whatever power Garrik might possess has shown no sign of awakening. As things stand, it is Garrik’s younger brother, Jaire — a dreamer completely unsuited to wear the crown — who will take the throne after their father. Concerned about the future of his kingdom, the Wytch King demands that Garrik’s power be forcibly awakened. Hoping to protect his brother from the burden of rule, Garrik allows the attempt — with disastrous results. Now, Garrik must learn to control the fiery dragon that rages within him before he destroys everything he loves. Wytch Master Ilya has been alone for years. Learning to control the icy beast slumbering within him has already cost him his family and his lover, and Ilya will never open himself up to that kind of pain again. Summoned to Altan to avert disaster if he can, Ilya has no intention of allowing anyone to thaw the ice in his heart. When he meets Prince Garrik, sparks fly, and Ilya finds himself fighting feelings he thought he'd buried, long ago. Can Garrik’s fire melt Ilya’s icy heart? Or will Ilya be forced to use his ice to quench the flames that burn within Garrik once and for all?"]

Read if you like... DRAGON SHIFTERS. There's really not much more I can say to encourage you to read this series (there are five so far!) other than to say HERE THERE BE DRAGONS, AND LOTS OF THEM, AND HOT GUYS WHO TRANSFORM INTO THEM. The plots are interwoven, with side characters from previous books showing up as MCs in subsequent ones, so you get to see major characters fleshed out, even if not right away.

Mermen of Ea series, by Shira Anthony - [GOODREADS BLURB: (Summary of Book 1) "Taren Laxley has never known anything but life as a slave. When a lusty pirate kidnaps him and holds him prisoner on his ship, Taren embraces the chance to realize his dream of a seagoing life. Not only does the pirate captain offer him freedom in exchange for three years of labor and sexual servitude, but the pleasures Taren finds when he joins the captain and first mate in bed far surpass his greatest fantasies. Then, during a storm, Taren dives overboard to save another sailor and is lost at sea. He’s rescued by Ian Dunaidh, the enigmatic and seemingly ageless captain of a rival ship, the Phantom, and Taren feels an overwhelming attraction to Ian that Ian appears to share. Soon Taren learns a secret that will change his life forever: Ian and his people are Ea, shape-shifting merfolk… and Taren is one of them too. Bound to each other by a fierce passion neither can explain or deny, Taren and Ian are soon embroiled in a war and forced to fight for a future—not only for themselves but for all their kind."]

Read if you like... MERMEN SEX. Again, not much more I can say to encourage you to read this XD There's mermen having sex in mer form, there's mermen having sex in human form, there's just lots of mermen and rather a lot of sex too. But there's also interesting plot! Though lbr if you're going to read this, it's for the mermen XD

#gay fantasy #reccs

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theliterateape · 5 years

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"You’ll Never See His Like Again!": Revisiting Comics Legend Stan Lee’s Best, Most Literary (and Vastly Underrated) Story, The Silver Surfer (1978)

By Jarret Keene

Stan “the Man” Lee is dead, but his creations are alive, pouncing across theaters, game screens, and t-shirts with equal parts vitality and sorrow. Today, Spider-Man and Thor and Captain America and Black Panther and so many others dominate our media landscape to a degree unthinkable 40 years ago when my father bought me The Silver Surfer graphic novel from a B. Dalton inside Tampa Bay Mall.

Back then comics (22-page floppies) were relegated to a single spinner rack in mall bookshops, a gimmick to draw kids into the store so their parents felt obliged to pick up garbage Sidney Sheldon’s thriller Bloodline. But The Silver Surfer didn’t fit in a metal rung; instead it was displayed amidst the regular literary trade paperbacks. Today it is vaguely praised on obscure blogs as being among the very first efforts to push comics into the realm of the literary epic during a brutal moment in the history of the comics industry. Staggering inflation, a crushing 1977 (and then a 1978) blizzard, and rising paper costs nearly sank DC Comics. Marvel, though, endured such challenges with Stan Lee’s relentless cheer, his grace under pressure, his courage to always try something new when everyone else cowered, caved.

In the late 1970s, the U.S. continued to fall apart. There was the ongoing energy crisis, serial killers like Ted Bundy lurked in every shadow, the Jonestown mass suicide played out like a dress rehearsal for a larger and more diabolical event, toxic waste burbled in landfills adjacent to pleasant neighborhoods, and Soviet Russia rattled its nuclear saber. You wouldn’t know this from reading Marvel Comics, every issue offering a column called Stan’s Soapbox, wherein Lee waxed passionately, positively, and with the eloquence of a poetry-reading pitchman, about what was forthcoming from “the House of Ideas.”

Today Marvel is an idea-resistant shell of the company Lee built and oversaw, a house of ideology teeming with dour, OMG-chirping social-justice superheroes (gay mutant Iceman, lesbian Latinx warrior America Chavez, Muslim teenager Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, female cancer-stricken Thor). Instead of debuting new characters, the current editorial team is content to reverse race and flip gender of, and add a dash of disability to, classic characters. In its prime, though—and starting in 1961 with the first issue of Fantastic Four — Marvel excelled at depicting authentic outcasts who felt a fierce responsibility to protect even those who hated them, feared them, wanted them dead. Lee’s characters — which he co-created with Jack Kirby, the artist who visually defined comics for an international audience — didn’t nurture wounds of identity and grievance; they waged their internal battles on a mythic scale. In the same way Oedipus confronted the ignorance of his birth, in the same way petulant Achilles struggled to overcome his narcissism, so did hapless high school reject and science nerd Peter Parker combat his own teenage doubt and ego and feelings of inadequacy.

Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962) containing the debut of Spider-Man, is arguably the single greatest and most important comics story ever written, its 11 pages defining not just the Marvel superhero but also the last half-century of U.S. comics. “With great power comes great responsibility” wasn’t merely an inspirational and moral slogan; it was also a metaphor for American exceptionalism, which could only result in senseless death (like, say, the murder of Peter’s uncle, Ben) if not applied toward just and proper ends. Parker is spoiled, his own worst enemy. He’s a purveyor of fake news, taking photos of himself in action as Spider-Man and selling them to the Daily Bugle to cover the cost of college tuition. We love Parker for his flaws, though, and for his commitment to overcoming them. We cherish his humanity even as we’re thrilled by his brawls with violent predators like Kraven the Hunter, bulky crime boss Kingpin, hideously armed Doctor Octopus.

The Silver Surfer isn’t human like Parker. The Surfer is carved from the “doomed messiah from beyond” mold a la Superman (or Beowulf or Jesus). But he isn’t adopted as a baby and given a Midwest upbringing. He is a silver-skinned alien riding a floating board, arriving on Earth to determine if it’s suitable for his planet-eating master Galactus. Lee and Kirby made a wise choice in never pinning down the exact size of this god of interstellar death, who, like the Surfer, was first introduced in the pages of Fantastic Four #48–50 (1966). That three-part story is a must-read, yes, but then, a decade later, Lee and Kirby collaborated on a 100-page retelling of the Surfer-and-Galactus saga, only this time the superheroes were removed, leaving just the god and his fallen angel. The result is a romantic, philosophical, and artistic statement that outstrips everything else Lee and Kirby collaborated on prior — which is saying a lot. It is also the last major work either of them would produce for Marvel, or for any company thereafter.

Today Marvel is an idea-resistant shell of the company Lee built and oversaw, a house of ideology teeming with dour, OMG-chirping social-justice superheroes

The Silver Surfer was published by arrangement with Fireside Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster in New York known for publishing a famous chess book. Based on a Kirby sketch, the cover is by artist Earl Norem, known for painting the covers of men’s adventure magazines and more than a few Marvel mags (like Savage Sword of Conan). Indeed, the painted cover gives the book literary gravitas. The interior art is all prime Kirby, with eloquent inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Glynis Wein (first wife of the late Len Wein, who created Wolverine). The Silver Surfer is a feast for a comics-lover’s eyes; my battered copy still radiates visual power. But it’s the heartbreaking story and dialogue that set this effort apart from anything else in the history of comics and in the bibliography of Lee and Kirby.

Here the protagonist must choose between living forever to serve a devourer of worlds, or else die alongside eight billion earthlings to be rejoined with the obliterated love of his life, lovely and golden Ardina. In The Silver Surfer, Lee gives us a hero who sells his soul to the devil so as to thwart a holocaust and save a populated globe. He only meets a few dozen — many of who attack him physically. But he understands their potential to grow beyond their limitations. It’s not a story in tune with the 1970s, that post-Vietnam, post-JFK, post-Watergate era during which Marvel delivered dark, humorous characters like Ghost Rider. No, this was something else entirely.

The opening splash page is the closed fist of the planet-eater: Behold! The hand of Galactus! Behold! The hand of him who is like unto a god. Behold! The clutch of harnessed power — about to be released! The tone here is elevated, serious, Lee is writing in a style that evokes the Old Testament of the King James. The second page is a splash, too; in it, the mitt of Galactus opens and from it erupts the Surfer, who “streaks through the currents of space — ever-seeking, ever-searching — for he alone is herald to mighty Galactus.” The image is the visual distillation of an artist’s self-confidence, his arrogance. After all, doesn’t every artist believe himself to be God as he manipulates his characters, his images, to suit his imaginative fancy? It’s also a breathtaking rendering of a big bang, or a biblical birth of the universe, without a benevolent designer in control. Here the god of the universe is a destroyer.

The universe seems endless and infinitely alluring to this mysterious star-wanderer, who yearns for his own homeworld, Zenn-La, lost to him forever for reasons Lee doesn’t initially explain, but we presume Galactus ate it.

The Surfer enters the atmosphere of “a verdant sphere” unlike any he’s seen before. Soaring high above the streets of New York, he doesn’t hide from view. He is fascinated by the fear in the eyes of people, noting “how it is always the young who are the first to accept — and to trust.” He sees a woman who reminds him of Shalla Bal, a woman the Surfer loved on his own world. Haunted by her memory, he pursues this woman through the alleyways of Manhattan while imagining a conversation with this Shalla Bal lookalike. We learn that, years ago, the Surfer sacrificed his mortal body to Galactus to save Zenn-La from destruction.

Finally, the woman abandons him to his painful recollections… and then Galactus suddenly appears in a whirlwind of crackling energy, ready to devour Earth.

He congratulates the Surfer on a job well done and articulates in excruciating detail how he plans to sate his appetite: “Here shall I drain the gently rolling seas. Here shall the bountiful land yield to me its gift of life.” It is an impending act of reverse creation, a backward Genesis. But the herald of Galactus isn’t having any of it. When the Surfer fails to convince his master that the price of eight billion souls is too high, he lashes out at Galactus with “the power cosmic,” using it seal the destroyer in a concrete cocoon. It doesn’t hold Galactus for long. Disgusted, the world-eater blasts the Surfer from the sky, cursing the herald to live amidst “the dunghills of man” for a spell in order to ponder his mistake. Then Galactus disappears.

The Surfer recovers from his fall, then disguises himself by altering his appearance to resemble a male fashion model from a billboard. He wanders the city with admiration for its denizens until muggers approach him in Central Park. The Surfer shoos them away with a pyrotechnical display, then pledges to walk around without hiding his identity; concealment did nothing for him anyway. Meanwhile, we witness Galactus gorging on a planet in another solar system. Sated, his thoughts turn toward his missing herald. What can Galactus do to make the Surfer submit? The world-eater’s counsel, a sniveling Master of Guile, advises Galactus to provide the Surfer — our alien Adam — with an Eve, someone to betray the Surfer’s heart.

And so beautiful Ardina enters the picture. She sneaks the instantly smitten Surfer beyond Earth’s atmosphere, and they share in the pleasures of the spaceways. Floating now on a patch of green ringed with bright flowers in a neighboring galaxy, our hero is tempted to give up his standoff with Galactus. In the same way Dido tempted Aeneas to give up his destiny to found Rome, so does Ardina begin to entice the Surfer to submit to her — and by extension Galactus. He refuses, says he’s willing to die to save Earth, and so Ardina leads the Surfer on a journey into human darkness. “You will perish for a worthless cause,” she warns. She shows him “brutal images, a morbid montage of heart-rending scenes filled with carnage and strife.” Domestic violence. A child killed by a hit-and-run driver. A mass execution. Bombed ruins of a once-thriving city. The Surfer is jarred but not dissuaded.

And then something interesting happens: Ardina, designed to coldly seduce the Surfer to make him betray his convictions, ends up feeling a warm love for him.

So much so that when the Surfer, driven mad from having set foot inside a suburban home where the walls seem to be closing on him:

The ceiling — almost touching my head! No room to move! No place to soar! I see no sun — no sky — no endless reaches of rolling space! Wherever I face — wherever I turn — I am surrounded by smothering objects! Shelves and books! Pictures, clocks, and lamps! Chairs and drapes and shuttered windows! But where is the sky? Where is the cold, crisp touch of rolling space? Where are the hills, the seas, the nourishing stars in endless profusion? Without them I perish!

Interestingly, the aspect of humankind that nearly causes the Surfer to surrender his mission is man’s stultifying existence inside tract-housing boxes.

Troubled by the experience, the Surfer races to escape Earth’s atmosphere. Riding bitch, Ardina screams: “The barrier! You have forgotten the barrier!”

The Surfer falls to Earth while Ardina re-materializes before Galactus inside his giant space vehicle. She admits she has failed. She confesses her love for the Surfer. Displeased, Galactus recalibrates her cloned body for one last mission. A mission that involves shattering the Surfer’s heart.

Meanwhile, the Surfer continues to be attacked by various humans. He is shot at, shackled and hammer-smashed, then the U.S. military blasts him with an ultra-sonic cannon, which nearly kills him. Ardina consoles him for a moment, kisses him, telling the Surfer she is with him and by his side, even after death. Which is when Galactus dissolves her into dead particles using a matrix-drone.

Now Galactus asks the Surfer to again join him in scouting the universe for other edible planets. It’s the only way Earth can be saved. The command is agonizing, for what Galactus offers is a living hell. To save Earth, the Surfer must cast off death, the ultimate escape and the one chance he has at being reunited with Ardina. But as the Surfer himself says: “Never was there a choice!”

The curse of immortality at the cost of true love is a familiar idea in ancient epics. The sea nymph Calypso offered Odysseus eternal life, but he refused it in order to be with his wife Penelope. But the Surfer has no options; he can’t be selfish enough to die and thus doom the Earth. What makes him a hero is his refusal to surrender and his willingness to embrace the agony of existence, of enslavement. He must deny himself every exit for humans to live on until they hopefully change themselves for the better. They must have a chance; the Surfer and Galactus give them one.

The Surfer returns to the gauntlet of Galactus, disappearing within the destroyer’s fist.

✶

In this story, there is no Fantastic Four. No cameo appearances by Lee and Kirby. No clever narrative captions. Just the purest narrative of a hero fighting for an ideal, for the steadfast belief in our ability to one day rise above our petty evils, our arrogance and wrath. Lee wrote so many masterpieces of comics literature, but this one is his best because it best speaks to the principle he and his characters lived by: Never succumb to nihilism and despair. Never forget that we are similar in our anxieties and weaknesses, and that our individual identities matter less than our collective aspiration to improve our world and the lives of the people who inhabit it.

It’s a moral stance that today remains obscured by Internet social-justice frothing and the political insanity of being ruled by a reality-TV star. But the embers of Lee’s views are there for anyone to ignite and carry forward. Make no mistake: the world is poorer now without Lee. As the blurb on The Silver Surfer ’s back cover announces: “You will never see his like again!” We can, however, always see Lee’s passion and his love for humanity — for life! — in the work he and Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko and others left for us to enjoy.

Lee didn’t need to die for our sins. He endures, and so will we.

Never was there a choice.

Jarret Keene is an assistant professor in residence in the English Department at UNLV, where he teaches creative writing and ancient and medieval literature. His fiction, essays and verse have appeared in literary journals such as New England Review, Carolina Quarterly, and the Southeast Review. He is the author of several books and editor of acclaimed short-fiction anthologies. He is currently working on a critical biography of comic book legend Jack Kirby.

#Stan Lee #Silver Surfer #Marvel Comics #Comics as literature #Silver Surfer First Appearance

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