Silver Surfer: Sentinel of the Spaceways

On thisisnthappiness.com I saw this really cool series of Super Silhouettes, but one caught my eye- the awesome Silver Surfer, silently patrolling the Universe:

10 Superhero Posters 

by Marko Manev

If I had to pick, The Silver Surfer is probably the superhero whose powers I'd choose to have.  

As a cosmic being with abilities far beyond most humanoid characters, the experience would be one that's hard to even imagine... I'd just want to avoid dealing with Galactus.

For the record, my runner-up choices would be to have Green Lantern & obviously Superman's powers. However, I'll stick with my choice to wield The Power Cosmic.

From the Marvel Wiki :

The Power Cosmic: The Silver Surfer possesses the Power Cosmic which is the core from which his other abilities manifest from. This power was granted to him by Galactus, making Norrin one of the absolute strongest and most powerful beings in the Universe.

• Matter Control/Manipulation and Reconfiguration / Energy Emission and Absorption: The Surfer has complete control of the four fundamental forces of the universe, reaching nearly any effect he desires. As a result, the Surfer can rearrange matter to create other configurations and can even transmute elements. The Surfer can channel beams of energy through his hands with sufficient destructive force to destroy planets ^[20][21], and pierce stars. Additional abilities include erecting force fields, phasing through solid matter^[22], accelerating the evolution of lifeforms on a planet-wide scale ^[23], seeing the past by peeling back the layers of time, time travel ^[24], trans dimensional travel, manipulation and discharging of any form of energy or radiation, bestowing limited cosmic powers to others, reading minds ^[25], casting illusions ^[26], and influencing human emotion and sensation ^[22]. The Surfer also possesses the ability to suppress the powers of other mutants/beings making them temporarily or permanently out of use to them. He can heal living beings even if they are near-death^[22]. He cannot, however, raise the dead.

• God-like Strength: The Surfer possesses almost limitless superhuman strength, though the exact magnitude remains vague. He can lift (press) far in excess of 100 tons effortlessly and can also use the Power Cosmic to increase his strength to incalculable levels^[27].

• Invulnerability: The Silver Surfer's silvery "skin" was designed to easily withstand the rigors of deep-space travel, and thus far, it has proven to be virtually indestructible. In fact, his entire body was made highly resistant to injury and he is thus invulnerable to almost all types of physical harm. The Silver Surfer can easily withstand the crushing pressures of a black hole ^[28]. He is not bothered by the friction associated with atmospheric re-entry, and has withstood plunges into stars^[29] and even supernovas unharmed. He also routinely weathers the stresses associated with high-speed travel through space and hyperspace.

• God-like Stamina: The Surfer's highly enhanced musculature generates no fatigue toxins, nor body stress, or even sweat, granting him inexhaustible physical stamina, which allows him to fight other beings for prolonged periods of time before tiring, that is if he even gets tired.

• Hyperspace Travel: By exceeding over 99% of the speed of light (186,272 miles per second), the Silver Surfer can shift himself into hyperspace, a dimension in which velocity is not limited by the speed of light^[22].

• Cosmic Senses: The Silver Surfer has certain cosmic-energy enhanced perceptions which enable him through concentration to become aware of the patterns of energy anywhere in the world^[30]. These abilities allow him far-ranging vision (in space he can see people clearly over a light year away), the ability to see sub-atomic particles, superhuman hearing, the ability to detect fields, traces, and concentrations of pure forms of energy and discern their natures^[31].

• Cosmic Self-Sustenance: The Silver Surfer does not need to eat or breathe since he absorbs life-maintaining cosmic energy directly through his skin.

Here's a more lavishly detailed image of the "Sentinel of the Spaceways", by Joe Jusko:

The Silver Surfer by John Gallagher

I've posted before about one of my favorite fictional characters, The Silver Surfer.

I came across these awesome illustrations of the wielder of the Power Cosmic by artist John Gallagher. This image really gives a sense of this power that gives him the ability to travel throughout the Universe at faster-than-light speeds. 

 These images are from his DeviantArt page. I'm telling you, look through his whole gallery- it is absolutely amazing:

DeviantArt:

uncannyknack

Here is the link to his website:

Uncannyknack.com

This illustration shows The Silver Surfer with the even more powerful, nearly immortal being who created him, The Devourer of Worlds, Galactus.

Silver Surfer's Solitude

The Silver Surfer was always one of my favorite comic book characters. Besides his awesome cosmic powers, he has the ability to travel in hyperspace throughout the Universe.

I saw this incredible image of the Silver Surfer floating through interstellar space, & it kinda blew my mind. I never considered the extreme level of solitude that he would experience if he stopped to float in the directionless void.

It's hard to imagine the feeling of floating through space completely alone, not being anywhere within light years of another living being, or even another celestial body. I guess if you knew you could just use faster-than-light travel to get anywhere you want, it wouldn't be too scary. Still, there would have to be some sense of existential dread from the sheer magnitude of the situation.

Anyway, I thought it was a great image- although I don't know the source (despite searching for it). It's one of those pictures you can get completely lost in.  

Left-Handed "Silver Surfer Syndrome"

I saw this pic on The Chive & immediately had flashbacks to my grade school art classes.

As a left-hander, the unavoidable smearing from pencils & erasable ink pens drove me nuts. I eventually began placing another piece of paper under my left hand while writing.

Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if I had seen it as a transformation into one of my favorite characters, The Silver Surfer.

Crossroads of Infinity, by Jack Kirby

This awesomely psychedelic comic book panel is from Fantastic Four #51 (1966), by legendary artist Jack Kirby.

 "I've done it!!

I'm drifting into a world of limitless dimensions!!

It's the Crossroads of Infinity--

The junction to everywhere!"

Using experimental collage techniques, Kirby was trying to visually convey the inconceivable experience of multi-dimensional awareness.

I was never really a fan of the FF comics as a kid, but it was where Jack Kirby introduced my favorite character, the Silver Surfer.

For some very interesting articles about Jack Kirby's work & special brand of pop-culture mysticism, check out the links on The Secret Sun blog.

The Struggle of Lefties

I write & draw with my left hand, and I always took pride in being left-handed. In the conformist atmosphere of school, "lefties" were seen to be different- which suited my creative personality just fine.

The only major downside I experienced with being left handed is the smearing of ink or pencil lead every time I try to write something. When using a lead pencil, this smearing is called "Silver Surfer Syndrome".

When I was in school & used erasable ink pens,the side of my hand would be smeared with ink & my paper would be a mess. I had to use another piece of paper, under my writing hand, as I went down the page to prevent smearing.

It was extremely annoying, & one of the reasons I prefer making art or writing on the computer. In college, all the computers in the lab had the mouse on the right side.

Therefore, I just ended up learning to use my right hand for the computer mouse. As a professional designer, I still use my right hand with the mouse! So, I guess I'm actually ambidextrous!

The Avengers movie

This weekend I went to see Marvel's "The Avengers" in 3D & it was pretty awesome. This is going to be a geek-tastic post, but I have to rave about this film a bit.

Marvel's The Avengers Trailer 2 (OFFICIAL)

When I was a kid, I collected comic books- but never had any issues of The Avengers. I was familiar with these and most of the other Marvel & DC characters, though. This movie made excellent use of the iconic heroes that make up the super team.

I'm very critical when it comes to most creative works, because I can usually think of a better way to do it. Only recently have superhero action movies gotten to the point where I think they are produced properly.

The Superman movies from the 80's seemed cheesy to me. I thought Tim Burton's version of Batman was ok back when I was 12 years old, but the sequels were garbage.
More recently, DC has been improving the quality of their movie franchises. Batman Begins was very cool, but Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight was horrible & The Dark Knight Rises looks like it's going to be crap. Bane & Catwoman look like they've been handled all wrong & Christian Bale's voice when he's Batman is unbearably annoying. I saw & really enjoyed The Green Lantern recently. I was glad that they did justice to one of my favorite comic characters.

As for Marvel movies, I really liked the X-Men movies & the Wolverine spin-off was done well. The Spider-man movies were good, but the portrayal of his arch-nemesis Venom in Spider-man 3 was weak. I don't really care for the Fantastic Four & haven't seen those movies. Even though The Silver Surfer was one of my favorite characters, I refused to see the Fantastic Four sequel when I learned that the planet-devouring Galactus was going to be some kind of nanobot cloud.

The individual movies leading up to The Avengers have all been solid films in their own right. They all came together to make a truly kick-ass movie that even my critical eye can find few faults with. The way that Marvel has worked to interweave all these separate stories into one overall thread has been brilliant.

• Iron Man has the benefit of the best casting decision ever, with Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark. The state of computer graphics is finally at the point where the portrayal of the mech suit is believably realistic & looks amazing.

• I thought the digitally rendered Hulk looked 'off' in his previous movies, but he was much improved in The Avengers.

• Thor would have been a really cool movie if Natalie Portman & her character didn't ruin it.

• I haven't seen the Captain America movie yet, since I've always thought he was really lame. Chris Evans is a convincing Capt. America, though, that is true to the character.

Cap, The Hulk, & Thor are all being handled infinitely better than the ridiculous attempts made in the 80's.

"The Incredible Hulk Returns"

"Captain America" (1990)

As for The Black Widow, she's played by Scarlett Johansson... so..... that's all there is to say about that!

Loki was a decent villain for The Avengers, but the Asgardians (Loki & Thor) seemed pretty vulnerable for god-like beings. It was funny when The Hulk gave an unsuspecting Thor a taste of his strength, though.

The Avengers had some well-placed humor, eye-popping visuals, an exciting story, superb casting, and everything that should be in a great superhero movie. Like most people, I left the theater going "Wow!" & freaking out over all the amazing details. I give it my highest recommendation, whether or not you like superhero movies.

The excellence of this film was topped off with a final teaser scene, shown after the first set of end credits. The Marvel Film Universe is about to get a whole lot bigger & crazier!

To see the spoiler, highlight the text below:

The scene showed the alien who  kneeling before an unseen figure on an asteroid in space. The alien said something to the effect that "battling with the humans would be courting Death." That's when I thought... "no way!!!"... before they showed 'the mad Titan' Thanos turn towards the camera & grin. I hadn't read any spoilers about this scene. However, I said right before it that the only way Marvel can build on something bigger would be to use a storyline like The Infinity Gauntlet series I read when I was a teenager. They are clearly going to bring the entire Marvel movie lineup (The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Spider-man, & The X-Men) together to face off against Thanos & the Infinity Gems. Based on Marvel's track record so far, it is going to be completely awesome!

At least the official Avengers movie turned out better than this:

"Thor" Movie Review

I had a fairly eventful weekend. Sunday, I went with my brothers & one of their girlfriends to see the new movie about the Marvel character based on the Norse god of thunder- Thor.

Thor Trailer

Although I was interested in the mythologies of different cultures when I was a kid, the Thor comic book character was not really one of my favorites.
I collected titles like the X-men, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Batman, & Superman.

Playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance gave me a newfound respect for the Son of Odin. In the game Thor's given a deservedly superior amount of power to smash the crap out of enemies.

Rating:
The movie was a solid "7" in my opinion & I enjoyed it.
It would get a better rating if there was less emphasis on the silly love story revolving around a temporarily mortal Thor & Natalie Portman's character. It was just overly corny & took away from Thor kicking ass.

We were joking about how Portman ruins the heroes of all the movies she's in, like Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars.

The adaptation of Thor to a movie was otherwise pretty good. The special effects & sound were awesome. The visuals & costumes were all cool, too. I also liked the explanation of the viking realm of the gods, Asgard. as an advanced race with power over space-time warps & other crazy technology.

I'd recommend it, unless you're a weirdo who hates superhero movies.

Personally, I'm more interested in the Green Lantern movie coming out- though I'm not a fan of the choice for Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, nor the overly-detailed suit & bright green mask...

Green Lantern Trailer 2 (2011) HD

Game Review: "Batman-Arkham Asylum"

"Batman: Arkham Asylum"

When I was young, I used to collect many different comics- X-Men, Superman, Silver Surfer, Spider-man, etc. Even though Batman didn't have the awesome superpowers the other heroes had, his use of technology, trained skills & the dark mood of the comics has made him one of the timeless comic brands.

Compelling Batman graphic novels like "Killing Joke" & "Dark Knight Returns" changed my perceptions of comic book stories as a kid & of the Batman character specifically. Heroes weren't necessarily morally righteous 'good guys' with clear moral boundaries.

In the spirit of this more complex view of the world of superheroes, Batman: Arkham Asylum delivers an experience as close to being the Dark Knight as technically possible. It is simply an outstanding game that captures every aspect of the twisted world of Batman & his villains.

The game trailer gives a good visual summary of the game:

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Official Launch Trailer

I actually finished the game a few weeks ago, but I've been occasionally playing the dozen Challenge Mission levels that are unlocked. These are short levels where you either have to rack up points by beating up waves of enemies, or stealth missions where you have to defeat all the enemies & complete ambush objectives without being detected.

There are so many cool features in this game I don't even know where to start. The graphics are perfectly detailed & provide the dark mood you would expect to surround Batman while he's trapped in a old asylum full of evil lunatics.


The game fully covers all of Batman's abilities: physical superiority, intellectual detective work, & technological prowess. The way these are employed & work together really make you feel like a superhero- despite the very human vulnerability to gunfire that is ever present, which often forces you to stay in the shadows.

The most useful feature is Batman's 'Detective Vision' that allows you to basically switch on enhanced X-ray view of your surroundings. You can see the skeletal outlines of enemies through walls & obstacles, allowing you to create a preemptive strategy for how to take out enemies so you can proceed.


As you go through the game, you get all kinds of awesome gadgets. These are not only for offense, like different batarangs. There are also devices that allow you to reveal & explore parts of the extensive Arkham Island that were previously inaccessible.

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Gadgets

Being Batman himself is awesome, but the familiar villains encountered often steal the show & make this game the roller coaster experience that it is. The Joker is voiced by Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, like he is in the TV cartoons. This might seem a weird choice, but he is absolutely perfect.

The appearance of the game's many arch-villains are all actually perfect, in my opinion. The Joker though, is exactly how I would envision him, unlike the horrible 'disheveled hobo' appearance of Heath Ledger's Joker in "Batman: The Dark Knight" movie. Jack Nicholson & Heath Ledger's movie Joker characters both sucked.

Besides The Clown Prince of Evil, the other characters are also evil & deranged almost to the point of being intimidating. Fighting the enormous Bane, running frantically through the sewers to escape from Killer Croc, & trying to take out Ivy 's gigantic botanical assault are all crazy. There are also tons of references to other villains not shown, like The Penguin, hidden around the island. The villain that is a really surprising factor in the game, though, is The Scarecrow.

Scarecrow actually affects Batman's mind, leading to several separate hallucinatory segments that uncover hidden horrors from the haunting memories of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Scarecrow himself then appears in a purely psychological realm as a menacing giant scanning the evil dreamscape for you.

This game is so great on so many levels that I can't say enough to praise it. It has to played to be appreciated, although the video gives a sense of the experience. There is endless amount of satisfaction to be gained from taking out your enemies directly and by stealth, finding all of the Riddlers scattered clues, & exploring the richly detailed island w/ its famed asylum as you hunt down the Joker.

This game is a giant among ever-improving superhero games, while not being tied to an existing movie franchise. In that respect, it is allowed to stand on its own as a unique telling of the Batman legend.

• The Monkey Buddha's official rating: 9.0


Uh-oh, looks like Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 is already coming.

Ferrofluid Motion Sculptures

I wonder if this is the beginning of the T1000 Terminator...

This is a cool video of liquid metal being subjected to magnetic fields, creating dazzling forms with fluid motion. The artist's webpage gives a more detailed explanation of these "Morpho Towers."

Now if they can form a Silver Surfer type character with this process, then I'll really be impressed.

click to watch

Molecular Cloud or Galactus?

I saw an image of what is considered a "dark molecular cloud" of cosmic dust. Seeing this picture, I couldn't help thinking... what if the dark mass was actually an immense extraterrestrial swarm of nano-machines? It would be amazing & terrifying at the same time.

Molecular Cloud Barnard 68

This sentient cloud would be similar to the form that the Marvel character Galactus has been portrayed in Marvel Ultimate comics & the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie.

This precursors of interstellar nanotechnology are already being explored here on Earth.
• NASA is experimenting with tetrahedral forms in a primitive version of autonomous swarm technology.
• The University of Glasgow is taking it closer to the molecular scale by designing interacting devices comparable to dust particles, only millimeters across.

Innocent dust cloud or world-devouring hive mind?...
Hopefully we never have to find out.