By Barry Pearl
on loan from http://forbushman.blogspot.com/
About a Year ago the Daily Kirby gave me the privilege of
posting a blog that asked a very interesting question. I thought the time had come for me to give
MY answer, which actually has a Cold War influnce. And I hope it surprises you!!!!
I wrote, in part,
In Fantastic Four #48, the
Inhumans siblings, Black Bolt and Maximus battle and Maximus wins. “I can
create a negative zone around our land. A zone that nothing can penetrate.” And
Maximus creates a barrier forever separating the Inhumans from Humanity.
Of course, life goes on, and
Galactus, led by his herald, the Silver Surfer, attempts to drain Earth of all
of its energy. In issue #50, the Silver Surfer turns against his master
and is punished for it. “Since you shall be herald to Galactus no longer.
I shall remove your space time powers. Henceforth, the Silver Surfer shall roam
the galaxies no longer.” And the Surfer is banished, stranded on Earth to
live amongst the people he helped save.
So what’s the link? A
defeated Maximus punishes the Inhumans by imprisoning them in the Giant Refuge
to keep them separate from humanity. Galactus does just the opposite he
punishes the Silver Surfer by imprisoning him on Earth where he must forever
mingle with the same humanity. There is a contradiction here. But which is the
worst punishment?
The surprising (I hope) answer is: Both are!!!! Because they
were both given the SAME punishment.
In both cases the powers that be, Maximus and Galactus, took away their
ability to make a choice. They took away their freedom, their freedom to
choose. They were both shown that they were not fully in charge of their own
lives. Crystal was separated from her
love, Johnny, and the Surfer was separated from his love, Shalla-Bal. Neither
could go where they wanted to.
Why is this a cold war ending? In 1966, Russia did not allow
people to leave their country, even on a vacation. Even during the Olympics, Russian athletes were heavily guarded.
They, like the Inhumans, had to remain where they were born. The ability not to
travel was definitely a cold war era concern.
PS: There were two mistakes in the Silver Surfer comic I
feel that lead to its cancellation. First, although he was the Sentinel of the
Skyways he was trapped on Earth. That was fun for a few issues, but he would
have been more interesting visiting other galaxies.
But there was something about the early Silver Surfer stories that was so silly!!!!! Stan Lee, wanted to use the Surfer as the
best example of prejudice and discrimination, often alluding to the reality of
being an African-American or another minority.
So is it discriminatory or common sense when in the middle
of winter a naked, silver, plastic person shows up with a surfboard in your
backyard and you don’t live near the beach… and you call the police? Being fearful of that is not prejudice, it’s
common sense.
(Barry became part of the Silver Age zeitgeist by having a letter printed in SILVER SURFER #14. - Bill)
