Silver Surfer Annual #2 (1989)

In the time of Ancient Greece, the philosopher Plato wrote the works Timaeus and Critias. In these dialogues, he mentioned a continent called Atlantis. A fictional island continent, it was meant to be an allegory regarding the hubris of nations. While Atlantis would be a minor bit of Plato's work, it would be a massive source of inspiration to writers for centuries. Just goes to show you never know what will catch on.

Naturally, comic books would also latch on to the idea of an advanced island civilization that ended up lost under the waves. Heck, both the Marvel and DC Universes have Atlantis as part of their worlds, and have major superheroes connected to them: Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Aquaman respectively. 

In the Marvel Universe, Atlantis and the surface world do have a bit of a... contentious relationship, kind of like Namor himself has with his fellow superheroes. In 1989, the surface world would find itself seemingly under siege from this ancient city. This is where it started: Silver Surfer Annual #2!

The cover is a Ron Lim and Joe Rubinstein piece. It's pretty cool even though it's a bit basic. It shows the Silver Surfer in space, in front of a planet. There's a supervillain looming behind him, the comic promising the return of the Deviant! Well, a Deviant. You'll see what I mean. This would be a cool poster.

"How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth"
Writer: Steve Englehart
Penciler: Ron Lim
Inker: Keith Williams
Colorist: Tom Vincent
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco 

The story begins in California, in particular with the Dreaming Celestial, buried under a mountain. It's been lying here since the events of the 1985 Eternals maxiseries, doing its thing...dreaming. The Dreaming Celestial is having some sort of bad trip, not helped by the events of Fantastic Four #323. The Celestial turns and groans. This causes an earthquake that registers 3.9 on the Richter scale. But this is the Silver Surfer's annual. And he is busy doing what he does best: surf the space ways! Catching those Cosmic Waves, bro!

The Surfer's board suddenly goes a bit wild, which Norrin finds...weird. He and the board are supposed to be one. The board is supposed to obey his commands. It's like something is trying to pull the board towards a particular destination. Our man examines the board and notices that there's some bacteria-like life forms clinging to it, like barnacles on a ship's hull. 

"Ewww, who put a booger on my board?!"

Norrin finds it unlikely that these things are the cause of his board troubles, so he tries to burn them off with the Power Cosmic. These little critters are resilient, though. As such, it has no effect. Norrin realizes that the particles are trying to take him somewhere, so he figures he might as well let them take him and his board where they want to go. They take him to a strange cloud, nothing like the Surfer has ever seen before. It's one of the...odder phenomenon he's encountered.

Norrin uses the Power Cosmic on the cloud, somehow causing the cloud to transform into an...old "friend" we've encountered on this here blog.

"I'm back and better than ever, baby! OH YEAH!"

Yup, Ghaur is back! Remember him from my reviews of the 1980s Eternals maxiseries? Well, he was seemingly killed after the events of Eternals #12 (September 1986), but it turns out his consciousness did survive...in the form of the bacteria-ridden cloud the Surfer had encountered. He saw the Surfer passing by as his destiny, recapping how he ended up there. Ghaur and the Surfer duke it out.

The mad Deviant is not at his full power, but he still is able to match the Surfer and his Power Cosmic well. However, Ghaur has a new plan, and he has no desire to waste his time battling Norrin. He traps the Surfer in a plasma field and flies off. I think he's just running away because he doesn't want to get himself some of Norrin's silver hands.

The Surfer considers pursuing him...somehow knowing Ghaur intends to return to Earth. I don't know. Maybe the Power Cosmic told him? I do remember he used it as a form of psychometry in John Byrne's Fantastic Four run. He then remembers that he has his own problems. Mainly that his own homeworld is being dragged into another Kree-Skrull War, as shown in his own book at6 the time. Not to mention Earth has its own fair share of superheroes. They've taken him down before, so they can do it again. Still, it would be nice to at least warn them, ya jerk!

Ghaur makes his way back to Earth. His destination? The ancient city of Lemuria. But not the Lemuria that was the home of the Deviants. This Lemuria is the home of Atlanteans that worshipped the seven-headed snake Elder God known as Set. Makes sense, considering the role Set will play in upcoming annuals.

The Lemurians are not happy to see the former Priestlord. They express their displeasure with him being in town by trying to blast him. Ghaur goes through the Lemurian forces like a hot knife through butter. After all, there is someone there he has to see: Llyra. 

"This had better be good. I'm wearing my power swimsuit."

Ghaur takes Llyra with him. Since he freed her from imprisonment in Lemuria, she does him a courtesy and warns him that she has no intention to serve any man, even if they are ugly blue men. However, Ghaur says that his plans have an accord with hers, mainly a desire for the Serpent Crown. Ghaur learned of the Crown thanks to his consciousness being expanded during his time as a space cloud. His mind came into contact with the mind of Set within said Crown. We get a brief recap of the Crown's history up to that point to its most recent appearance encountering the Thing, Dr. Strange, Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Man. But Ghaur has guaranteed Set's victory. 

In space, evidently the Surfer listened to me, because he transmits a warning to Doctor Strange and Elizabeth "Talisman" Twoyoungmen. And as this happens, the Dreaming Celestial turns, having nightmares about the decimation of humanity...'

I did enjoy this story, but it is mainly setup. We get to see the return of Ghaur and hint about his plans. I did enjoy seeing the recaps of the Serpent Crown's history up to that point. It's the Marvel history nerd in me. I wish modern Marvel comics did recaps like this. 

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!