[5] In the alternate continuity of Earth X and Universe X, Shalla-Bal, Norrin's lover and the empress of Zenn-La, is depicted as joining him as a second Silver Surfer, both serving as the twin-heralds of the second Galactus.

Created by Jack Kirby, the character first appears in The Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first of a three-issue arc that fans call "The Galactus Trilogy".

[7][8] Jack Kirby commented on the character's creation during an interview stating "My conception of the Silver Surfer was a human being from space in that particular form.

[13] Kirby explained that the story's agreed-upon antagonist, a god-like cosmic predator of planets named Galactus, should have some sort of herald, and that he created the surfboard "because I'm tired of drawing spaceships!

"[14] Taken by the noble features of the new character, who turned on his master to help defend Earth, Lee overcame his initial skepticism and began adding characterization.

[16] Following his series' cancellation, the Surfer made sporadic appearances as a guest star or antagonist in such comic books as Thor, The Defenders, and Fantastic Four.

Lee remained partial to the Surfer, even asking other writers not to use him as a general rule,[17] and with Kirby collaborated on a seminal 1978 graphic novel starring the character, the only original story featured in the Marvel Fireside Books series.

Additional artists included Tom Grindberg, Ron Garney, and Jon J. Muth, as well as periodic guest spots by John Buscema.

The title experienced great initial success which allowed Marvel to push the character into other media, including a 1990 video game, 1992 trading card set, and 1998 animated series, as well as spinning off a variety of other comics series including Cosmic Powers, Cosmic Powers Unlimited, Captain Marvel vol.

[29] Beginning in 2011, the Silver Surfer began appearing regularly in The Mighty Thor[30] and a new volume of Defenders,[31] both written by Matt Fraction.

[34] In 2019, a 5-part mini-series titled Silver Surfer: Black was released featuring art from Tradd Moore in collaboration with writing from Donny Cates.

[37] Zenn-La's ancient and significantly advanced civilization has lost the will to strive or explore, leaving the young scholar Norrin Radd restless and yearning for adventure.

[45] Surfer stays with them for a while, but his overwhelming desire to be free of Earth and his frequent collisions with Galactus's energy-draining barrier eventually drives him to leave the group.

[volume & issue needed] The Surfer finally pierces Galactus's barrier with the aid of Reed Richards and temporarily escapes Earth.

Before being vanquished, Mephisto sends Shalla-Bal back to Zenn-La, but the Surfer manages to endow her with a portion of his Power Cosmic, which she uses to revitalize the plant life of their ravaged homeworld.

[54] The Surfer repeatedly battles space-born menaces, the chief of whom is Thanos, who attempts to kill half the life in the universe using the omnipotent Infinity Gauntlet.

[57] The Surfer finds interstellar allies in Adam Warlock's Infinity Watch and the "Star Masters" team, and he begins attending occasional Defenders reunions.

Fighting as a gladiator (and believed to be the fabled 'Sakaarson' due to his appearance), the Surfer is finally forced to face the Hulk along with his Warbound.

[69] The Silver Surfer returns to Sakaar in a plan to feed Galactus with the unique "Old Power" which he claims would sate his master's hunger for thousands of years, sparing many other inhabited worlds.

[73] During the War with the Serpent, Silver Surfer aids Doctor Strange, Namor, Loa, and Lyra in the liberation of New Atlantis from Attuma, who was transformed into Nerkodd: Breaker of Oceans.

[74] Silver Surfer and Dawn meet Glorian the Maker of Miracles, who plans to rebuild our universe for the heroes to return to after they finish in Battleworld.

With their weapons separated from the battle axe form following Knull's death, Thor and Silver Surfer noted that things will not be back to normal soon.

[80] The Silver Surfer wields the Power Cosmic, granting him superhuman strength, endurance, and senses and the ability to absorb and manipulate the universe's ambient energy.

[83] The Surfer sustains himself by converting matter into energy; he does not require food, water, air, or sleep, but occasionally enters a sleep-like meditation to dream.

[89] He can cast illusions,[90] create interdimensional portals to other locations including microverses,[90] manipulate and phase through solid matter,[81] and exercise some level of control over the astral plane.

[48] The Surfer has displayed the ability to shed his silver skin and revert to his original appearance as Norrin Radd, masking the Power Cosmic and allowing him to be more inconspicuous when needed.

This version is theorized to have been driven mad over his ability to survive without oxygen and clawed open his chest to expose his lungs to Earth's atmosphere, only to die from shock.

In Ultimate Extinction, a cosmic entity called Gah Lak Tus commands shapeshifting silver humanoid drones capable of manipulating energy, which it uses to trigger mass suicides to reduce a planet's resistance.

In Ultimate Fantastic Four, Reed Richards accidentally mistakes Norrin Radd / the Silver Searcher for a star that he was trying to harness and teleports the latter to Earth, which triggers planet-wide chaos and natural calamities.

[142] ComicBooked writer Cal Cleary gave the issue a perfect score, citing deep characterization and intricate design,[143] praise largely echoed by Comics Alliance's Matt D.