Overheard At My Comic Store Today

To the store owner, from a person buying a gaming card of some sort: "Hey, do you got any of those Silver Surfer comics?"

To me, a few minutes later, as the store owner rummaged through boxes looking for Silver Surfer comics: "I seen him in that movie, and I got curious about what worlds he might've destroyed!"

There are so many reasons to find this interesting:

1) Here was a real-life, honest-to-God example of something in a comic-movie prompting someone to go in search of some comics!

2) In this particular case, that person was probably going to be disappointed, since about 99.9% of the stories about the Silver Surfer take place after he was 'fired' by Galactus and no longer doing the whole "find a planet for me so I can feed on its life energy" gig.

3) It reminded me of the thrill of the chase that I like so much, where you hear about a comic series and then start trying to find the issues for it. There's nothing like it!

4) As if I didn't already know, the conversation also drove home just how much trivia there is within comics, since my mind was immediately sifting through back issues, considering where you might possibly find a flashback tale that would show the Surfer still acting as the herald of Galactus. I know some exist, but I'd have to go digging to find one. Fortunately for me, I'm pretty sure there weren't many of them published in the Silver Age.. in fact, the only one I can think of that might qualify is the initial telling of his origin in Silver Surfer (Vol I) # 1. And a quick check (between typing that last sentence and this one) confirms that, yes indeed, there's a brief scene in SS # 1 that shows him finding planets for Galactus before arriving on Earth (in Fantastic Four # 48). Just one of many reasons why I love having a comic collection in the basement!