Synopsis
Silver Surfer: Dangerous Artifacts (1996 series) #1 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Galactus' voiceover tells us he's summoned his ex-Herald Silver Surfer to his worldship Taa-II, and SS heeds his call.
A voiceover which will turn out to be Thanos tells us that the albino White Raven has come to the slums (of Titan?) because of an offer too enticing to ignore. We see her deal with the advances of a huge ugly brute who thinks he's God's gift to women by pretending to be attracted then shooting him with a blaster.
Big G reminds us that he's been here since this universe was born from the death of the previous 1. And his hunger destroys worlds but he's above mere good and evil. He tells Norrin Radd that an ancient comet that takes untold millennia to circle the universe has returned, and he must possess its secret. It is said that it was home to now-extinct advanced beings who had an inexhaustible source of energy, and if true he must have it to keep it from falling into evil hands. And he asks Surfer to get it for him.
A cloaked and hooded Thanos (told you so) tells White Raven the same thing except that he must have it for his own purposes. But he must keep his involvement secret lest 'heroes' try to stop him. So he'll pay her an incredible amount to bring it to him.
SS agrees for the greater good, and WR agrees to face the inevitable dangers for the money. Surfer's Cosmic Surfboard takes him to the comet where he's attacked by a Kree warship. Raven's small spaceship arrives from another direction and it's attacked by a Skrull ship. She dons an exo-suit to take the fight to *them*.
Surfer dodges Kree weapon fire while reminding us that the Shi'Ar conquered the Kree (in the Operation Galactic Storm event) and guessing that the Kree are here to get a powerful weapon to use against their overlords. While destroying the odd gun on the ship he warns them to go home. They obviously just keep firing so he destroys the ships drive and leaves them adrift but alive.
Raven enters the Skrull spaceship and declines to surrender. Instead she kills her way to the bridge to face bombast from the captain. Then she kills him and destroys the ship's life support system before scavenging spare parts to repair her damaged craft.
Both seekers approach the comet from opposite sides and enter shafts which take them deep inside where they find a fabulous but seemingly unoccupied city. They are both in a hurry and WR doesn't even stop to see if anything's worth stealing. Surfer comes across the last survivor of the lost race who says he's been waiting a long time for him. Meanwhile Raven shed her exo-suit because the air is breathable and reaches the control centre where she finds a robot (in the image of the alien).
The alien explains his history to Norrin Radd as they wander through a park full of luxuriant plantlife (but no animals?). Eons ago his people ascended to a higher plane, but he was chosen to remain (along with a caretaking automaton) as safekeeper of the power they harnessed to maintain this paradise. Surfer says he won't take what is not freely given, but offers to relieve him of his burden and put it in other safe hands. The survivor says he was expecting some outsider to come her eventually, but wasn't expecting such a noble 1.
Meanwhile White Raven forces the automaton to take her to the power source, even though he claims that he would do it anyway because his function is only to obey. They reach a door beyond which lies what she seeks. He opens it and she suspiciously makes him enter 1st. Nothing bad happens but she sees Surfer and his companion have got here before her.
The survivor removes the power source, claiming it is both the glory and the shame of his people. It is a large diamond-shaped crystal which he hands to SS saying it contains limitless power but comes with a warning. Which he never gets to deliver because WR shoots him. And the crystal falls and smashes as Norrin tries to heal the dying alien. But he says he's now going to join his folks and warns Surfer to save himself. Raven blames Surfer for her losing her prize and the riches it would bring her. Surfer just asks who she is to take a life so callously. She tells him her name.
But something is rising from the crystal shards. SS warns her to look behind her, but she's not falling for that old trick until she realises there's an enormous red demon in the room. He's definitely not grateful to be released from his long confinement. The automaton tries to restrain him but gets torn apart as a reward. The demon complains that the elder race imprisoned him without cause and built their world on his slavery. And now the universe will pay the price.
Silver Surfer as usual tries to reason with the foe but quickly has to defend White Raven. The demon finds his Power Cosmic trivial. WR shoots at the enemy who bats her aside. SS grabs her and surfs towards the surface. She doesn't understand why he's saving her when she would have killed him to get the prize. They come across her discarded exo-suit and Norrin tells her to put it on and escape while he stays to fight the foe. She doesn't need to be told twice (except he does so). She gets back in her ship and flies away.
Behind her a red 'boil' appears on the surface of the comet, cracks open and ejects the hero. The villain follows spouting dire threats. Surfer regains his board and admits that the demon has suffered a grave injustice, but he won't let him take it out on innocents. He blasts him with the Power Cosmic and at 1st seems to succeed. But it's short-lived and the foe has soon responded with his own withering eye-blasts. But the demon suddenly reels from another blast ...
... from White Raven's spacecraft. She warns Surfer to duck as she leaps from the craft which slams into the demon's chest. The pointed front impales him, and she tells SS that she's set it to self-destruct, which she hopes will set off a chain reaction in the demon's own energy. All that's left is for Surfer to catch her as she falls and fly them both far away. He does that and her plan actually works, and the demon goes up in a fireball.
The duo thank each other for the mutual save. WR admits that his heroism compelled her to come back to help/save him. SS admits that her late selflessness pays for the death of the surviving alien, especially because he wanted the release of death anyway. But she says they will still follow different paths, and they part.
Norrin Radd reports back to Galactus empty-handed. He tells him that the death of the demon created a new star, which the comet now orbits. G says he'll have to be content that the demon's power won't fall into the wrong hands. But his thoughts tell us he doesn't like not getting his own way.
White Raven also returns without the prize. Thanos is angry to have lost another source of awesome power, and he claims not to be gracious in defeat.