Once on Earth, I must find a way to change her loathing for me to love! I must prove to be a better man than her accursed Norrin Radd! 
Appearing in "O, Bitter Victory!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ Yarro Gort (Death)
- El Capitan (Death)
- The General (First appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- The General's Army
- The Underground freedom fighters
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Yarro Gort's Space Ship
- Silver Surfer's Surfboard
Synopsis for "O, Bitter Victory!"
Brief Summary:
The General's army, recovering from their battle with the Silver Surfer, panic when they see Shalla-Bal's approaching space ship. They shoot it down and capture her and Yarro Gort. Gort agrees to help El Capitan and the General destroy their enemies and the Silver Surfer with Zenn-Lavian technology. Meanwhile, the Surfer meets the freedom fighters that have been rebelling against the General. He joins them as they attack the invading army. Silver Surfer battles Gort and frees Shalla-Bal, but not before she is shot. Surfer is forced to send her back to Zenn-La to receive medical treatment.
Detailed Summary:
The General's army, recovering from their battle with the Silver Surfer, panic when they see Shalla-Bal's approaching space ship. They shoot it down, prompting Yarro and Shalla-Bal to abandon ship. The soldiers take them prisoner and bring them to El Capitan.
Meanwhile, the Silver Surfer notices the damaged ship and prevents it from crashing. He enters the ship and realizes that it's from Zenn-La. He wonders who was on it and why they came here.
Yarro and Shalla-Bal are brought to El Capitan and Yarro agrees to give him Zenn-Lavian technology if he spares his life. Intrigued by his promises of weapons that can defeat the Surfer, El Capitan brings him to see his boss, the General.
The Silver Surfer brings Maria back to her house, but he is attacked by men hiding inside. Maria stops the hostilities by convincing them the Surfer is an ally. The men are part of the Underground, the local rebels that are fighting the General's occupation. As soon as this is explained, the General's army attacks the rebels. The Surfer diffuses the situation by destroying the army's weapons and letting them depart. The rebels are mad at the Surfer for letting their enemies leave and the Surfer, annoyed by man's unending violence, leaves in frustration.
Yarro Gort demonstrates to the General the weapons that he has built for him. Suddenly, the Underground attacks the army base. Yarro uses his weapons against the rebels and the alien technology draws the attention of the Surfer. Shalla-Bal, not willing harm to come to her beloved, tries to stop Yarro from turning a powerful cannon on to the Surfer and is instead shot by El Capitan. Shocked to see her here, the enraged Surfer swoops up the injured Shalla-Bal and destroys the cannon with a cosmic blast. Yarro, El Capitan, and the General are all killed in the blast and, without leaders, the occupying army is quickly defeated.
With her wounds being too critical to be healed here on Earth, the Surfer repairs the space shuttle and sends Shalla-Bal back to Zenn-La. As much as he dreads seeing her go, their more advanced science has a better chance of saving her from the near fatal gun shot wound.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- The Silver Surfer destroyed a South American dictator's stronghold in order to save one of the leaders of the rebel force that opposes him. Misunderstanding the situation, Shalla Bal was devastated to see the Silver Surfer with another woman. [1]
- Yarro Gort seems to have coveted Shalla-Bal since before Norrin Radd left Zenn-La, since the Silver Surfer already knew who he was and what were his intentions.
Trivia
- This issue's cover makes an appearance in the 1983 film Breathless. Richard Gere's character is shown reading from the comic in one scene.[2] [3]
- This issue was reprinted in July 2003 and came packaged with the Toy Biz Marvel Legends Series V Silver Surfer Action Figure. [4]
- According to a reply in the letter column: "the Silver Surfer was only herald to Galactus for a few years."
- The Who Speaks for the Surfer? letter column has letters published from: Mitchell Zingman, J.C. Rosenzweig, Paul Kay, Frederick Zoucha, Gregory Pierson, Thomas Lane, Mitch Berman, and Rudy Rankins.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Silver Surfer #10 - The first part of this story
- Silver Surfer Omnibus #1 - Collects the entire run of Silver Surfer
Links and References
- Chris (24 Jun 2013) Silver Surfer Vol 1 10-11 Review Ridiculously Awesome. Retrieved on 10 Dec 2019.
- Grand Comics Database Silver Surfer Vol 1 11 Grand Comics Database. Retrieved on 9 Oct 2021.
- unknown (30 Jun 2016) Though Lovers Be Lost...! The Peerless Power of Comics!. Retrieved on 02 Dec 2019.
References
- ↑ Silver Surfer #11
- ↑ Breathless (1983 film) Wikipedia. Retrieved on 15 November 2019.
- ↑ Marvel Age #9
- ↑ Marvel Legends