“Yesterday’s” Comic> Green Lantern/Silver Surfer

“Read this comic…OR ELSE!”

Green Lantern/Silver Surfer

DC/Marvel (1995)

In space in the Marvel Universe, the Silver Surfer comes across Hank Krenshaw, who calls himself Cyborg but has no connection to the hero. He just blew up a planet that the Surfer once protected from Galactus, but it’s not the Surfer who stops him but Parallax. Hal talks Surfer into joining his cause to remake the universe by sharing some of the Power Cosmic. However, Thanos dropped Terrax into the DC universe to challenge the current Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. Thanos tricks Kyle into thinking he plans to stop Parallax but instead he plans to wipe out the universe so that all that is left is the realm of the dead; then he can be at lady Death’s side. Hal and Thanos battle while Surfer mistakenly goes after Kyle (because he’s a Marvel hero after all). The two heroes soon trade fighting for understanding: both Thanos and Parallax are insane extremists in their own ways, so the good guys combine to stop them in their tracks.

What they got right: Here you have a story with Hal, who wants to rebuild the universe, and Thanos, who wants to destroy it. Having the two fight each other would have been story enough but Kyle and Surfer don’t feel tacked in. They’re both essential to how events play out. The art is good. There’s also some foreshadowing to the upcoming DC Versus Marvel/Marvel Versus DC event.

What they got wrong: I can buy that Thanos would be drawn back to his proper universe, but why is Hal drawn somewhere else in the DCU? He’s home more or less.

Recommendation: Not a must-have story, even with the point to the companies-wide crossover to come. Still, it’s a fairly decent crossover if you come upon it.