Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer

by Daniel Josephs

Adventurers. Celebrities. Family. They are the Fantastic Four, the world's greatest Super Hero™ scientific genius Reed Richards, with the ability to stretch and contort his body into any shape imaginable; the beautiful Susan Storm, who can render herself invisible and create and project powerful force fields; Sue's brother, Johnny Storm, who can engulf his body in flames and take flight at will; and Ben Grimm, whose freakish transmutation turns him into an orange-colored, rock-like, superhumanly strong creature.

Now the Fantastic Four meet their greatest challenge yet, as an enigmatic, intergalactic herald comes to Earth -- to prepare it for destruction. As the mysterious alien being races around the globe, wreaking havoc and leaving utter chaos in its wake, Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben must find a way to confront this devastating force...even as a new threat looms in the surprising return of their mortal enemy, Victor Von Doom, who harbors his own deadly machinations for them all....

261 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 24, 2007

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the motion picture screenplay by Don Payne that was based on a story by Mark Frost. The movie was not the worst Fantastic Four film ever released, but I didn't think it was very good. I've been a fan of the Four since Kennedy was president, so perhaps my standards are too high. Josephs did a decent job of adapting what he was given to adapt, but I wished that he would have tried to fix a few of the silliest things. I would've thrown a charitable three-star rating at it, but... Gah Lak Tus? No, sorry, I just can't.

[Kent Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty straightforward novelization. Would have been the usual 3 stars until they introduce Galactus, only to spell it Gah Lak Tus for some incomprehensible reason. That killed it for me. Not only that, they reinforce that Galactus is just a vortex of some kind. At least the film gave us some hope that there was a big, helmeted pilot inside there. No such luck here. The descriptions make it seem like their Galactus was pretty much mindless. Just a force of 'cosmic' nature. Which leads to the question, how could a mindless force of nature have the intellect to 'make a deal' with Norrin Rad to save Zen-la? Who knows.
One interesting bit, Doom kills Andre Brauers General character in an intensely gruesome way that would have NEVER made it into a PG-13 film. The people who clamor for 'R-rated' superhero movies would have love it.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 2 out of 5]

So... this was as good as the movie (which is to say, fun on a slight level, but overall sort of sadly disappointing).

I admit it - I have a soft spot for movie tie ins, and comic book movies. In as much as I imagine this will be a fun movie, there's just something a bit more fun about reading the book and getting inside the characters' heads. Usually. There wasn't much depth in the writing here. (I know, I know, I'm asking for too much from a movie tie-in, but.)

The original story of the Fantastic Four that was represented in the first movie continues here with a tiny bit of character growth, a lot of cheese, and a whole lot of fun. While I cringed a little at the rather hammer-subtle plot devices used to put Dr. Doom back into the story, and also found Sue Storm somewhat, uh, shrill about marriage, the handling of the Silver Surfer was interesting.

[Victor Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice adaptation, a bit more looser and comfortable than the last adaptation. Works seamlessly across despite the different author.

Story is mostly word for word, with some minor changes from the final product. But still a nice read. B-

[Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly well written with a rich vocabulary! I feel like something like this would be written by AI now, but obviously wasn’t in 2005 when I bought it from Family Fare. Fun read!
‘Gah Lak Tus.’

[bluetyson]

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer by Daniel Josephs (2007)