The Silver Surfer was once a normal man named Norrin Radd who agreed to be Galactus' herald in order to save his planet, Zenn-La, from destruction. Galactus then coated Radd's body in a silver glaze to protect him from the extreme temperatures of deep space travel, and gave him a cosmic surfboard to enable him to traverse the cosmos. The Surfer's glaze can even protect him from the searing heat of molten lava shooting from erupting volcanoes on exploding planets. The Surfer now uses his incredible powers to travel to the ends of space and defend the galaxy from the forces of evil to atone for his days spent as Galactus' herald.