Zed appears in space after the Silver Surfer is attacked by The Impericon’s Gatekeepers. He seems friendly and affable towards the surfer and even shows him around The Impericon. Following the tour, Zed proposes Silver Surfer become The Impericon’s Champion. The Motivator scans the Surfer, abducts Dawn Greenwood, and then Zed shows the surfer what happened to the previous champion of The Impericon who attempted to challenge the Never Queen.
While Zed spends most of his first appearance representing The Impericon to The Silver Surfer, he accepted counsel from another similarly dressed alien who was hidden in the shadows behind him. Time will only tell what Zed’s true motivations are, what role he plays in The Impericon and just what it means for Silver Surfer to serve as a Champion.
Zed would later take the guise of Zee to be the apprentice of Glorian.