For two-dimensional, immersed closed surfaces $f:\Sigma \to {ℝ}^n$, we study the curvature functionals ${ℰ}^p\left(f\right)$ and ${𝒲}^p\left(f\right)$ with integrands ${(1+|A|}^2{)}^{p/2}$ and ${(1+|H|}^2{)}^{p/2}$, respectively. Here $A$ is the second fundamental form, $H$ is the mean curvature and we assume $p>2$. Our main result asserts that $W^{2,p}$ critical points are smooth in both cases. We also prove a compactness theorem for ${𝒲}^p$-bounded sequences. In the case of ${ℰ}^p$ this is just Langer’s theorem [16], while for ${𝒲}^p$ we have to impose a bound for the Willmore energy strictly below $8\pi$ as an additional condition....