Advance Review: Amazing Fantasy #1 (of 5)

Thanks to the Loki TV show, it seems that Marvel are getting out of their own way when it comes to playing around in their own multiverse. Once the purview of DC Comics, the Multiverse is getting a lot of focus from a number of publishers. Revisiting the book that launched Spider-Man, Amazing Fantasy is used as a sort of pseudo anthology book, with distinct looks.

First up is wartime Captain America; helping out with the Navy, gets separated from his boat and before you can say “my name is Oliver Queen”, he ends up shipwrecked. At the same time, the Red Room Black Widow gets lost in a jungle and teenage Spidey faces off against the Green Goblin again. All three take something of a “Life on Mars” type of trip as they exist as their younger selves. Are they dead, dreaming or transported to an otherworldly place of existence.

The book is written and drawn by Kaare Andrews. Taking the writing first; Andrews has taken the three characters at, some would argue, as their most natural versions of themselves. The super patriotic super solider, the spy caught in a web not of her making and Spidey recently made uncle less, has the the lack of impacts on his life that would possibly come to shape him. Each character awakens to a new reality, dealing with them within their appropriate mannerisms for the actual time in life. With thee such disparate elements in play, Andrews does well to handle them consistently. Staying true to their younger selves, it’s interesting to see how these unshaped character react. Take for example the recent Spider-Man annual; there Spidey with all his experience recognises that reality has changed. Here, he is surprised by his situation. Maintaining these different voices throughout the five issues will be a challenge.

Andrews art is as distinctive as the characters dialogue or voices. Starting with the Captain America story, the lines seem heavy and you could be forgiven for thinking that there is an element of Land That Time Forget and that is it, but whilst that are fantastic beasts on show, Andrews’ Cap is bulky in a muscular way and the jungle backgrounds are well served. The Widow chapter is dark and moody and svelte and the Spidey pages are cartoony belabouring the fun and energy of early Spider-Man. As good as the art is, I think that more credit should be heaped onto Andrews colors as they denote the vibe and feeling of each story. Andrews has clearly set his idea about the differences in tone between the characters and applied to every facet of his storytelling. Finally, VC’s Joe Sabino provides the letters, having fun with different fonts, coloured boxes featuring inverted. The differing lettering may not be as striking as the art, but continues in allowing each chapter to bask in their separate glories.

In some ways, the idea of this book may sound like a bit of a mutt; combining Captain America, Black Widow high on the “success” of her solo movies and the ever popular Spider-Man feels odd as I am not sure how, at least in this stage of the respective heroic career’s of each how or even why the trio are connected. When you cast that idea aside however, you are left with a book that looks glorious and reads well for a jig sawed start to this mini-series.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 4 Stars

Written, Art and Colors by; Kaare Andrews
Letters by; VC’s Joe Sabino
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network