Amazing Fantasy

Amazing Fantasy (2021) #1-5

by Kaare Andrews

Kaare Andrews (SPIDER-MAN: REIGN) presents an all-new vision of the Marvel Universe! Spy-school Black Widow, teenage Spider-Man, World War II Captain America — the most iconic versions of your favorite Marvel characters from across time and space — all wake up on an island of intrigue, darkness and far-out fantasy. Are they dead? Are they dreaming? Or have they truly been transported to another fantastical realm? And as the heroes explore their uncanny surroundings, can they find a way to return home? This isn’t just a love letter to your favorite Marvel eras, it’s a reinvestment in the seminal characters you’ve always loved, plucked from their quintessential timelines. This is the one you’ve been waiting for, True Believers — an Amazing Fantasy for the ages!

COLLECTING: Amazing Fantasy (2021) 1-5, Amazing Fantasy Prelude Infinity Comic (2021) 1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Spider Man

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2022

About the author

Kaare Kyle Andrews is a comic book writer, artist and filmmaker

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Captain America, Spider-Man and Black Widow all die and reappear on an island full of swords and sorcery. That's about the last time this makes much sense. There's more world building that's hinted at but never explained. The ending doesn't make any sense. Except for Kaare Andrews's art, this is a waste of time.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Captain America, Black Widow and Spider-Man were all “killed” and ushered in to this fantasy world. Each landed with a different group of people. All of which said they were at odds with the other groups. Pretty neat concept and the art was great throughout, especially in the giant size treasury edition format, but towards the end there was a plot shift or twist of you will. From that part onward I was lost as to what Kaare Andrews was trying to do. Not 100% sure what all that was supposed to mean. Kinda, but not really. Kind of got a tad messy there. Story ended up just being ok.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went along for the ride for this and it was fine..

The story was aimed for a battle..and didn't derail from that..even though 5 issues couldn't really fill in much of the background..

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tempted to add a star purely for the art, but I can't - Amazing Fantasy was just too tough of a read for me to have really "liked it."

Amazing Fantasy is a one-off adventure for Captain America, Black Widow, and Spider-Man as they're transported to a fantasy world where they have to take sides in a big war between races. And also stop an evil king and another dude from space and yet one more dude (Who is actually evil Spider-Man in disguise?! That one's never really explained).

It all feels a bit like a fever dream. The threads between storylines are tenuous at best. Characters speak in High English, fancifully bantering away about nothing. Some of the action scenes are appealing, but again, it's mostly the art - I don't know why these people are fighting or much care. Spider-Man gets a few zingers in, but the characters are otherwise very basic: Cap is good! Widow is conflicted! Spidey is a teenager!

The extra-large format and thrilling art sells Amazing Fantasy to a reader just picking it up off the shelf. I wouldn't suggest that reader actually start reading, though.

[mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

*read issues as they came out* overall 3.5

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

A throwback to 70's Marvel Fanfare and also their classic black and white zines with fabulous painted covers.

Today, it reads like an expanded 'What If?'.

[Alex Sarll]

Younger, out-of-continuity versions of Spidey, Cap and Black Widow find themselves in what feels like it might be Weirdworld, but is in any case a weird world. Possibly it's the afterlife, but if so the afterlife feels unexpectedly swords and sorcery, which would be very reminiscent of a recent Mark Millar comic, and that's seldom a good thing. I strongly suspect it's just that Kaare Andrews wanted to draw a fantastical world, and putting versions of those characters in meant Marvel would publish it; if so, fair enough, because it is pretty, especially those pulp pastiche covers. In terms of writing, well, it often feels dreamlike, and I mean that not in the wispy sense but in that it has the disjointedness of an actual dream. I can't imagine there's much of a cross-section of people who want to see Peter encounter Uncle Ben again in what may be an anteroom to the afterlife, and people who want Ben to be this disappointed with the poor kid, but hey, if you don't like that, Peter is soon distracted by flirting with a sexy bird-person! Except she doesn't have wings anymore because of a whole theme running through this about appeasement and the lures of false safety with which I mostly agree, yet which keeps feeling as if it's about to tip over into something genuinely unpleasant. In summary, I have no real understanding of why this exists or for whom it was intended, but I've certainly read worse recent work from Marvel.

[Andy Karlson · Rating 1 out of 5]

ETA: I slept on it, and decided to drop a star as I would give this book zero stars if I could. The contempt shown to the characters is fully creepy, and Andrews' neo-fascist "might makes right" ideology lurks around every corner. It's not only a bad comic, it's gross.

I guess this book succeeded in letting Andrews draw cool shit that he digs, but that's about it. Incoherent plot, terrible understanding of the characters involved (Uncle Ben in particular gets done dirty to an unforgivable degree), a convoluted and toothless array of antagonists, consequence-free and weightless action, and an ending like a dry loose fart. What happened in this book? Why? Who cares? Shakespeare's words, "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, and signifying nothing," could have been written about this pile. It gets one bonus star for at least having some ambition.

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as single issues.
Apparently, here Captain America, Spider-Man, and Black Widow (some others, too, but those are the main characters in this book) die at some point in their respective pasts (Cap in the 40s, Spidey in the 60s, and Natasha...when she's pretty young) and turn up - at the same time - on a fantasy island in the afterlife where there are manticores and elves and orks and cat-people, oh my.
There they get involved with different factions that then go to war for some reason, which somehow leads to zombies (but not the Marvel Zombies that were so big a few years ago) and... - most of time I have no idea what is actually going on in this series or why anything that happens, happens.
Uncle Ben is an asshole, some other characters appear to be someone, but do not get conclusively identified and the ending is...yeah, what exactly...?
This was confusing as hell and not interesting enough to actually strain my tiny little brain for an explanation.
The artwork, though, is beautiful! Not only the covers, which are reminiscent of all those 70s sci-fi and fantasy mags, but the amazing interior artwork, too. Kaare Andrews draws the different characters in slightly different styles, which works pretty well. I do get why this miniseries got immediately reprinted in an oversized hardcover, but I don't just look at my comics, I read them. And there is just not enough of a coherent story here to justify that extra cost.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really give me what I hoped for. As it is, it's a sort of What If?, where the afterlife or limbo or something is a sword and sorcery world, one that Captain America, Black Widow, and Spider-Man all visit. It left me wishing that it had just been a sword and sorcery world, without the limbo or purgatory or whatever trimmings. Sure, it let Andrews bring in Uncle Ben as a character, but I would very much rather not. I also think that Andrews didn't have a good sense of what to do with Natasha. Her setup is that she's still in training with the Red Room, but she frequently speaks and acts like a seasoned spy and assassin. And then there's her multiple weird romance subplots with adult characters, as though Andrews forgot that she should probably be a young teen. Peter also has a weird romance subplot with an adult character, even though he's sixteen at best, plus a sort of cult that I can only assume is incestuous but that Andrews never clarifies one way or the other, and certainly never deals with.

[Andrei · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this a lot because I'm a fan of "What If" type of stories. The premise was certainly interesting, with Cap, Widow and Spidey landing on a fantasy island after seemingly falling in battle. As the story progresses, things become a bit more convoluted, with more characters introduced and more plot threads spreading out, until midway when things suddenly tie back in. The allegory around death in the final two issues is certainly an interesting twist, but for some reason felt a bit unsatisfying. Might reread it someday to see if anything feels different.

The art is nice, blending some cartoony style faces with darker tones and imagery. As a word of warning, don't expect it the style from the covers to match the interior even though they're drawn by the same artist. Not a bad thing in my opinion, just different.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The painted covers were nice, but the story overall is a bloody mess, with some of the panel layouts/insets being very confusing. It really didn't warrant the oversize Treasury Edition presentation either.

[Adam Witt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Something this bad should at least do the reader the favor of being comprehensible.

[Ryan Laferney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing Fantasy is a throwback comic to the heyday of 70s Marvel comics, pulp adventure stories of yesteryear like Conan The Barbarian, and the What if? Marvel series. It's a fun and goofy and somewhat poignant exploration of what happens during a near death experience. Spy-school Black Widow, teenage Spider-Man, World War II Captain America — the most iconic versions of your favorite Marvel characters from across time and space — all wake up on an island of intrigue, darkness and amazing fantasy when it looks like they die in action. Are they dead? Are they dreaming? Or have they truly been transported to another fantastical realm? And as the heroes explore their uncanny surroundings, can they find a way to return home?

The story and art by Kaare Andrews is truly fantastic. You really have to have a love for old school pulp art and storytelling to enjoy this I think.

The concept of a near death amazing fantasy island experience is a fascinating one...

I thoroughly enjoyed this comic but I realize, it's not for everyone.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boy, this was disappointing. I really wanted to like this story but the pacing is all over the place and the artwork was not great. The premise of this series had so much promise but ultimately Kaare Andrews does not deliver a great story in this book. Was it just me or did Spider-Man not feel like himself? Not to mention his facial expressions made the character feel goofy. I wanted to care about Cap's journey in this book but when it looked like we were going to get more of Cap the story was interrupted by the mediocre Natasha side of the story. Besides how old was Natasha aka Black Widow in this story? The way she is drawn she looks like a small teenager. I was a bit uncomfortable with her tale. Kaare really should have got a better artist in this book. Esad Ribićwould have fit a tale like this perfectly. Could have such a great elseworld tale. I can not recommend this book.

[Landon Walsh]

This was a really fun homage to old Edgar Rice Burroughs stories, and the covers being reminiscent of old paperback fantasy novels was right in my wheelhouse.

I think the concept of exploring a purgatory like place is fascinating but they left like almost all the plot threads unresolved.

Who’s the moon guy?
Who is the cloaked figure actually?
Who is Ren’s father?
Why did a zombie wolverine show up?

Just feels like they rushed the last issue is all, but up until that point it was really fun so idk man

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 2.75/5
Despite the fact that the agregate score lines up almost identically with my own score, I was genuinely surprised at how little love there was for this, even if I essentially agree with each and every criticism offered. The art was certainly the strong suit of the book, with Kaare's feminine characters eschewing a certain appeal sorely missing from modern comics. But whatever initial interest I had in the narrative fell away about half way through, and it all became rather non-sensical, and even the art wasn't keeping my interested from then on in. The Wolverine one shot was pretty cool though. 2.75/5


OmniBen.

[Vladimír · Rating 3 out of 5]

V úvode to bolo trošku neprehľadné, ale postupne sa to utriaslo. Príbeh bol plnohodnotná fantasy jazda so superhrdinskými prvkami v ktorej je možné naozaj všetko. Cap, Spider-Man a Black Widow sa do sveta drakov, orkov a rôznych iných magických bytostí vcelku hodili. Na čitateľa sa od druhého zošitu valí množstvo akcie a zvratov a preto škoda nezvládnutého záveru. Celkovo je to príjemná oddychovka z alternatívneho sveta.

[Shivesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a long time to get through these five issues in floppies. I'm not sure why. The story itself is intriguing, premise as well planned. Execution just doesn't fire on all cylinders. Our famous heroes all have alternate versions in this universe, fantastical versions. But the story just kind of meanders, and comes too fast of a conclusion to wrap everything up. Hopefully they try this again in a long form or ongoing comic so they can flesh out some of the themes and world building a little more.

[Shannon McShortall · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters are pretty much unrecognisable and the story is incomprehensible. I get that they’re going for the feeling of a one-off issue of Amazing Fantasy that is just high concepts with no real care for plot, but that doesn’t make it exempt from critique. The art and designs are alright, as well as a couple ideas concerning responsibility, and that gave it the extra star. It’s also fairly short, but I wouldn’t waste my time.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a mess, but a beautiful one. Love the oversized format too. Heroes seem to have traveled to a limbo like half dead region that resembles fantasy worlds from the Heavy Metal magazine of long ago. Nothing makes much sense and they don’t try very hard to illuminate. Would be much worse without the art

[Michael Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stunning artwork. The story was exciting in that unabashedly sword and sorcery way. Had a decent bit of heart, with all the heroes grappling with their own demons. But some of the twists and reveals felt unearned and didn't quite work.

[April Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was engaging and I liked flipping. Did not realize the oversizeness to the book itself so it's not great to read/store.

Very much a "what if" story disconnected from other thrings, so could be read out of context.

[Jannik Fogt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Den her lovede mere end den kunne holde. Artworket svinger. Forsiderne er fede og sender tankerne tilbage til klassisk fantasy kunst, men selve historien (tekst og billeder) er noget værre rod. Fyldt med de typiske Marvel-klichéer og intet originalt tvist. Kedelig og glemt i morgen.

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a terribly fun story with Captain America, Spider-Man, and Black Widow and different points in their lives and weird choices by certain Uncle characters and confusing to figure out what was real and what wasn't.
But those covers!!!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects Amazing Fantasy (2021) issues #1-5

This started out really interesting, but quickly became convoluted and boring. I skimmed through the second half of this book.

Final rating = 2.5 stars

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The issue covers are the best part of this story.

The story concept was fun, heroes transported to a world of classic sword and sorcery fantasy. Unfortunately the story never really developed into anything interesting. And the story conclusion was confusing and poorly set up.

[Jose Limon · Rating 5 out of 5]

cómic para adultos

De niño en los 70’s solía leer el hombre araña y desde entonces han evolucionado muchísimo los cómics y hoy a mis 55 años los sigo disfrutando como antaño.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is such a good portal fantasy for Marvel comics, instead of having complicated what if Kaare Andrews just made it simple with few characters and simple story

Highly recommend

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool art. Too bad about that story.