Fantastic Firsts

Amazing Adult Fantasy (1961) #15

by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (Illustrator), Steve Ditko (Illustrator)

Reprints 15 of Marvel's classic character (origin) stories including Spider-man, Daredevil and the Incredible Hulk. Features creative work of most of the founding fathers of the comic industry.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

428 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2002

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is the Book of Genesis for the Marvel Universe. It presents the first appearances of The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, The Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Sgt. Fury, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, The X-Men, the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., the re-introduction of the Sub-Mariner and Captain America, and later origin stories for Wolverine and the Silver Surfer. It's really incredible (and fantastic and amazing and thrilling and astonishing... you get the idea!) that so many iconic, universally-recognized characters were introduced in such a short period of time around fifty years ago by (primarily) only two men, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The stories themselves hold up surprisingly well, and I was a little surprised how little the original "mythologies" have been ret-conned over the years. One thing that struck me was the complexity and compactness of some of the plots; in later years, some of the stories presented originally in a single issue would have been spread across six or eight months and twenty different titles with variants for each. This was high-lighted for me by the inclusion of the much-later Wolverine story, which has a far-different look and feel than the others, and is an episode with no conclusion. It was fine work, but didn't belong in the current volume; I would have much rather seen the first appearance of Black Widow or Hawkeye or Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. There were some absolutely silly bits, such as Reed Richards plucking a rider off of a speeding motorcycle when he's looking for Johnny Storm so he can get a closer look at him, and Nick Fury still chomping his cigar while clamped in the master mold matrix, and a few famous early errors in continuity, such as Spider-Man having distinct eyes show through his mask at the end of his first story, and the Hulk being suddenly green in the Avengers after starting out grey in his own book. Daredevil's yellow costume is very nostalgic now, as are the original costumes of Ant-Man, Wasp, and Tony Stark's original armor. Anyway, this is a must-have volume for Marvel fans... or True-Believers, as the term used to be. And, of course, the last word must be: Excelsior!

[Matthew Ledrew]

Tales of Suspense (#63): __ stars
Strange Tales (1951) (#110): __ stars
Strange Tales (1951) (#115): __ stars
Strange Tales (1951) (#135): __ stars
Tales to Astonish (#27): __ stars
Tales to Astonish (#35): __ stars
Amazing Adult Fantasy (1961) (#15): 5 stars
Avengers (1963) (#1): 5 stars
Avengers (1963) (#4): 5 stars
Daredevil (1964) (#1): 5 stars
Fantastic Four (1961) (#4): 5 stars
Fantastic Four (1961) (Annual #1): 5 stars
Tales of Suspense (#39): 5 stars
Wolverine: Origin (#1): 5 stars
Silver Surfer (1968) (#1): 5 stars
Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (#1): 5 stars
Fantastic Four (1961) (#1): 4 stars
The Incredible Hulk (1962-1963) (#1): 4 stars
Journey Into Mystery (1952) (#83): 3 stars
Uncanny X-Men (1963) (#1): 3 stars

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see now why I'm more drawn to Marvel than DC comics. Most of the superhero origins involve a frail, geeky or learned person turned into a super-hero either by a freak accident or through a scientific breakthrough. In other words, they know their target audience well!

[Aaron Swensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great way to get all the origin stories of Marvel characters in one volume. The stories aren't spectacular, and the lack of follow-up stories leave you wanting more, and it's fun to re-read after watching some of the Marvel live-action films to see what they kept, borrowed, or changed.