Amazing Fantasy Omnibus (v. 1) [Hardcover]

Stan Lee (Author), Paul Reinman (Author), Jack Kirby (Illustrator), Steve Ditko (Illustrator), Don Heck (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

The magazine that respects your intelligence.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (September 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785124586
• ISBN-13: 978-0785124580
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,251,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stan Lee is a man who needs no introduction. Nevertheless: Having begun his career with wartime Timely Comics and staying the course throughout the Atlas era, Stan the Man made comic-book history with Fantastic Four #1, harbinger of a bold new perspective in story writing that endures to this day. With some of the industry's greatest artists, he introduced hero after hero in Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men and more -- forming a shared universe for rival publishers to measure themselves against. After an almost literal lifetime of writing and editing, Lee entered new entertainment fields and earned Marvel one opportunity after another. He remains one of Marvel's best-known public representatives.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TIM BOO BA walks among us!!!, September 25, 2007

By 

Riley0091 (Concord, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazing Fantasy Omnibus (v. 1) (Hardcover)

"Many are the wonders of the vast universe. But none so fantastic as... TIM BOO BA!" This bold statement scripted by Marvel's founding father - Stan "the Man" Lee, foretells the terrible reign of the cruel reptilian dictator, who is finally bested by ....well, that would be telling, and unfair to the reader because most of this story's charm, like many others contained in this volume, derides from Twilight Zone "inspired" surprise ending. Some much so, Lee stated in an interview with Will Murray regarding his Amazing Fantasy scripts, "I used to get letters from readers `Hey, I just saw Twilight Zone, and they used one of your stories from issue so-and-so.'"

Amazing Fantasy THE TERROR of TIM BOO BA Omnibus vol.1 beautifully reprints in their entirety: Amazing Adventures #1-6, Amazing Adult Fantasy #7-14 and Amazing Fantasy #15 -- that's 416 pages (scripted and executed by Marvel's A-list talent: Lee, Ditko, and Kirby) brimming with evil alien invaders, rampaging giant monsters, and the creation of Marvel's greatest and most influential superhero -- Spider-man! This collection is a must have for vintage monster comic book fans who have enjoyed Dick Briefer's The Monster of Frankenstein, Monster Masterworks and Zombie Factory.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that gave birth to Spider-Man..., January 23, 2008

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Amazing Fantasy Omnibus (v. 1) (Hardcover)

This is a nice historical collection, gathering the full run of Marvel Comics' tumultuous and short-lived "Amazing Fantasy" title. It was one of the last "monster" books Marvel published before the revival of their superhero franchise, and indeed, the last issue featured the birth of Spider-Man, who is arguably the most famous of all Marvel characters. The individual original issues are hard to find and terribly expensive, so this hardbound omnibus is a real blessing for fans who just want to read the old stuff, and not pay a gazillion dollars or have to worry about preserving the fragile old artifacts.

The scripts were mostly by (or credited to) Stan Lee, and illustrators Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were his main collaborators. A couple of leftovers from the 1950s genre books were also on board, notably Paul Reinman, but the real sizzle is with Ditko and Kirby, who were developing a truly new, explosively expressive style that burst away from the stale, cramped design work of the Atlas era.

The stories, generally speaking, are pretty flat and formulaic: the six-pages-and-a-zinger-ending format did not, in all honesty, leave a lot of room for brilliance. Nonetheless, something was bubbling up under the surface of the moribund genre... There were plenty of hints of things to come: professors named Storm, rocky-skinned monsters, a skinny kid with big, round glasses who discovers he has superpowers, and of course, the proto-Dr. Strange, Dr. Droom, one of the few recurrent characters of the era. In one of the most fascinating later stories, the Ditko-penned teenage hero looks a LOT like Peter Parker, but what's even more amazing is the script, about how the boy is a mutant, and how he must hide his powers due to the prejudice of normal humans -- the entire "X-Men" mythology was laid out in '62: it really should be anthologized along with the early X-books from now on.

The book really hit its stride in the last half-dozen issues, when Steve Ditko basically took over and was given full reign on the creative end. The book developed a strong signature style, and Ditko came into his own. Some of the best surprises come with the famous Spidey issue: the one-page editorial about how they planned to change the look and format of the book (and, boy, did they! they canceled it and started up "The Amazing Spider-Man" instead) and also the fact that the book *still* had back-up features full of aliens and things that go bump in the night.

This is a fascinating look back at the history of Marvel Comics. Probably best appreciated for the dynamic, colorful artwork (which looks fabulous in the glossy archival format) but also good, goofy fun in its own right. Face Forward, True Believers! (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Ditko fans!, November 12, 2007

By 

R. Gale (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Amazing Fantasy Omnibus (v. 1) (Hardcover)

This is another outstanding addition to Marvel's Omnibus series, which has the added bonus of being somewhat shorter so that it's not so hard to hold the book! The art restoration and reproduction is first rate, and the coloring is excellent. And if you're a Steve Ditko fan (and would you be reading this review if you weren't?), then you'll be absolutely delighted to see "Sturdy Steve's" art and story-telling presented so beautifully. Yes, many of the stories are silly, but when Lee and Ditko were at their best, they were masters of these short "Twilight Zone" type tales. Kudos to Marvel for bringing us this fine volume.