The Amazing Fist #1 – Review
Written by: Adam Messinger
Art by: Matt Farnsworth (pencils) and Frank Stone (inks)
Letters by: Frank Stone
Cover by: Josh Adams and Tom Chu
Published by: Spectacle Press via Kickstarter
Cover Price: $2.99(USD)
In the interest of fairness and full disclosure, I have to say that the writer of this comic also writes for this website. However, this hasn’t affected my review in any way. I was relieved when I finished reading this comic and enjoyed it, as writing a poor review would have been a little awkward.
The Amazing Fist is set in Slamm City in 1927 and follows big fisted hero, The Amazing Fist a.k.a Howard Fine, as he tries to rid his city of crime. This comic is clearly influenced by early 20th century pulp stories and comics. The Amazing Fist follows a certain style and this runs throughout the dialogue, narrative caption boxes and the art style too.
Some may find the very frequent use of caption boxes a bit annoying, especially with them being used far less in modern comics now. But Adam Messinger writes them well and there is often something interesting or entertaining within. The dialogue is also pretty good, though there is an occasion where The Amazing Fist shouts at a criminal “prepare to be fisted” and I couldn’t help but somewhat immaturely laugh at that. I don’t know if it was intentional, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a permanent battle cry.
Apart from the possible innuendo, there is plenty more to like about this comic. The origin story is very strange, there’s a cool villain called Iron Jaw and the relationship between Howard and his girlfriend seems to have some real emotion to it. The Amazing Fist has a made a great start and I can see why people supported it on kickstarter.
The black and white only pencils and inks are also very well done and suit the setting and tone of the book. There are occasional panels where the perspective isn’t quite right and a panel where The Amazing Fist’s right arm is as big as his left (his left arm is the one that is invulnerable). But on the whole the art is good and I was especially impressed with the character work. The designs on the main characters are strong and every person in this comic has a distinct look. Even bit part characters and random criminals are given a unique feature that make them stand out, making for a more visually interesting read.
There’s plenty to enjoy in this comic, with the crime fighting action being matched by the human relationships and quality art as well.
8/10
Free PDF download for The Amazing Fist #1.
http://issuu.com/
You can contact Adam at [email protected] if you would like to buy a copy of The Amazing Fist #1.
http://www.facebook.com/amazingfist
https://twitter.com/spectaclepress
