Amazing Age

Amazing Age is a fun book, a colorful superhero adventure based on comics and characters the writer created when he was a boy.The story follows a boy named Sam who makes comics about superheroes based on his friends. Flash forward a few years, and those same friends do not associate with each other any more and Sam has not made any comics in the years since his dad died. Amazingly, those three former stalwarts all get teleported to a world where those old comics were set, and they find that the characters from those old stories are real.

 

The supervillains there have banded together in a nefarious plot to kill all the superheroes, and the trio are brought in because they are the greatest heroes that planet has ever seen. Saving the world is a huge burden for these teens, who have not spoken in years, don't know how to use their powers, and really just want to go home. Not only do they need to resolve their own personal dynamics, they need to avoid the dire machinations of the evil villains who want to annihilate them.

What I liked about this book is that it hearkened back to the kinds of all-ages superhero comics I liked as a child. There are silly acronyms, a plethora of super-powered characters, and high stakes adventure. It also has a fun, gripping plot, good characterizations, and interpersonal situations that I feel are relatable for children and adolescents alike. Also, I enjoyed that these are superhero comics that are not so bombastic or sexualized, as sometimes they are wont to be.

This book was a collaboration between writer Matthew D. Smith, artist Jeremy Massie, and colorist Christine Brunson. Smith and Massie have worked on other comics together, including Blood-Drenched Creature Double Feature. Massie has a few solo titles to his credit, including All My Ghosts and a quirky superhero tale called The Deadbeat. Brunson has colored a number of comics over the years, as well as writing the webcomic Undead Norm.

I did not find many reviews of this comic online, but the ones I did locate were very positive. Warren Elliot wrote, "The art continues to nicely blend realism with cartoonish fun, giving Amazing Age a very appealing Silver Age look!" Rachel Bellwoar rated it 4.7 out of 5 stars and summed it up as "nostalgic catnip, right up there with Stand By Me and Stranger Things in the 80's friendship department."

Amazing Age was published by Alterna Comics, and they have more info about the book here. This collection collects the five issue limited series released serially. It also has copious back pages that show the characters as originally drawn by Smith when he was a boy, which reminded me of my own drawings at a similar age.

I bought the first issue off the rack at my local Toys R Us (RIP), when it was in black and white and on newsprint. That format sparked my sense of nostalgia, but this trade paperback is in full color and on glossy paper, which I feel suits it better. I met the creators this summer at HeroesCon, and they were nice enough to sign my copy of the book. I think it's a good read, so go out and buy it already :)