MARVEL 1602 [NEW PRINTING]

Admittedly expectations were going to be high when Neil Gaiman was signed to do a Marvel Comic. Gaiman's decision to create a unique vision of the Marvel universe set four hundred years in the past during the last days of the reign of Elizabeth Tudor, which certainly whetted my appetite to read this trade paperback collection of the mini-series. When you see Scott McKowen's scratchboard covers that ups the ante even more, and while there is certainly nothing wrong with Andy Kubert's art it is hard to look at those covers and not imagine the entire series done that way, even if it would take McKowen the rest of this decade to get it done.So "Marvel 1602" begins in the throne room of Elizabeth, by the Grace of God Queen of England, where Sir Nicholas Fury, the head of her intelligence organization and Stephen Strange, the court physician, are meeting with her Majesty on a stormy night. Something powerful being kept in the city of Jerusalem, a weapon perhaps, has been offered to Strange and he has arranged for it to be transported to England. Something is in the air and while the trio talk lightly about how it might be the end of the world it just might. Meanwhile, in the High Tower of the Palace of the Inquisition in Spain, a familiar mutant awaits execution and on a ship bound for England from colony of Roanoke with the young Virginia Dare and her large bodyguard Rojhaz. These are just the first of the many pieces that Gaiman puts into play.My initial thought while reading "Marvel 1602" was that he was overplaying his hand with his conceit of putting most of the original roster of Marvel superheroes into the time of Elizabethan England because he was working in a couple of dozen characters (including a couple of extremely familiar first line villains). I was thinking that he was simply juggling too many characters and that the best stories I have read putting familiar Marvel and DC superheroes in another place and another time have been fairly specific (e.g., Batman appearing in the London of Jack the Ripper). You might put an entire super group like the Fantastic Four into such a story, but in "Marvel 1602" Gaiman works in just about everybody and it would be easier to try and count on one hand the number of original Marvel characters who do not appear in these pages.But then we learn that Gaiman is going for something more than an alternative history version of the Marvel Universe. There are forces at work that explain why Matthew Murdoch, Carlos Javier, and Peter Parquagh are running around in Merry Olde England and parts of the Continent. This is important because how much you like "Marvel 1602" probably depends on how much you think of the prime cause. Ultimately I think it is an okay idea, especially since it forces Gaiman to skirt the origin issues (so to speak) for most of these characters, and what there is often smacks of necessary convenience. However, if there is one thing we know about Neil Gaiman it is that the best way to appreciate his work is usually to look at it from a mythological perspective.That perspective is important because ultimately what matters about the time period that Gaiman has picked is not the existence of the Inquisition and the strong parallels that immediately exists between religious persecution back then and the persecution of mutants that has always been a strong undercurrent (if not tsunami) in the world of the X-Men, but rather that this was the beginning of the epoch in human history where the Old World gave way to the new one that was being created in the Americas. That makes Virginia Dare the pivotal character in "Marvel 1602," and the second time through reading it pay attention to the character more as a symbol.The final irony is that the more I appreciate the symbolism of Virginia Dare, the more I think it undermines the grand conceit of dressing up so many Marvel superheroes in Elizabethan garb. Instead I found myself wanting Gaiman to start over and basically begin with Virginia Dare and Rojhaz sailing on the ship to visit Queen Bess and not involve the other characters. Or, conversely, to leave the pair from Roanoke out of the picture and keep the focus on the Euorpean stage. Granted, each time we read "Marvel 1602" there will be more to unpack from Gaiman's storyline, but while it is quite interesting it does not rise to the heights of "Watchman" (insert your own classic graphic novel standard if you want) and I certainly do not overly interesting in seeing what Greg Pak and Greg Tocchini come up with following in the shoes of Gaiman and Kubert in "1602: New World."

Yes

Neil Gaiman has made a career out of stories - not just telling them, although of course he's done that too. No, Gaiman has always been fascinated by the power of stories - how they can shape our day to day lives, how they guide us and determine our character, and so much more. So it's no surprise that his Marvel mini-series Marvel 1602 (with gorgeous illustrations by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove) deals with stories as well, all arising from a simple "what if?" idea: what if the Marvel universe started not in the mid-twentieth century, but at the beginning of the 1600s?A fun idea, and for a lot of the length of Marvel 1602, the comic is a treat just to see how Gaiman and company have brought these characters to life in recognizable ways while still making them utterly defined by the time period. We recognize the X-Men, even if they are labeled as creatures of witchcraft and hunted by the Inquisition. We know Nick Fury, even if he's working as a spymaster of sorts for Queen Elizabeth and the idea of "S.H.I.E.L.D." doesn't even exist. The blind bard who's more than capable of handling himself without vision? We know him, too, even if the comic never explicitly calls him Daredevil. Again and again, Gaiman illustrates our knowledge and familiarity with these characters by seeing how much he can change them and yet leave them the same on a fundamental level. (I haven't spoiled all the appearances in here; suffice to say, Gaiman packs the frames with quite the array of Marvel icons, including one whose name in the series, once I finally realized who it was, made me laugh quite a bit.)But if all Marvel 1602 gave us was a glorified What If? comic, that wouldn't really make it as engaging as it is. Instead, Gaiman focuses in very specifically on this time and place - a change in the English monarchy, and a lot of fear of the supernatural - but more than that, makes the question of "why this time?" not just speculative, but part of the story itself. And indeed, as it unfolds, and we realize what's led to this, it allows Gaiman to play with richer ideas about the notion of heroism, the role of heroes in our own lives, and what it means to be...well, that would be a spoiler. (But it's such a neat idea!) No, Marvel 1602 isn't the kind of comic book that transcends the typical Marvel audience. This is a superhero story, even if it is one that takes place in the 1600s. But what it is is a wonderful reminder of just how many ways there are to tell a familiar story, and a fantastic exploration of archetypes, tropes, and ideas that have become larger than the characters that gave birth to them. (It is, in many ways, to Marvel as a whole what Into the Spider-Verse was to Spider-Man - a reminder that stories are about so much more than just the one person they seem to be about.)

I like the concept, and the art is decent although a bit light when it comes to backgrounds and settings. The story feels a tad brisk, skimming through the plot with knowing winks to fit well-known characters and backstories into a medieval world. The characters are basically still themselves but in ye olde costume, which I think is a missed opportunity to shake up roles and allegiances. I would have liked to see more of the world, more characters, and more of the ways their powers and the period would react against each other. But the basic plot device is solid and resolves well. It could have been so much more, and while the character art and movement is fine, and the storytelling easy to follow, I wish we could have seen more of the world and the period, and perhaps more characters and cameos.

I’ve just finished reading this and I loved it! It really helped me learn a lot about Marvel characters I’m not really familiar with like Matt Murdoch, Dr Otto and Clea! Full of twists and turns you don’t always see coming, Gaiman really gave us a sense of what an alternate history full of superheroes would be like! Yes, in those days they would be considered witches by some and phenomenons by others, which also reflects well on the modern attitudes of a lot of characters within the X-Men universe. Genius! I’m especially glad that it was written by Gaiman because being British he knew exactly how to portray Elizabethan slash Jacobean England!

This is the Marvel universe set in the 1600's and it's really very good and the story is good as well. This is possible one of the best comic novels I have read and I read a lot (and I'm over 50) so this is definitely about 6 hours worth of reading with tremendous artwork. I would recommend this to anyone.

This re-imagining of the Marvel characters appearing in the 15th century is as close to genius as comics ever get.The characters fit their storylines well and that story keeps you interested and involved right through to the last frame. The artwork is as good as the plot and the redesign of the characters to fit their Elizabethan personas is good.All in all. highly recommended.

I couldn’t stop reading this till the tale was done. Magnificent story, magnificent artwork; well worth the price. One of the best graphic novels that I’ve read and on par with The Sandman series.