Marvel 1602
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| Marvel 1602 | |
 Dust jacket to 1602 hardcover edition, featuring from left to right: Matthew Murdoch, Virginia Dare, Rojhaz, Sir Nicholas Fury, and "John" Grey. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | Alternate History Superhero |
| Publication date | November 2003 - June 2004 |
| Number of issues | 8 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Neil Gaiman |
| Artist(s) | Andy Kubert Scott McKowen (covers) |
| Letterer(s) | Todd Klein |
| Colorist(s) | Richard Isanove |
| Creator(s) | Neil Gaiman |
| Editor(s) | Joe Quesada |
Marvel 1602 is an eight-issue comic book limited series published from November 2003 to June 2004 by Marvel Comics. The limited series was written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Andy Kubert, and digitally painted by Richard Isanove with Scott McKowen illustrating the hardcover edition scratchboard covers. The series is set in a timeline where many of the superheroes from the Earth-616 universe are born centuries before their original time and become leading figures of the Elizabethan era.
Contents |
[edit] Publication history
Neil Gaiman stated in an afterword to the series that he had always viewed the Marvel universe as "magic".[1] Editors Nick Lowe and Joe Quesada approached Gaiman after Quesada became Marvel's Editor in Chief with the intent for Gaiman to work on a project for Marvel. Gaiman eventually agreed to write a Marvel Comic in August 2001, although he wasn't sure what it would contain.[1] When the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred, Gaiman decided that he didn't want planes, skyscrapers, bombs or guns in his comic — "I didn't want it to be a war story, and I didn't want to write a story in which might made right – or in which might made anything."[1] On a trip to Venice soon after, Gaiman was struck by how the "past seemed very close at hand"; he returned from the trip knowing the story he wanted to tell.[2] The time was chosen because "it was a nice place to set the story. It gave me America and it gave me a lot of things that I wanted in terms of the way the world was changing. It also gave me the sense of wonder and magic."[3] Gaiman's vision was to address the heroes of the 1960s. "The territory doesn't go much further than 1969 in terms of the characters that I picked to use," Gaiman noted. "I couldn't get everybody in because there are an awful lot of Marvel characters."[3]
Gaiman described writing the series as odd, since he hadn't written comics in half a decade. The story was pared down as the size went from six 36-page chapters to eight 22-page segments. The profits of the series went to help fund his Marvels and Miracles LLC company, which is fighting for the rights to Marvelman.[3]
The series was also unusual in its illustrated presentation, as a technique called "enhanced pencils" was used, whereby the finished pencil drawings are forwarded to a colorist instead of to an inker first.[4]
Editor Nick Lowe noticed theater posters done by Scott McKowen and decided that the "engraving 'look' of the scratchboard would be interesting for the historical setting of this story."[5] Scratchboard is a technique where a sharp knife is used to scrape through a layer of black ink to a hard chalk surface underneath. In effect, the artist draw white lines on an all-black surface. All McKowen's illustrations were done by hand and then colored later in Photoshop.[5] For inspiration, McKowen looked at seventeenth-century engravings. He also added scrolls or flags to the covers for the "Marvel 1602" titles, basing the designs on Renaissance painting where scrolls are used to comment on the scenes depicted.[6]
The hardbound edition also features a scratchboard illustration depicting the main characters whispering discreetly to each other on the cover. The scene was based on a famous sketch of the men involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 against King James.[7] Since the characters are traitors in the eyes of King James, they are drawn in a similar fashion.[6]
The series was followed by two sequels, titled 1602: New World and Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four. The first, 1602: New World, takes place shortly after the end of 1602, with the heroes settling down in America. The series was written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Greg Tocchini, and was published from August 2005 - January 2006. The second sequel, Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four was written by Peter David and pencilled by Pascal Alixe and was published from November 2006 - March 2007. The story involves the Fantastick Four's adventures in London, the return of Otto Von Doom, and the "Four Who Are Frightful."
[edit] Plot
The story takes place in the year 1602 in the Marvel Universe, where, for an unknown reason, super-powered beings have appeared 400 years too early. [3] All over Europe, strange weather is provoking panic. Many believe the unnatural occurrences are the beginning of the Apocalypse. Dr. Stephen Strange, the court magician of Queen Elizabeth I, senses that there are unnatural forces at work. He also comes to learn that the secret treasure of the Knights Templar is being moved from Jerusalem to England, and Elizabeth orders her head of intelligence, Sir Nicholas Fury, to bring the weapon to England safely.
Fury in turn contracts Matthew Murdoch to rendezvous with the Templar guard and secure the weapon. On the road, Fury and his assistant, Peter Parquagh, are attacked by an assassin, whom Fury disables and locks in the Tower of London. Meanwhile, the ship Virginia Maid arrives in England from the New World, carrying the young Virginia Dare, the first child born in Roanoke colony, as well as her hulking Native American bodyguard Rojhaz. When a flying assassin tries to snatch Dare, Rojhaz quickly disables the killer, but Virginia has transformed into a white gryphon. Rojhaz subdues Virginia, and Strange bespells her to human form before Fury sees her transformed. She has strange shapeshifting powers, and Strange suspects she is the cause of the disastrous weather. Fury discovers Otto von Doom, ruler of Latveria, is behind the attempted killings, but is too late to stop one of Doom's machines from killing Elizabeth.
James VI of Scotland desires Elizabeth's throne, and with her death will rule both England and Scotland. James is distrustful of "witchbreed" and collaborates with Spanish High Inquisitor Enrique to blame the witchbreed of England, headed by Carlos Javier, for Elizabeth's death. Fury, although unwilling to capture Carlos and his students, is forced to take the witchbreed to the Tower. Strange has learned that the treasure of the Templars and its keeper Donal, and Murdoch, have been betrayed and are now in the hands of Doom. Strange also learns that Doom has been holding captive four heroes from the ship Fantastick, including Fury's friend Sir Richard Reed. Fury boards a ship levitated by Javier and his page John Grey across the continent.
Strange then finds himself on the moon where he meets the Watcher. He is told that the strange events are due to an anomaly that the Watcher calls the "Forerunner". The Forerunner is from the future and his presence in the past has disrupted reality to the point of impending annihilation of not only Strange's world but all other universes as well. The Watcher forces Stephen to enter a pact that will not allow him to repeat what he has learned for as long as he lives.
Fury, Javier and his witchbreed attack Doom's fortress, and the Fantastick Four are freed, with Donal's walking stick actually the true treasure. Donal uses it to become the Norse god Thor. The ship of fugitives then flees from James and travels to the New World. In Spain, Enrique is betrayed as a witchbreed himself and is to be burned at the stake with his young acolytes, Petros and Sister Wanda. Enrique breaks their bonds and the witchbreed escape on a ship of their own.
Strange is executed by James for his perceived betrayal, although his wife Clea retrieves his head and travels to America with Virginia and Rojhaz. Whereas Strange believed that Virginia was the Forerunner, Clea has guessed that it is actually her blond-haired, blue-eyed "Native" American companion.
Rojhaz is actually Steve Rogers, the superhero better known as Captain America. After fighting against a future fascist government in the 21st century, Rogers is captured and placed into a machine for execution, but is accidentally banished to the present timeline. His presence caused the future heroes to appear four centuries too early, and create a rift that will eventually destroy the universe.
James sends his advisor David Banner and Peter Parquagh to America with orders to kill Fury. Fury massacres most of their crew, but he is in despair since he failed to protect his Queen and is now a traitor. Back in England, Murdoch, who also escaped from Doom, breaks into James' palace on the night of his coronation and warns him in no uncertain terms of the consequences if anything should happen to Fury, or to Ireland.
The priest Donal turns to alcohol, unable to reconcile the existence of the pagan god with his faith. Rojhaz refuses to go back through the rift and wishes to build a better America from the beginning. Fury tricks Rojhaz by playing on the trust that Rogers has for the Nick Fury of his own time, and, knocking him unconscious, carries Rojhaz back through the rift into the future.
The rift then seals and the universe restores itself. Although this undoes the 1602 timeline, Uatu the Watcher is granted a "pocket universe" by his race in which the timeline still exists. The powered fugitives from King James decide to settle in the Roanoke colony, declaring it a free place for all. Intrigued by the continuing events, Uatu continues to watch the new universe.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Reception
The first issue of 'Marvel 1602' was ranked first in August 2003 period with pre-order sales of 150,569. [8]
Entertainment Weekly declared that the combination of writing and moody artwork meant "the Marvel Universe hasn't been this engrossing in ages."[9] ShakingThrough.net noted "It's not a senses-shattering Marvel epic, but then it's not meant to be. It's nothing more or less than a chance to enjoy reinterpretations of some familiar characters."[10] UGO Networks concurred, stating "there doesn't need to be a 'point' in re-imagining familiar icons — it's simply meant to be fun. [...] The result of 1602 is agreeable entertainment."[11] The series won several awards, including the Quill Book Award for Graphic Novels.[12] The first issue was also awarded the 2003 Diamond Distributors Gem Award as "Comic of the Year".[13]
Conversely, Time Magazine listed it as the worst comic of 2003,[14] although the list's composer later stated "he didn't actually mean it was the worst comic of the year." UGO's Darren Latta noted as a downside to the series that "the approach maybe a little too subdued at times." Latta also felt that despite being familiar with the setting, Gaiman never utilized the period to its full potential.[11] Others simply felt that Gaiman's involvement led to inflated expectations; one review noted that while reading "I [...] felt at times like maybe it was all a little bit too cute, a little bit too in-jokey."[15]
On the release of 1602, Comics Bulletin declared that ' This series is a victim of its own hype in that, even though the first issue is quite good, there’s no way it could live up to the LeBron James level of expectations surrounding it. ' [16]
[edit] Academic response
The University of Florida's James Fleming has written about 1602's use of the postmodern tradition, and how this is employed; both to respond to the post-9/11 world in which the comic was written; and to propose a new model of postmodernism better suited to the post-9/11 world. On the one hand, 1602 is clearly postmodern, depending as it does on the mixing of tropes of both Elizabethan fiction and contemporary comics. But Fleming focuses particularly on Gaiman's use of The Watcher as a witness that provides an epistemological grounding to the text - a grounding that, citing Brian McHale, Fleming argues is absent in traditional postmodern writing. [17]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Gaiman, Neil (2004-06-30). "Afterword", from Marvel 1602: page 1.
- ^ Gaiman, Neil (2004-06-30). "Afterword", from Marvel 1602: page 2.
- ^ a b c d Weiland, Jonah. (2003-06-27). "Marvel's '1602' Press Conference". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=2406. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ Lowe, Nick. "Pencils", from Marvel 1602.
- ^ a b McKowen, Scott. "Cover Process", from Marvel 1602: page 1.
- ^ a b McKowen, Scott. "Cover Process", from Marvel 1602: page 2.
- ^ McKowen, Scott. "Cover Process", from Marvel 1602: page 3.
- ^ "Top 300 Comics Actual--August 2003". icv2.com. 2004-09-16. http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/3489.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-16.
- ^ Jensen, Jeff (2003-09-05). "Book Capsule Review: 1602 (Summer 2003)". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,479888,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
- ^ "The Gentleman" (2005-08-13). "Somewhere in Time". ShakingThrough.net. http://www.shakingthrough.net/comics/reviews/2005/marvel_1602_2005.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ a b Latta, Darren (2004). "Featured Review: 1602 (Marvel Comics)". UGO Networks. http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/features/1602/. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ Quills Foundation (2005). "The Quill Awards: The 2005 Awards". TheQuills.Org. http://www.thequills.org/2005.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Brady, Matt (2004-03-31). "Diamond Names 2003 Gem Award Winners". Newsarama. http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11178. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
- ^ Arnold, Andrew (2003). "Time 2003 Best and Worst: Comics". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/bestandworst/2003/comics.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Lander, Randy (2003-07-10). "Snap Judgements: Marvel 1602". TheFourthRail.com. http://www.thefourthrail.com/reviews/snapjudgments/081103/marvel1602-1.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Dolan, Cody (2003-08-25). "1602 #1 Review". Comics Bulletin. http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/10618034887537.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
- ^ Fleming, James. "Incommensurable Ontologies and the Return of the Witness in Neil Gaiman's 1602." ImageTexT 4.1. [1]
[edit] External links
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