Capsule Review Archive – Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
This review originally appeared on Goodreads on November 9, 2014.
Marvel 1602
By Neil Gaiman (Writer), Andy Kubert (Artist), Richard Isanove (Artist) – Marvel Universe – February 9, 2010
Review by Robin Marx
Written by Neil Gaiman, this interesting miniseries introduces a world where familiar Marvel characters (Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, several X-Men) are reimagined and placed in a historical setting.
The plot itself was mostly standard fare—time-travel has led to a disruption that threatens to destroy the universe—but it was very interesting to see the Elizabethan depictions of the characters. Part of this was the fun of catching the various references to modern day characters—some more subtle than others—but much of the appeal was seeing how the various characters were interpreted. Nicholas Fury as Queen Elizabeth's spymaster and the monastic X-men worked particularly well, but the Peter Parker and Bruce Banner equivalents (at least in this series; it looks like they're brought back in the spin-offs) seemed like they were mostly around for the “hey, it's that guy!” factor.
All-in-all, this was a fresh take on the Marvel Universe, and I look forward to reading the 1602 spin-offs.
★★★☆☆
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