Customer Reviews

Marvel 1602: New World TPB

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The world of Marvel 1602 returns, this time the focus is on the "New World" (the Americas) and not Europe. The majority of the heroes from the first volume are gone, but here we see the rise of the likes of Spiderman, the Hulk and Ironman.

Synopsis: The Hulk stalks the New World to bring King James the head of Nick Fury, but hits a road block in the form of pack of titanic dinosaurs which for some reason stalk the Americas. Spiderman's powers develop and he gets a job working a printing press... just in time to battle the Hulk and his dinosaur buddies; good thing (Snowbird) is there to help him...

Meanwhile King James, now allied with Spain, sends his technologically adept ally to check up on the Hulk in the Americas. Back in the "New World" Osborne (the Green Goblin, but not in 1602) schemes against the Native Americans and tries to pit the colonists against them.

What ensues is a series of skirmishes and a clash of titans as Spiderman, Ironman and the Hulk all buttheads with giant lizards, angry colonists, the enforcers of King James and one another.

Pros: The 1602 world is just cool... if you love history and comics or comics set in alternate worlds, you should check this out. The art is creative and the writing, although not as spectacular as Gaiman's in the first volume, is equally inspired. Also, Ironman has such a cool design that this alone makes the book worth taking a gander at.

Cons: The story is not very complex and took me about 15 min.s to speed through and the majority of characters from the first 1602 book are gone. These two factors rob the New World volume of 1602 from the epic feel of the first.

Overall: I liked the book quite a bit, it was fun and unlike any other comic out there, except for the first volume of course... but in the end it was a bit light and breezy in terms of story, yet worth giving a chance.

This one will be a tough sell for Marvel... most people who will even bother to look at this book will do so because of its predecessor, Marvel 1602 by the sublime Neil Gaiman (written to help fund the liberation of the rites to Miracle Man from the unworthy clutches of Todd McFarlane). And here is where the problem lies: people will either just pan it straight up because Gaiman did not write it, or they will love it regardless because of their appreciation for the Marvel 1602 world Gaiman created in the first volume. If you have not read the first volume, I STRONGLY suggest that you do, even if you read this already and hated it, go read the first one and then re-read the second. It's worth it, in my opinion.

Marvel 1602: The New World is the second collection of stories in a world developed by master Neil Gaiman. I can't really say "created," because what Gaiman did was take a bunch of Marvel Comics heroes and re-cast them in England, circa 1602, as pilgrims and adventurers were just beginning to explore the New World. (And yes, there are dinosaurs, like on the cover there. It would take too long to explain, but it makes a kind of sense in the story.)

The first volume, by Gaiman and penciler Andy Kubert, was fantastic. This new collection of comics, from writer Greg Pak and penciler Greg Tocchini, is also very good, but where the Gaiman/Kubert book felt like a scrumptious four-course meal, this one felt more like a tasty candy desert.

But it's unfair to compare other writers to Gaiman, and doesn't do justice to the efforts of this creative team, who do a nice job taking over the reins. The story moves at a brisk, action-oriented pace, and involves new characters like the reimagined Iron Man (now Lord Iron, a sort of behemoth Conquistador in a suit of iron armor) and old friends who played minor roles in collection the first but come into their own here like The Hulk and The Spider (young lad Peter Parquagh.) Occasionally the action was a little hard to follow, but this was forgivable. And the storytellers really had a nice flair for surprise and suspense, which is always welcome in any genre.

I should also say, for the sake of journalistic integrity, that I'm a much greater fan of DC Comics than I am Marvel. For some reason, the Marvel universe has never appealed to me as much as the DC universe - perhaps because I came on board with comics fairly late, in college. (My parents did not think comics were suitable reading material when I was a boy, and it wasn't until college that my new comics-loving college friends got me hooked.) Marvel has always had its eye on the youth of America - after all, what is The Uncanny X-Men but the ultimate fantasy of disaffected, disenfranchised kids who dream of blossoming into something special and powerful? But that's not to say that I'm wholly unfamiliar with the Marvel universe - I'm too much of a geek wannabe to deliberately stay in the dark, and I pick up the odd collection here and there to stay somewhat current.

In some ways, this collection felt like a Greg Keyes novel, with many players coming together for a monumental fracas at the end. And when you're dealing with the likes of the Hulk and Iron Man, a monumental fracas is always a good thing. This book is a keeper, and I'll look for more collections if Marvel publishes more.

It is shame that Marvel did not take a bit more time with this book as it could have been good with some more thought. Unlike what some would say, there was nothing wrong with following up Gaiman's wonderful 1602. The reason this is not a strong follow-up is because the new team did not really play by the alternative history rules Gaiman set up and did not add anything to the 1602 concept by doing so. Most of the characters from 1602 are gone and the New World 1602 incarnations of characters from the Hulk, Spider-Man, and Iron Man are barely developed and sometimes just don't make sense (Green Goblin did not become an Elizabethan Green Goblin, just Osbourne).

The artwork is not stunning either. The Spider-Man concept looks silly. Iron Man could have been better too. This again could have been drastically improved with some more thought on the part of Marvel.

Neil Gaiman is a tough act to follow, and "Marvel 1602: New World" illustrates this point beautifully. Greg Pak tries to recapture Gaiman's magic, but for the most part this story offers little new in the 1602 universe. The Hulk, Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jamison characters never reach the potential that this brave new world presents to creators and readers alike. The one exception, and it is a significant one, is Iron Man. Those familiar with the current version of Tony Stark will not recognize this version. I would have loved to see more of this character in the storyline. Instead, Pak spent too much time with the Hulk, even though there are scenes where the character's involvement was inconsistent and confusing. When I first heard the title of this mini-series, I had imagined a young America with native American witchbreed forming the Avengers. Instead, I read a collection of scenes that often seemed to reinforce plot devices already covered in earlier passages, resulting in...something that will apparently be revealed in a sequel. A very dissatisfying story, overall.

This comic does a great job of picking up where Gaimain left off. It takes a few of the themes from the original 1602, as well as adding some of its own. It's a smaller, less 'epic' comic, but it's still a great read.

1602 opened a new idea for the Marvel universe and re-examined a set of familiar characters in light of the end of the Elizabethan era.

1604 sets up a comedy romp involving the Hulk, some dinosaurs and Iron Man as a steam engine. This is very silly and rather poor.

After reading the first Marvel 1602, I knew that I had to pick this one up as well. If you enjoyed Marvel 1602, read this one as soon as you can!