Once the tale’s done, the book is closed and never opened again. Most alternate-universe stories are one-shots, meaning that they only appear in their own series. James’ mandate forces many characters to flee to the New World (another parallel to the creation of the United States).īut wait.

Even the non-powered heroes are branded criminals merely by association. No one is safe from his hatred of the witchbreed. Everything from delayed ships to stubborn noblemen was somehow a witch’s conspiracy meant to unseat him from his throne.ġ602’s James follows the same behavior.

They became his de facto reason when things didn’t go his way. In real life, James was obsessed with witches. However, while Queen Elizabeth is the story’s catalyst, things really pick up when James I ascends to the throne. A series of odd occurrences forces the Queen’s own Sir Nicholas Fury to commence his own investigation, which gets the ball rolling. The graphic novel takes inspiration from the 1600s by modeling the conflict on the courts of Queen Elizabeth and King James of Scotland. It would have been real easy to make these characters into caricatures, yet the development staff found a way to make the characters plausible in an entirely different era, which gives the story an organic feel that really sells the 1600s concept.īut it wouldn’t be a Marvel comic without high stakes, and 1602 delivers on that regard. Charles Xavier becomes Carlos Javier, protector of the “witchbreed” (aka mutants). Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four in the Mainstream Universe, now pilots the Fantastick ship as the captain of the prestigious Elizabethan scholars nicknamed the Fantastick Four. Doctor Victor von Doom is now Otto von Doom, Baron of Latveria. The rest of the Marvel Universe characters are given realistic and creative twists that adhere naturally to the posts and positions of the 1600s. Later on, Parquagh joins a traveling troupe as the Spider Man (a parallel to Mainstream Spidey’s attempt to make money by showing off his abilities on television). Peter Parker is now Peter Parquagh, whose interest in biology is a parallel to Mainstream Universe Peter Parker’s own teenage genius. For the most part, the novel succeeds in giving them roles that fit the era. Of course, the gimmick here is how modern-day Marvel characters act within the guidelines of the 1600s.

After much inspiration, Gaiman finally decided on what became a very interesting question: what if the Marvel superheroes existed in the Elizabethan age? Marvel’s 1602 graphic novel is the answer to that question. In 2001, newly appointed Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada approached legendary author Neil Gaiman to write a completely new Marvel comic series.