1602 - Neil Gaiman- any good?

spooydermot

hi there,
has anyone out there read the first volume of 1602 by Neil Gamain, is it any good? I was considering buying it but wanted to know if it was worth the cash?
thanks

Doubtful Donkey

Welllllllllllllll

Two kinds of people will like it. Gaiman fans will enjoy it because it's very....Neil Gaiman. You can tell he'd be bored writing something modern - but this really suits him.

Marvel heads will love it. DC Heads won't - because it requires a great deal of knowledge about various minor Marvel characters - but for the real Marvel fans its full of injokes and little asides.

Also - there's a pretty neat twist near the end.

Stay away from the current series thats being written by some not Gaiman though.

Fysh

The original series is quite good as a What If? type story. This was helped hugely because the artwork is very nice and suits the mood of the story very well. I'm in no way a huge Marvel fan but I know enough about it to spot the more obvious references. I'd imagine there's lots of fun for dedicated fans in there, in that respect. It's worth taking a look at the TPB and I agree that it's quite a neat way of getting Gaiman to write something with Marvel characters without making his head explode due to the sheer boredom of sticking to continuities, etc.

Still can't decide on the current series though. It doesn't feel like it has anywhere near the strength of storyline or theme that the original did, but on the other hand next issue sees the old version of Iron Man appearing. Which, I must admit, is tempting. What I'm dreading is the no-doubt convoluted explanation they'll give for why there are still hero-type characters in the 16th century when

once Rohjaz travelled through the singularity again, the rift in spacetime was meant to be resolved

. I'm also curious to see whether

Marvel actually use the dark end of the Age Of Heroes that Gaiman alluded to in the original story.

spooydermot

hmmm.....i'm not a huge fan of "What If's" because I'm kinda of the opinion that if your particular universe has reached the point where your saying 'what if' then perhaps its time to start telling new stories...

although I do recognise that this being Neil Gaimen the its probably more than a glorified 'what if'

I've read the first 2 issues of current series and it doesn't sit right with me, although that could be because I've not read vol 1


i think I'll give it a shot and see what happens...thanks guys!

Moogle

The current 1602 is not in the same league as the first. In my opinion, there is no beating the original creative team of Gaiman and Kubert and Marvel should have only done this series if those two were on board (which is unlikely since Kubert has moved to the Distinguished Competition).

MorningStar

You peaked my cusiosity so I had a bit of a re-read of it. I didn't really like it Gaimen has done a lot better. It felt very forced and I have no problems with what if stories. I am more DC personally so it could be a factor.
What ever you do avoid Stan Lee's take on DC. I know he helped develop the whole comic market but he is so cheesy
Excelcior

Moogle

I think the art carries it to a higher standard. You may not like the plot but you can't ignore the excellent Elizabethan versions of the characters.

The new series has an average story and art thats not bad but its wouldn't put the artist in a top ten list. That's just my opinion. It may pick up as it goes on. I hope so but I'm not holding my breath.

MorningStar

Moogle wrote:

I think the art carries it to a higher standard. You may not like the plot but you can't ignore the excellent Elizabethan versions of the characters.

True but if Alex Ross had done the whole lot I would have wet myself. Have Gaiman and Ross ever done a full comic together. (I dabble with comics mostly mainstream in fairness)

Moogle

I've checked up on Alex Ross and the only thing I can see in relation to Neill Gaiman is a Sandman pin up.

Full_Circle

Personally, I think its worth it for the art alone. Every page is so rich and warm and alive with colour. The story was interesting enough, but I get the feeling that Gaimans wild imagination was somewhat hindered by having to stick to Marvels already well established characters. And there were perhaps too many characters squeezed into the story for my liking.
But overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the marvel characters / universe, with the odd Gaiman twist

spooydermot

hey guys, thanks for the responses, I finished reading 1602 the other day and was not dissappointed, great art, great covers, will probably go looking for more Neil Gaimen stuff now.

One question though:

is the whole 'president for life' / 'gets sent back in time' thing part of an existing Captain America storline? I'm not really a fan of Captain America, so not sure.

Moogle

The answer to your question is no.