I give this graphic novel point for trying, but ultimately thumbs down.
For some stupid reason I thought there’d be some actual history. There’s about as much as in your average Black Adder episode. That’s fine, though, so what about the story? Here’s where I was surprised. Neil Gaiman is one of the biggest names around and he’s respected as this genius storyteller. I found the story of 1602 to be (if I may be blunt) retarded. A half-assed little chase stapled on to the end of this larger “world.” The selling point is simply seeing the Marvel Universe re-imagined for the 17th Century. That’s it, that’s the whole idea. And, as such, this will only be really appealing to true Marvel obsessives who catch every easter egg and get every reference. For the casual fan it isn’t all that exciting.
The artwork is quite nice, though. And Dr. Strange is cool in any century.
