MARVEL, GAIMAN TALK 1602

[MattBrady]

Friday afternoon, Marvel held a press conference to discuss Neil Gaiman’s 1602 miniseries, which launches in August. Already known to be the Marvel Universe set in the year 1602, more details were revealed as the conference progressed.

For the previously released teaser images, click here





Marvel released the following information regarding the miniseries:

"1602 is an 8-issue mini, set in a Marvel Universe in which, for reasons which will take a while to uncover, the whole Marvel Universe is starting to occur 500 years early: Sir Nicholas Fury is head of the Queen's Intelligence, Dr Stephen Strange is her court physician (and magician), the Inquisition is torturing "witchbreed", many of whom have taken sanctuary in England under the wing of Carlos Javier, and now a mysterious treasure -- which may be a weapon of some kind -- is being sent from Jerusalem to England by the last of the Templars. Something that may save the world, or destroy it, which has already attracted the attention of such people as Count Otto Von Doom (known as "The Handsome")...

"It's a race against time in a world in which time is the enemy --

"It's not a What If or an Elseworlds. And it's really fun..." - Neil Gaiman

- Interior images are by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove, cardstock covers are by Scott McKowen.

8-issue monthly limited series from Marvel Knights debuting 8/13 (7/24 final order cut-off for retailers).

First issue is 40 pages, all subsequent issues 32 pages. All 8 issues are cover-priced $3.50 (each).

Press Conference

At the opening of the conference, Gaiman explained the high concept of the miniseries, saying that while it may look like an Elseworlds, it isn’t. It’s a world where “the might world of Marvel has come into existence 400 years early for reasons that will become apparent as the series progresses.”

As such, there will be analogues to popular Marvel characters, including Sir. Nocholas Fury, the guardian to the Queen, and Dr. Stephen Strange. Children showing tremendous powers will appear – the “witch breed” who will be forced into exile from their native England to a mysterious Dr. Xavier.

By the end of the first issue, a threat that may be the end of the world or a great treasure – has appeared, and Fury must send one of his trusted agents, the Irish balladeer Matthew Murdock to seek out answers.

Gaiman said that things will become apparent – “how the world got this way, and how they can get it back” as things progress.

When asked if the proceeds will still fund Marvels and Miracles, LLC, in order to fight Gaiman’s legal battle for Miracleman, Gaiman said that is still the case.

Quesada said that matching Gaiman with the project was fairly easy – the two met thanks to Stuart Moore, allowing Gaiman to plant a seed of an idea, although Gaiman said that Quesada tried to convince him to write the next Secret Wars.

Gaiman explained that his idea for the story was hugely influenced by a trip he took to Italy just after meeting with Quesada. He spent a day in Venice, and decided that whatever he was going to write for Marvel would not have skyscrapers or cars, or any modern things. When he returned to the states and pulled the idea threads together, Gaiman called Quesada and asked if anyone had tried to do something like he was pitching before. Quesada said no, which cleared the way for Gaiman.

Marvel President Bill Jemas added that when he learned they would be working with Gaiman, he bought and started reading American Gods, thinking it would take him a month to read it. After completing it in a weekend, Jemas said that he was more excited than ever, saying that Gaiman is able to get to the core of icons in his work, and was extremely enthusiastic to see what Gaiman could do with the Marvel icons.

When asked, Gaiman said that he would be doing another project for Marvel, and will start discussing it with them later this summer.

Gaiman said “We’ll see” to 1603 - hinting that it might give too much away to discuss too much about sequels.

Gaiman said that there will be some historical facts that he’ll be pulling into the miniseries’ story, including the missing Roanoke colony (which completely disappeared from the early American coastline, with only the word “Cro” of "Croatoan" scratched on a tree to suggest they were ever there) as such, Virginia Dare (who disappeared along with the colony, and was the first baby born in America of English descent in the new world) will play a role in the story as well - which in and of itself has implications. Virginia dissappeared when she was less than three years old.

The miniseries grew from six issues to eight while Gaiman was in the midst of writing issue #2, but still had to remove some historical facts and characters. Gaiman said that the X-Men analogues of the miniseries will be the originals, although he said that there will be a switch – of sorts – “Master John Grey” who will be an obvious woman dressed as a man.

As for other characters, Gaiman said that he ended around 1969 in regards to when characters originally debuted – although there are many others included for those who look. Iron Man/Tony Stark, Gaiman explained won’t be in the miniseries, as he just couldn’t find a way to make him work to his satisfaction.

In regards to the events of 1602 effecting the overall Marvel Universe, Gaiman gave a solid, “wait and see.” He also added that there will be a good amount of religious activity going on in the miniseries, but religion, or religious persecution of the different will not be the focus. The increased religious activity will be seen because, according to Gaiman, religion was a larger part of daily life. Gaiman said that readers would see the X-Men in their chapel praying, because that’s what people at that time would do.

Gaiman said that there are clues in the first issue to the Fantastic Four, in the form of “The Ballad of the Fantastic,” which Matthew Murdock sings.

The writer said that the Arthurian legend would not play a role in the story – “there’s such a thing as over-egging the pudding,” Gaiman said.

When pressed on why he chose the particular time to set the story, Gaiman said that “it was a nice place for a story, and it gave me America,” as well as “a sense of wonder and magic.” Gaiman cited the very simple fact of the time it would take to travel from one location to another as something that altered the whole view of the world that modern readers would have to understand.

Gaiman also added that originally, he didn’t intend to keep the title “1602,” and was using it almost as a working title, but everyone started to like it. Gaiman joked that he came to like it as well, saying that it sounds better than 1601 and 1597.

In regards to characters, Gaiman said that in adapting them to a different time, he’s come to appreciate and like characters he never thought he would, such as Nick Fury – “He’s bigger, he’s older, he’s tougher – he’s absolutely ruthless. And a joy to write.”

Gaiman also said that he’s enjoying writing Dr. Strange, as well as a young Peter Parker, who may never get bitten by a spider. “He’s completely out of his depth, and a terribly nice person.”

But no – there won’t be a Wolverine analogue. Gaiman said that the era of the story isn’t Wolverine, although he would have loved to have been able to include him. Otherwise, Gaiman said that he didn’t feel like he missed anybody.

Gaiman said that the “family” feel of Marvel appealed to him now, but as a kid, he found it very frustrating growing up in England. The writer said that there were two rules to Marvel comics when he was a kid: 1) every Marvel comic was continued in another Marvel comic, and 2) you would never find that comic.

Gaiman joked that he can still worry about Spider-Man getting out of 1963 deathtraps that he never read the conclusion to.

When asked if Thor would be in the miniseries, Gaiman replied, “What an interesting question.”

Count Doom will play a role in the story as well, as a villain who is known as “The Handsome.” The head of the Inquisition, according to Gaiman is a villain he opted not to name, saying that most readers will figure out who it is in the first two issues.

It was revealed that the images show Fury and Dr. Strange walking out of the palace, while Gaiman said that the 1602 analogue of Daredevil would be perhaps the toughest one for people to find.

Gaiman said that while he did not formulate the series to be relevant to current day events, he said that in March, he did have an eerie feeling, shortly after he wrote about his characters invading a small country in search of weapons.

Gaiman said that he wrote 1602 to be very accessible, and opted to jettison the idea of writing it in accurate Elizabethan dialogue. The decision came in October when Gaiman spoke with inner city kids in Chicago who had been given copies of “A Midsummer Nights Dream” which he collaborated upon with Charles Vess. Realizing that the kids missed much of the dialogue, he chose to write it in modern English.

Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada echoed Gaiman’s sentiment, saying that the story is a fun romp, and an all-ages story that will appeal to Marvel fans as well as those who don’t know a Spider-Man from a Black Widow.

Miracleman: When asked about Miracleman, Gaiman said that Marvels & Miracles has licensed the character to Randy Bowen to create a Miracleman statue, in repose, partly to Todd McFarlane’s statue which will soon be released as an action figure. “We want to show, ‘No, no – Miracleman doesn’t clench.” Gaiman said.

Gaiman said that he’s going to be doing “much too much” press in the coming weeks in advance of his August-September releases, including a Publisher’s Weekly insert, an article in Entertainment Weekly, and a “giant media blitz” for all of his coming works. “People will be completely sick of me by October,” he joked.

[swol]

I am confused.

They say that this is not a What If style story.
BUT...you have established characters , persumably with their usual abilities, set in another time.

How is this not like about 1/2 of DC's Elseworlds titles?

Can anybody clarify this for me?

[StoneGold]

OK, now I don't know jack really about this, but this seems to be something more like a Heroes Reborn kind of situation. It's not an Elseworlds, not a What If?, because this is the Marvel Universe, just something screwed it up, made things happen a couple of centuries too early.

Actually, and again, not having read any of it, it sounds a little bit like when, who was it, Shumah Gorath? turned the world into a Conan the Barbarian-like place, and everyone got swords and long hair.

Then again, I'm just making this crap up.

[Starpilot]

Well, at least we have some real information to go by now when making the purchase decision.

But still, how can this not be an "Elseworlds" type story?

I'm sure denying that it is is just Marvel's way of not marginalizing the story and discouraging potential buyers. With Gaiman at the helm, I don't think there's any danger of that.

[whoME?]

I think it really bites that Marvel and Gaiman revealed the story of 1602. I was really anticipating coming to this story without any pre-conceived notions about its nature.

Now... well, i'm still looking forward to it, but i'm disappointed that Marvel couldn't (more like wouldn't) keep this secret.

[lorbaat2]

For something that their saying has "never been done before", this sounds an awful lot like the 3-issue miniseries "Avatars: Covenant of the Shield", which starred medieval/fantasy versions of most of the Avengers, X-Men, etc.

Don't get me wrong, that miniseries was pretty mediocre, and I'm sure that Gaiman's is going to be a million times better but... wow. When the EIC can't remember projects from that recently, there's something amiss...

[GMSLegion]

Originally posted by MattBrady
as such, Virginia Dare (who disappeared along with the colony, and was the first baby born in America) will play a role in the story as well...

First baby born in America? That was a neat trick. Reckon all them papooses carried around by the injuns were dropped off by storks?

[MindTricked]

Hot Damn! I'm soooooooo looking forward to this... and that art gave me a shiver. This is certainly ambitious as hell... especially if it ties into the current MU. Still, too bad they couldn't keep this a secret - I would have loved to have picked up the first issue completely clueless. Ah well.

[CaptainTemerity]

Yeah, I'm with the group. I would've been happier going in blind.

Serves me right for reading things like Previews, Wizard, and a comics fan site.

[KingStalin]

I can not wait. His avoiding of talking aobut Thor makes me thing the Asgardians have something to do with the marvel universe starting too early. I plan to get all the issues and then the hardcover which will probablly be fabulous. Cheers to marvel. It's stuff like this that makes it hard to be mad at them for other mistakes.

[Davy]

Sounds great. Can't wait.

Also, just a note, Matt. The bottom image doesn't link to the picture shown, but instead to a pseudo-comics ad featuring Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Davy

[BriRi]

I believe the quote was:

Virginia Dare (who disappeared along with the colony, and was the first baby born in America of English descent in the new world)

[Eric Yonge]

Hey, you gotta give Marvel credit for keeping it a secret for THIS long. They did a good job of teasing readers and getting people wondering with excitement. At least that's the impression I got from the message boards. With 1602 coming out in just a little while, I think it's okay that they gave us this information... although some people might appreciate a big spoiler warning. I highly doubt that what we've read here is going to ruin major surprises. This really just sets the stage, as far as I'm concerned. I'm really looking forward to this!!

-Eric

[psycha]

Originally posted by swol
I am confused.

They say that this is not a What If style story.
BUT...you have established characters , persumably with their usual abilities, set in another time.

How is this not like about 1/2 of DC's Elseworlds titles?

Can anybody clarify this for me?

I think it's basically just characters who resemble the Marvel Heroes but who aren't the actual Marvel heroes themselves. So it would sort of be as if the existence of these 1602 characters during the Elizabethan were prophetic of the things that came to be in the Marvel Universe.

Just guessing, anyways.

[Erik K]

Originally posted by swol
I am confused.

They say that this is not a What If style story.
BUT...you have established characters , persumably with their usual abilities, set in another time.

How is this not like about 1/2 of DC's Elseworlds titles?

Can anybody clarify this for me?

Well, Neil Gaiman probably can, but I'm not sure he'd tell you. Read it when it comes out. Or don't. Gaiman has pulled some amazing rabbits from his hat in the past, so I'm contented to go for the ride without getting all upset up continuity or "imaginary".

[MattBrady]

and clarified the Virginia Dare bit...

MattB

[ajabby]

Originally posted by GMSLegion
First baby born in America? That was a neat trick. Reckon all them papooses carried around by the injuns were dropped off by storks?

Doesn't it say "of English Descent"?

[Barry]

<< First baby born in America? That was a neat trick. Reckon all them papooses carried around by the injuns were dropped off by storks?>>

You somehow managed to conveniently ingnore the part where he said "of English descent in the new world".

[Barry]

<
Now... well, i'm still looking forward to it, but i'm disappointed that Marvel couldn't (more like wouldn't) keep this secret.>>

Then why on earth did you read this article? Did you honestly think that they wouldn't reveal any plot details?

[Kevin T. Brown]

I was fairly excited about this project until it was revealed what the storyline was going to be. Now I'm fairly ambivalent about it and rather torn as to whether I'll even buy the darn thing. With Andy Kubert is doing the artwork, I'll have to basically flip a coin. What used to be a considered a "must buy" by me, is now a "we'll see".

[Duke Stratosphere]

Originally posted by MattBrady
"1602 is an 8-issue mini, set in a Marvel Universe in which, for reasons which will take a while to uncover, the whole Marvel Universe is starting to occur 500 years early: Sir Nicholas Fury is head of the Queen's Intelligence, Dr Stephen Strange is her court physician (and magician), the Inquisition is torturing "witchbreed", many of whom have taken sanctuary in England under the wing of Carlos Javier, and now a mysterious treasure -- which may be a weapon of some kind -- is being sent from Jerusalem to England by the last of the Templars. Something that may save the world, or destroy it, which has already attracted the attention of such people as Count Otto Von Doom (known as "The Handsome")...

Sounds like fun, especially since Gaiman is writing it.

Originally posted by MattBrady
"It's not a What If or an Elseworlds. And it's really fun..." - Neil Gaiman

I'm confident that if anyone can make this work without it coming off as hokey it's Gaiman (or Alan Moore).

Originally posted by MattBrady
Gaiman also said that he’s enjoying writing Dr. Strange...

I'd buy a Gaiman-penned Doctor Strange in a heartbeat.


All this and for a good cause to boot? Add it to my pull list!

[MerrickM]

__________

[The Marvel]

I was more interested before I knew what it was about.

Now it just sounds like a "What If?" that they're trying to Not pass off as a "What If?"

Given most of the other recent Big Decisions at Marvel, I'm not really inclined to care much about this.

[psycha]

Or perhaps it could be that the Marvel heroes pre-existed during the Elizabthen times and after death, had been reborn or re-emerged into the current times, but wihout having any memories of their past lives. But then they probably wouldn have known of their previous existence from learning history that applies to the Marvel Universe. I mean, it would be pretty hard for super heroes to go unnoticed in history. But then again, historians could have then assume that the existence of such super heroes were just old myths.

Although I think my previous guess might be more accurate. Because it doesn't sound like Gaimann had given the characters any of their current powers.

[doom]

looks good to me. i am a big gaiman fan.