For a story so focused on the New World, the only “indigenous” character we get is Steve Rogers (Brooklyn born!). But it is definitely not executed well or with consideration. The concept of Steve Rogers being stranded in the past and taken in by a native tribe is not inherently bad (tribe never named! come on, Gaiman, at least tell us if they were Roanoke, Algonquin, Hatteras, or some other local tribe–it was very easy to Google all that, imagine the details I could have had with actual research!). Steve Rogers as an American Indian speaking broken English and wearing native garb, uhhhhh this does not age well. I wasn’t super happy about the way it portrayed Black Widow (as an opportunistic betrayer), but the real concern is SPOILERS Steve Rogers, who has been masquerading as “Rojhaz,” Virginia Dare’s protector. This comic was entertaining and compelling, with a pretty huge flaw at its center. Most of the superheroes by the end flee across the Atlantic for varying reasons, but mostly for sanctuary from Britain and James I.
It’s kind of fun to see a British perspective on the idea of America (which as we are learning, if we didn’t know before, is very flawed). He as a British man seems to be obsessed with the very concept, going by really, well, all of his fiction. In this world, the lost colony of Roanoke survived, but her father has sent her to petition the queen for more colonists and resources, lest the new world and its dangers (which include dinosaurs) consume them. It’s a time of transition, and on her way from the New World accompanied by her blonde Native American servant, Rojhaz (the colonists assume one of the Vikings left some of his genes behind with the indigenous people), is Virginia Dare. The Fantastic Four are lost to legend, presumed dead, and Victor von Doom conspires to take power. James I of Scotland is heir to the throne, and all mutants (called witchbreed, here) are in serious trouble if the Queen dies. We’ve also got the Inquisition running around, and familiar faces using it as a cover, as well as Carlos Javier and his school for select gentleman aka mutants, in hiding from the Inquisition. Stephen Strange is a magician, and the Queen relies on him for advice and other various magical tasks. The basic premise here is: What if Marvel Superheroes, but in late Elizabethan England? Nick Fury is the Queen’s spymaster, and Peter Parquah (un-superpowered) his errand boy. I definitely liked it more this time, and got more out of it, but there was some stuff that was sort of perplexing and things that bothered me. 1602 was an okay read for me at the time, but I remembered almost nothing about it before picking it up again. The First Avenger would be released three months later. The first time I read this I wasn’t very well-versed in comics, in the Marvel universe in particular, or in Gaiman’s work.
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