Notes on 1602 #2

(The text here, except where otherwise credited, is © copyright 2003 Jess Nevins, and may not be duplicated, in part or in whole, without my permission).

Cover. This is a hedge maze. In the 17th century English kings and queens began building them as amusement parks; a notable one is at Hampton Court Palace, the royal palace on the Thames to the west of London. I’m sure I’ve seen an image quite look this, and that this cover is an homage, but I don’t recall to what, exactly.

Bill Stiteler says, “This is, of course, a Labyrinth, which in the Greek mythos, had a monster, the  Minotaur, in the middle. This cover has Virginia Dare in the center.”

Kelvin Green says, "the little arabesque twirl behind the title is different to the one on the cover of #1. It's a little more complex now and twists over itself on the right-hand side. I doubt this reflects anything in the plot itself, but you never know..."

Page 1. “By the grace of God” is the traditional postscript to the names of England’s kings and queens. Julian Darius says, ""The honor" in Fury's closing is the honor of having been knighted, and thus the right to call one's self "sir.""

Page 2. Panel 3. “Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis” is an actual Latin quote, often attributed to Ovid. The ever-useful Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable attributes the saying to Nicholas Borbonius, a 16th century Latin poet.

“Master Carolus Javier’s Select College for the Sons of Gentlefolk” is an analogue for Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, which in the Marvel Universe is the school where Professor Xavier teaches mutant children and which also serves as the headquarters for the X-Men.

Mike Robinson says, "Neil is having a gentle poke at the Americans with his naming of Javier, as this is the correct pronouniation of Xavier; i.e. it shouldn't be pronounced 'X-avier' as most people seem wont to do but rather 'Hh-vier'!"

Panel 4. This figure is an analogue for Henry McCoy. In the Marvel Universe Henry McCoy is the blue-furred and brutish-looking Beast, a mutant and member of the X-Men. Bill Stiteler, among a few others, including Alexx Kay, want me to explain that the Beast wasn't always blue-furred, and that when he first appeared he was human-looking, more or less.

Panel 5. McCoy’s volubility here is a reference to the Marvel Universe’s Beast, who is equally talkative. 

Just a bit of clarification for the comments for p. 3, panel 1:
The date of the publication of the word "Dinosauria" (and hence the vernacular "dinosaur") was 1842, by Sir Richard Owen. The context was  the print version of a presentation done the previous year on "British Fossil Reptiles" for the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In that paper, Owen notes that three fossil reptiles (Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus) were distinct from all the other known creatures by a unique combination of anatomical features (such as upright hindlimbs), "all manifested by creatures far surpassing in size the largest existing reptiles, will, it be presumed, be deemed sufficient ground for establishing a distinct tribe or sub-order of Saurian Reptiles, for which I would propose the name of Dinosauria."

(Incidentally, the footnote for this section of Owen 1842 clearly indicates that he defined "deinos" as "fearfully great" (i.e., scary big) rather than simply "terrible" as normally used.)

And the comments already on their are correct: it wasn't until the 1870s that complete dinosaur fossils were known, and of course the majority of known fossil dinosaur species were not discovered until after 1900.

Page 4.  Panel 2. “The last man to tell me that was King James of Scotland.”
King James was famous for his opposition to tobacco, as his 1604 essay “A Counterblaste to Tobacco” shows. Kelvin Green adds, "Marvel (and other comic companies) have recently been running anti-smoking ads in their comics, making Javier's comment here a nice coincidence."

Page 5. Panel 1. Bill Stiteler says, “Of whom is this statue in the garden... a cloaked figure extending a hand. The Inquisitor, perhaps, reflecting a former partnership between him and Javier?” Chris Harris (and M.) wonders if it is coincidence that the figure looks like Destiny from Sandman. (Gaiman's most successful work, Sandman, features an anthropomorphized Destiny who looks like this statue).

Panel 2. “Sometimes I dream of building a room in which dangers would come from nowhere. Can you imagine? An intelligent place, in which a hundred perils hide, to teach them to fight as a team.”
Javier here is dreaming of a version of the Danger Room, which in the Marvel Universe is the training room, full of hidden dangers, for the X-Men.  

Panel 3. It seems that the amazingly bleedin' obvious is worth commenting on, according to my correspondents, so...the uniforms of Javier's men are similar to those of the X-Men in the Marvel Universe. Mark Coale notes that the costumes are similar to the Silver Age (that is, 1960s) uniforms of the X-Men, but that "young master Grey" is wearing a costume with the colors of the Phoenix, the very powerful cosmic entity who was...um...it's a bit too complicated to get into now. Let's just say that for a short while Jean Grey turned into the Phoenix rather than Marvel Girl.

Mark Schryver points out that the nationalities of Javier's students are European, while the Silver Age X-Men are all American. Mark goes on to say, "Gaiman said in an interview somewhere that, when reading his stuff, you should always pay attention to the names. Tiny details accreting into a greater whole is one of the man's specialties."

Page 6. Panel 1. There is a Bleeding Heart Inn in London, on Greville Street.

Note that the feathers of Rojhaz’s head almost form a star, similar to the one on the Captain America’s chest and shield.

Page 8. Panel 1. Lombardy is a region in northern Italy. Neil Gaiman, in his weblog, pointed out that this was supposed to be Picardy, in France, not Lombardy.

The song Matthew is singing is obviously part of the Ballad of the Fantastick mentioned in issue #1.  

Panel 2. “Natasha” is the 1602 analogue for Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, a former Soviet/Russian spy now turned heroine.

Julian Darius points out, "The notion that Matthew Murdoch is a poor singer seems universal; it was also shared by those in the Moor's Head in the previous issue...."

Page 9. Panel 1. Kelvin Green, among others, points out that Matthew and Natasha's flirtation here is a reflection of their relationship in the Marvel Universe, in which they are on-again off-again lovers.

Page 10. In the Marvel Universe Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, got his enhanced senses (and was rendered blind) when he was struck in the face by a cylinder of radioactive materia. (This happened when he was a child and threw himself in the road to shove an old man out of the way of a speeding truck).

Page 11. Panels 1-3. Natasha is knitting a pattern in the shape of a spider’s web. 

Panel 2. “And besides, with my husband dead....”
In the Marvel Universe Natasha Romanov’s husband was a test pilot (who later became the costumed Red Guardian); the KGB told Natasha that he was dead, and so she went to work for the KGB as the Black Widow.  

Panel 4. “Latveria,” in the Marvel Universe, is a made-up country which is the home of Dr. Doom. Latveria borders on Hungary and Serbia.

Page 12. Panel 3. Rocket Robin Hood points out that von Doom takes responsibility here for whatever happened to the 1602 analogues of the Fantastic Four.

Panels 3-4. The over-inflated rhetoric of Count Otto von Doom is quite similar to his Marvel counterpart’s.

Panel 4. Mike Grasso says, of von Doom's assistants, "Are the dwarfs that attend Otto Von Doom Mole Men? It would combine two of the FF's earliest foes...." In the Marvel Universe one of the enemies of the Fantastic Four is the Mole Man, a stunted, almost blind misanthrope who lives underground and rules a race of dwarfish yellow creatures called "Moloids." James A. Wolf says, "I've seen the those dwarf slaves before- it was in a Spiderman/ Dr Strange Team up (available in the Frank Miller Spidey collection).  They're Doom's servitors."

Pages 15. Panel 1. “He found us that first winter, when we were starving, and he hunted game for us,  and fed us. We would have died...”
This is an accurate summation of the history of the first English colonies in the Americas; without the help of the native peoples, the colonies would have died during the first winter. 

Panel 2. Mark Coale prompts me to define "ague" for those of you unfamiliar with the term. From the Oxford English Dictionary: "A malarial fever, marked by successive fits or paroxysms, consisting of a cold, hot, and sweating stage. The name ague was apparently at first given to the burning or feverish stage, but afterwards more usually to the cold or shivering stage, as being the most striking external character of the disease."

Panel 3. “My mother and father...also passed away. I lived with my Aunt and Uncle. On my last birthday Sir Nicholas Fury came to the door. He had known my parents. He said it was time that I entered his service, and that it was what my father would have wished.”
In the Marvel Universe Peter Parker (who Peter, here, is an analogue of) was raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Peter’s parents, Richard and Mary Parker, were agents of an unnamed American spy agency before they died. Several folks, including Kelvin Green, correct my earlier statement and note that the Parkers were recruited by Nick Fury himself.  The Parkers worked for Nick Fury at "the agency" (the CIA), however, not SHIELD.

Several folks, including Mark Coale, prompt me to point out that in the universe of 1602, unlike the Marvel Universe, Peter's Uncle Ben is still alive.

Page 16. Panel 1. Matt Putnam-Pouliot says, " In the Marvel Universe, Peter Parker wore glasses as a teenager (at some point growing out of them). He was also very bright for his age - a bit of a scientist and inventor." Mike Grasso says, "Peter Parquagh is talking on page 16 about wanting to make things is an analogue to Peter Parker, junior chemist, who made his own webbing."

Panel 3. This sequence with Virginia and Peter, and her reaction to him, made me think of Gwen Stacy, Peter’s first love and the best woman who ever loved him. (Unlike that hussy MJ). In the Marvel Universe Gwen Stacy was The Woman for Peter in the early years, but she died while Peter, as Spider-Man, fought the Green Goblin.

Panel 5. David J. Snyder says, "the fishing net and black and red candle he (Dr. Strange) suddenly wanted invoked the image of Spider-Man's costume for me."

Page 19. Panel 5. Greg Plantamura says, of the fact that there are three assassins, "Two of these we've seen (in the first two issues of 1602) resemble Spider-man's foe, the Vulture.  Assuming that the third is also a "vulture", this may be a reference to the fact that Spider-Man has faced three characters who have assumed the identity of the Vulture."

Page 20. Panel 5. The idea that the Welsh discovered America long before the Spanish was one current in the late 16th and early 17th century. Supposedly Prince Madoc sailed to America in 1170 and founded a colony. Queen Elizabeth used this legend to claim British possession of America during the English war with Spain.  

Will Spratt says, "the Welsh people have a few defining characteristics that this refers to: -
one - their Ferengi-like nature (a "welshman preys on his knees on Sunday, and on everybody else the rest of the week!") two - their hair colour. As a scion of a welsh family, I've inherited the famous welsh pale skin and very dark locks.  Someone is playing with the whole Vikings found america bit..."

Page 21. Panel 2. This is the analogue for the Marvel Universe villain the Vulture, who is the enemy of Spider-Man. Patrick McCaw says,

Since the 1602 version of the Vulture appears in issue 2, Fury's attacker from issue 1 obviously cannot be him.  And since both he and the Vulture apear to be part of the same plot, and unrelated to the witchbread or Inquisition, he shouldn't be Toad or Vanisher.  Instead he is most likely Green Goblin after all.  I suspect that this entire plot is linked to 1602's equivalent to the Sinister Six, since Peter has been present for both attacks so far, and that they both involved Spider-Man villain equivalents.  As such I would expect the assassin lined-up for Queen Elizabeth to be one of Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, or Sandman (which I doubt Mr. Gaiman could resist using somewhere in this story for obvious reasons).

Panels 5-6. The platter Rojhaz grabs and throws is circular and similar in shape to the shield which Captain America uses.  

Page 22. Panel 4. Presumably this is the shape Virginia was afraid she’d turn into. If she is the analogue of Gwen Stacy, there is no account of Gwen having superpowers. Perhaps Virginia is a kind of analogue for the Marvel Universe villain The Owl? (It is very doubtful that Virginia Dare is an analogue for the Marvel Universe superheroine Snowbird, because Snowbird was created after 1969, which is the cutoff date Neil Gaiman is using for characters). 

Matt Putnam-Pouliot says (echoing a growing number of posters, including Dennis O'Hagan, Leo Antolini), "I don’t think Miss Dare is suppose to represent anyone from the Marvel Universe, but is a witchbreed. Also, I’d like to point out that her monster form resembles an eagle - a symbol of America."

Patrick McCaw says, "the true nature of Virginia Dare that has not yet been postulated:  That she is the 1602 equivalent of Bruce Banner.  That her transformation is involuntary, frightening and violent but me very much in mind of The Hulk.  That Bruce/Hulk have often worked together, and share a link through Rick Jones, gives a reason for the association with Rojhaz."

Scott D. Hamilton says, "And regarding the "superhero" identity of Virginia Dare in 1602, I vote for the Falcon. In his first appearance he was displaced to a tropical island and followed Steve Rogers back to America. This story also featured the Cosmic Cube(hint!), and I believe just makes the 1969 cut-off for characters."

Mike Grasso and Maureen O'Brien forward "The White Deer named Virginia Dare."  Maureen adds, "Virginia Dare's maternal grandfather was Governor John White. Her father's name was Ananias Dare; her mother was Eleanor White Dare. White Dare...White deer...I wonder if that shapeshifting story was just some horrible pun.... <g>"

Mark Schryver says,

As for who the girl is: Well, Captain America has had a sidekick named Falcon, so an Eagle's not that much of a change. But Falcon was introduced in, what, the '70s? And changing a 20- or 30-something year old black man into a teenaged white girl would be an awfully odd move, given how closely the other characters have resembled themselves. 

I think that Virginia Dare, the first European child born in the Americas, is a sort of were-eagle. First, she's of two natures - conceived in Europe, but born in America, which makes her lycanthropy a nifty metaphor for her situation. Second, her transformations are violence-based - she Hulks out - instead changing to the rhythms of the moon. I think that fits in nicely with what Gaiman has said about what America does to the Old World's myths, in  American Gods.

Thanks to: Alicia, a treasure beyond rubies; Rocket Robin Hood, Bill Stiteler, Brian, Matt Putnam-Pouliot, Alexx Kay, Mike Grasso, Chris Harris, Tony Williams, Brian, Dennis O'Hagan, Leo Antolini, Elias Curi, Kelvin Green, Maureen O'Brien, Scott D. Hamilton, M., Mark Coale, David J. Snyder, Ray Yamka, tphile, Peter Fabricius, Greg Plantamura, Jason Pomerantz, William Mahoney, Raheil Rahman, Trey Hooks, Matthew Pederson, Rob Seegel, Hand-of-Omega, Julian Darius, Mark Peyton, the indefatigable Ronald Byrd, Mark Schryver, Mark Peyton, Zachery Garrett, John Innes, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., Eric Garneau, James A. Wolf, Toby Finch, Mike Robinson, Edgar Delgado, Geoff Wessel, Gary Gibson, Will Spratt, David Swanger, Paul Craig, Adam Leir, Gregg Whitmore, Andy Holcombe, Julian Solis, and Bill Zegarski. 

Go back to issue #1
Go forward to issue #3