Sequart.com	Annotations to Marvel 1602 #4
first posted on 13 November 03
	JULIAN DARIUS
Read The Continuity Page covering Marvel 1602 (and other Marvel universe-spanning work). More on Neil Gaiman Neil Gaiman Chronology	Part Four / Issue #4 This issue was cover-dated February 2004 and published on Wednesday, 12 November 2003. It runs 22 pages and carried a $3.50 cover price. The cover depicts Matthew Murdoch with bow strung, and the mimicry of engraving is enhanced here by thicker lines, particularly on Murdoch’s skin. The imagery in the background of flying arrows, angled downward at Murdoch, indicates an army of opposing archers. Note how the small, thin arrows can blend into the engraving-like lines of the background. The scene depicted on the cover does not occur in this issue, although this issue does feature the most dramatic events for Matthew Murdoch thus far in the story. Moreover, the many arrows, indicating an army of opponents, suggests the strength of Murdoch’s opposition -- which resonates with this issue, in which Murdoch becomes the victim of Otto Von Doom’s machinations. Page 1 The is the first issue, after the first, that does not begin with a page effectively recapping (albeit in some interesting way) the series’s past events. Panel 1: The Bleeding Heart Inn is where Virginia Dare and Rojhaz found lodging in London, as first seen in page 6 of issue #2.
	Page 2 Panel 1: Note the two cots in the room, presumably for Dr. Strange and Cleo, who surprisingly sleep separately whereas Virginia Dare and Rojhaz slept together (as noted in panel 3). Panel 2: Virginia Dare’s concerns here echo those in the premiere issue. Panel 3: The sexual possibility of “the Indian slept in your bed” has a precursor in the previous issue, on page 4, in which Rojhaz’s position as he restrained Dare’s griffon form had a sexual feel to it. Page 3 Panel 1: Note the bow and arrows among the equipment on the left edge of the panel Panel 2: These events occurred in the previous issue. Panel 3: A “physician” and a “magician” were closely related at the time. Panel 4: Here Dr. Strange relates his origin. In the normal Marvel universe, Dr. Strange’s origin was first told in Strange Tales #110 (cover-dated July 1963), where Strange served as a back-up feature with the Human Torch getting the main feature and the cover entirely to himself. Note that people, even in England, really were kidnapped at the time -- although even approximate numbers are difficult to authenticate. The phenomenon of the press gang, a group of men who might get someone drunk and then kidnap that person by ship, was a common fear in England through the nineteenth century.
	Page 4 Panel 3: Dr. Strange’s words here provide the first confirmation that Elizabeth is indeed dead, only implied in the final panel of the previous issue. Panel 5: Note the fanged black cat-like animal on the wall on the left of this panel.
	Page 5 Panel 1: “Drown my books” and “bury my ... wands” recalls Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which Neil Gaiman previously used in The Sandman #75 (that title’s extra-long final issue). One may also recall the somewhat experimental film adaptation of the play, Prospero’s Books, with its memorable image of Shakespeare’s collected plays being dropped into water. Panel 3: The last time we saw Sir Nicholas Fury was on the last page of the previous issue, in which he got the name “Doom” out of his prisoner in the Tower. Panel 4: This is the last panel occurring in the Bleeding Heart Inn, though we will return to it on page 18 to hear Virginia Dare’s self-explanation. Panel 5: Newcastle is most known in comics as the place DC’s magician John Constantine (the protagonist of Hellblazer) encountered the powerful demon Nergal, an encounter in which a young girl named Astra died, leaving an insane John to be incarcerated in a mental institution. While it was writer Jamie Delano who fleshed out this incident towards the end of Hellblazer’s first year, it is worth noting that it was writer Alan Moore, who helped Gaiman learn to write comics, who first referenced the Newcastle incident during John Constantine’s earliest appearances in Hellblazer (prior to that character getting his own title).
	Page 6 This page is cramped with word balloons, generally not well advised in comics. This may be seen as a concession to the publisher’s requirement that issues run 22 pages. Panel 6: James thinks that he can “educate” Fury as to the real assassins because he believes them to be the Grand Inquisitor’s agents, following his meeting with them in issue #2. Of course, James will go on to claim that Javier and his agents were responsible, lending his words a double irony. Panel 7: “Banner,” in the normal Marvel universe, is the last name of Bruce Banner, the alter ego of the Hulk. Banner, seen only in this small panel, bears no important resemblance to his normal Marvel counterpart. His inclusion here may be a red herring or an attempt to include him in a story in which he otherwise had no place (particularly given that Virginia Dare effectively serves as the analogue for the Hulk, though the fact that she is an historical figure prevents an analogue for the Hulk’s human alter ego). Panel 9: As previously noted, the historical James indeed believed in the Devil’s intervention in this world, no more than against James himself. Panel 12: James is here slipping the note into Fury’s pocket. Panel 13: Javier’s normal Marvel equivalent, Professor X, did indeed have mental super-powers, including “tell[ing] what men are thinking.” He could not, however, “make people see things that are not there.” Panel 15: James’s accusation here, while harsh, is not unfounded. Recall Fury’s utter failure to inspect Doom’s device on page 16 of the previous issue. Page 7 Panel 3: While Matt Murdoch can not, strictly speaking, “see” -- at least not with his eyes -- he can presumably see, like his normal Marvel equivalent, by using his enhanced senses to produce a radar-like mental image.
	Page 8 Inset panels 2-3: Here Matthew Murdoch continues his “Ballad of the Fantastick” from page 13 of the previous issue. (See notes to that page.) These verses describe the transformation of the song’s characters, who indeed acquire the powers of their Marvel universe equivalents. (See the notes to the first portion of “The Ballad of the Fantastick,” occurring on page 7 of the first issue.) Inset panel 3: Here Natasha strikes Matthew over the head with the bottle of wine (that she has offered and he has accepted), breaking the bottle. Although Natasha in her normal Marvel incarnation as Natasha Rominov, the Black Widow, is a traditional ally of Daredevil, she is also a Russian with a KGB past. Background: We need not wait long to see that Matthew has survived, as he will reappear in the conclusion of this issue. It is worth noting that Matthew’s normal Marvel equivalent, the super-hero Daredevil, swings from tall buildings and has survived several falls from skyscrapers. Last inset panel: “Devils” calls to mind Matthew’s normal Marvel equivalent, the super-hero Daredevil. Matthew himself called Natasha “the most dangerous woman in Europe” on page 13 of the previous issue. Page 9 Panel 2: We are likely (and perhaps hopefully) inclined today -- particularly after examining Nazi Germany -- to disobey orders such as those James has given Fury. But failure to obey one’s monarch -- who were preached to rule at God’s direct consent -- was treason. This clearly presented a problem not only for Christians who preferred Christ’s Sermon on the Mount and other anti-rich Christian statements, but also for Christians who focused on equality of souls and who believed that each soul would be judged for its own beliefs, actions, and intentions. Many solved this conundrum by arguing that a subject’s obligation was to obey his lord and that it was the soul of the lord who made the order that would be judged for the actions of others that it ordered. This attitude had ancient roots, as when Julius Caesar executed his adversary’s slave who had killed his master, expecting reward from Caesar. In the Renaissance, such attitudes had developed into the doctrine of quietism, in which one was obligated to remain quiet about one’s objections to one’s lords and their instructions – a doctrine that helped solve the problem of Catholics and divergent Protestants loyal to a monarch advocating the Church of England. Panel 3: Here we have yet another example of honoring the word of one’s commands while simultaneously subverting their intent. Other examples include James’s own desire (in issue #2) to see the Queen dead without being willing to say so -- and Elizabeth’s request that torture not be used while implying that it should (in the previous issue). Page 10 Panel 1: We can tell, by the font of his word balloon, without seeing the speaker that said speaker is in fact Otto Von Doom. Panel 2: The experiment with the frog recalls Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein -- as well as its several movie successors and the idea of zombies or walking dead.
	Panel 5: Apparently, Latveria has pterodactyls. Page 11 Panel 2: Doom addresses the Captain of “The Ballad of the Fantastick” -- the 1602 equivalent of Ben Grimm, the Thing. The Thing was quite strong, explaining why he could shake the whole building. Panel 5: Although this character is not named, he is described as “young.” This can only be the “young hothead” of “The Ballad of the Fantastick” -- the 1602 eqivalent of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. Becoming the Human Torch through the verbal cue “flame on,” Johnny would burst into flames and acquire the ability to fly and shoot flames. His watery environment here may act to prevent the activation of his powers. This is not this character’s first appearance in 1602; he actually appeared in Dr. Strange’s vision in the first issue, on pages 14-15.
	Page 12 Panel 2: Although we may easily guess, later dialogue makes it clear that the off-panel speaker here is the Lord of “The Ballad of the Fantastick” -- the 1602 equivalent of Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic. A great scientist, Mr. Fantastic had the power to stretch his body (and even mold it into objects, though not to transform per se). Note the friendly formality of his speech, despite his situation. Panel 3: Otto Von Doom is apparently farming Reed for scientific ideas. In the normal Marvel universe, Victor Von Doom -- also a scientist -- has a titanic inferiority complex towards Reed Richard’s superior mind, going back to their days together in college. Panel 4: This is the fullest shot yet of the face of Otto Von Doom -- called “the Handsome” earlier -- and establishes most completely that he is not facially scarred as his normal Marvel universe equivalent, Victor Von Doom. Victor Von Doom’s facial scarring is in fact the reason that he wears a metal mask over his face. Page 13 Panel 1: Doom’s leaning against the wall and holding his head suggests a certain depression following his earlier bluster. See the final panel on this page, which suggests a reason for his change of mood. Panels 4-5: Reed’s speculations about the speed of light are today considered established fact in physics, having been suggested by Albert Einstein in the early twentieth century. This profoundly establishes Reed’s intelligence, not only in his anachronisticly advanced thinking but in the fact that the theories he voices are those of Einstein, a name still popularly synonymous with intelligence. A good deal is given here of the personalities of both Reed and Doom. Reed’s speculation comes without spurring, suggesting the wandering nature of his piercingly intelligent mind. Doom, on the other hand, can think of nothing but how to invent devices to harm others. Note that panel 5 provides the closest we have yet had to an appearance by Reed. The mesh enclosure of Reed’s prison may be to prevent his escape by stretching his body, which can flatten itself by may not be able to stretch through the tiny holes of this mesh. Panel 6: Reed, though a prisoner, makes demands upon Doom. This suggest that, while Doom may command Reed’s fate (as he strongly asserts in panel 4 of the previous page), Reed has become aware of how much Doom needs Reed’s scientific mind. Page 14 Panel 2: It is unclear how news of Elizabeth’s death has reached the school, given that the secluded school has little contact with the outside world. It is possible that Javier ascertained the news with telepathy. Page 15
	Panel 3: The Angel, the team’s newest recruit, is here the only speaker to express a desire to flee rather than to fight. Panel 5: Note that John Grey, who is hiding her gender, is the only one not to have been given her own panel to voice her opinion. The small dinosaur acting as a pet on Javier’s desk is the second occurrence of living dinosaurs in this issue, the first being at Doom’s castle. Page 16 Here we have cut back to the Bleeding Heart Inn, last seen on page 5. Virginia Dare, presumably having finished her broth, is replying to Dr. Strange’s request to explain herself (made in panel 3 on page 5). Panel 4: The Roanoake colony seems to have pterodactyls, much like Doom’s Latveria. The end of this page -- because the first issue runs 34 pages and the others 22 -- marks the midpoint of 1602 in terms of its pages of story (not including covers and title pages). Virginia Dare is thus literally at the center of the narrative. Page 17 Panel 3: Virginia Dare’s return to her human form diverges from the legend of Virginia Dare having turned into a white doe. Page 18
	Panel 1: This is the first time we have been told that Virginia Dare’s past transformations have been rather limited, confined solely to those examples given by Rojhaz in the previous issue. Panel 3: The history of American colonization in the universe of 1602 has significantly diverged from our own. The “strange storms” are, of course, centered around Virginia Dare herself. The dinosaurs -- or “giant thunder-lizards of the plains” -- were not, of course, found on the American continent. As a consequence of these differences, colonization of America has presumably slowed from how it took place in our own world. Page 19
The Old Man’s comment appears to dodge the question, but in fact further suggests that the Old Man is the 1602 analogue of Thor.	Panel 5: The Templar treasure appears to be a golden sphere, presumably holding some presently unknown power. Note that the Old Man’s comment appears to dodge the question, but in fact further suggests that the Old Man is the 1602 analogue of Thor. This is because Thor, in his earliest appearances, transformed into Dr. Donald Blake by way of a simple walking stick not unlike the Old Man’s -- a “tool” that transformed into a “weapon,” specifically Thor’s powerful Norse hammer, when he (“the right hands”) tapped it on the ground. Panel 7: The “much more reliable monarchy” is, of course, that of Otto Von Doom, ruler of Latveria. Page 20 Panel 5: Matthew Murdoch here snuffs the candle. The rectangle around the candle serves as its handle, as seen in the previous panel. Panel 6: Here Matthew Murdoch is flipping through the air. Here, in a comics convention, three distinct moments are represented simultaneously as we see three Matthew Murdochs, the first two of whom are colored more lightly as if they are after-images. He flips from left to right, the same direction we read, to aid our understanding of this convention. The first Matthew Murdoch is punching the man on the left. The second is upside-down in the air. The third is kicking the man on the left. Between the two injured men on the ground stands the Old Man. Panel 7: The smaller font here, as well as the shading of the word balloon to blend in with the panel’s night blue background, indicates that Matthew Murdoch is whispering. Page 21 Exactly how Natasha and this abundance of soldiers has snuck up on Matthew -- and how he did not see them earlier with his heightened senses -- remains unclear. Page 22 Panel 2: Here Otto Von Doom’s goons are putting manacles around the arms of both Matthew Murdoch -- at left -- and the Old Man, a bit further back in the center of the panel. Panel 3: The image is of Matthew Murdoch’s legs, as indicated by his red boots. Panel 4: Here Matthew Murdoch and the Old Man are being put in the cart -- while Natasha continues all the while.
	Panel 5: The moon here in the background may remind us of that the Watcher -- briefly seen last issue on the moon, the image of which also opened the issue on a page narrated by the Watcher -- is watching. The bottom of this page, marking the end of the fourth issue in an eight-issue mini-series, marks the midway point of the narrative. It also marks the 100th page of the story, not including covers and title pages. But because the first issue ran 34 pages and the others 22, the midpoint in terms of pages actually occurred between pages 16 and 17 of this issue.
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