Editor's note: Jess Nevins has been writing and compiling annotations of some of the most hailed comics in recent years, from Kingdom Come to Kurt Busiek's Astro City to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. For more information about these annotations and Jess Nevins, see the bottom of this page.
(The images here are copyright 2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. 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. Loki Carbis sez, "like Watchmen, it appears that the covers of 1602 will double as first panels of the story."
Page 1, Panel 4. For the history-impaired among you, this is Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603). Elizabeth reigned from 1558 to her death; for more information, go to the Britannia page on Queen Elizabeth. Paul O'Brien adds, "the reason Elizabeth has such bizarre facial colouring is because she was fond of wearing tons of make-up which she believed was good for her skin. In fact, at least as it was taught to me at school, it was a dreadful health hazard and probably accelerated her death. So her bizarre appearance in this story is not mere accident; it's both historically accurate and directly related to the plot point that she's likely to be dying soon without issue."
Page 2, Panel 1. Reg Osborne notes that the quote here is from the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 24 with "No man shall know the day nor the hour." This is a chapter which refers to the dangers of looking for omens of the end times and warns against
false prophets who claim that the end is nigh. Note that he doesn't use the more familiar King James Bible phrasing, since the King James Version is still some years in the future at this point.
Panel 3. "Doctor Stephen Strange" is of course an analogue for Dr. Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe. And "Sir Nicholas Fury" is of course an analogue for Nick Fury, head of SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters of International Electric Lymphatic Disorders, or whatever SHIELD stands for these days), the major good-guy spy agency of Earth-Marvel. But both are analogues for historical figures in addition to comic book figures.
"Doctor Stephen Strange, master of the Queen's medicines" is an analogue
for Dr. John Dee. There's a lot written about Dr. Dee, much of it tosh; the John Dee Society can provide some information on him. What we can say with some degree of assurance is that he was born in 1527 and died in 1608, that he was an English mathematician and astronomer, and that Queen Bess consulted him on various astrological matters. (For the mainstream version of his life, see the "John
Dee" entry from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica site). He was reported during his lifetime to be a wizard, and astrology may not have been all that the Queen consulted him on.
"Sir Nicholas Fury" is an analogue for Sir Francis Walsingham (1530-1590); he was a member of the Queen's privy council, her Secretary of State for most of the 1570s and 1580s, and the head of her spy system. For more information, see his entry on the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica site).
Page 3, Panel 2. David Goldfarb notes, "I note that Dr. Strange wears a skullcap. Could he be Jewish?"
Page 4, Panel 1. Reg Osborne notes, "I could be wrong, but that looks more like the Tower of London that Strange and Fury are walking away from. Notice the four turreted White Tower at the centre. What's missing is the Water Gate which should open onto the Thames just right of the centre of the panel."
Panel 2. The "Templars" are the Knights Templar, one of the linchpins of medieval and modern conspiracy theory. They were formed in 1118 as an international monastic military order to fight in the Crusades; they became very wealthy and powerful as time passed and were finally crushed in 1307 by King Philip IV of France, who with the help of Pope Clement V arrested the Knights, seized their wealth, and convicted them of heresy.
Loki Carbis had the patience to write all this up (I did not):
The Templars were originally founded to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. Since there were only a handful of them at first, many historians believe that they had another goal. That goal may have been temporal power: as Fury notes here, they became
very powerful, largely due to running the biggest bank in all Europe. It is generally agreed today that their suppression in France was largely the result of the King wanting to get his hands on their money.
But there are more mystical versions of their history. They are often rumoured to have carried out excavations beneath the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, where it is further rumoured they uncovered a great treasure, possibly the Holy Grail itself. It is also often claimed that many Templars in nations other than France avoided persecution by going underground and re-emerging as differently-named
orders. The Scotch Rite Freemasons and the Portugese Order of Navigators (of which Columbus was a member) are claimed to be Templar-descended organisations by some.
Panel 3. The "Old Man" usually mentioned with regard to the Templars is the Old Man of the Mountain, the head of the Assassins, who the Templars were alleged (by their enemies) to be working with.
Panel 4. In the Marvel Universe Dr. Strange's home is in Greenwich Village, in New York City. In reality, as in the Earth of 1602, Greenwich is a borough of Greater London.
Panel 5. John Dee was reputed to use a mirror of obsidian to perform his magical scrying.
Page 5, Panel 1. "Domdaniel" is not a real place in Spain, but rather is (per the always useful Reader's Encyclopedia)
a fabled abode of evil spirits, gnomes, and enchanters, "under the roots of the ocean" off Tunis, or elsewhere. It first appears in Chaves and Cazotte's Continuation of the Arabian Nights (1788-1793), was introduced by Southey into his Thalaba, and used by Carlyle as synonymous with a den of iniquity.
"Yesterday they burned a Jew. He was a secret Jew...."
In 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain (the same king and
queen who funded Christopher Columbus' voyage) ordered that all of the Jews of Spain should be driven out of the kingdom and all its territories. The Jews of Spain were left with the choice of converting to Christianity or leaving their homes. Most of the Jews left. Others stayed. Some of those who stayed were real converts to Christianity; they were known as "conversos," or "the converted." Many others who converted were suspected (truly or falsely) of being "secret Jews," of pretending to be Christians but secretly practicing Judaism. These latter were known as "marranos."
Panel 6. "Did I kiss the Devil's Rump before I grew my wings?"
Part of the black Sabbath which all witches were suspected of taking part in was the kissing of the Devil's hindquarters.
"Witchbreed."
As an analogue for mutants, "witchbreed" (presumably the product of the mating of witches and the Devil during the orgies of black Sabbaths) works well; medieval and even Renaissance Europe feared and hated witches as much as the population of Earth-Marvel hates and fears mutants.
Page 6. This figure is an analogue for Warren Worthington, the winged mutant Angel of the X-Men.
Page 7, Panel 1. "The Moor's Head."
There were and are various taverns and pubs with that name, although I'm unaware of any in Westminster. Variations of the name were "The Black-a-moor's Head" and "The Black Moor's Head." Chad Underkoffler quite usefully provides a link to "U Moru," a site explaining the symbolism of the Moor's head.
Panels 1-2. "There were four brave souls rode the oceans abroad, T'was on the Fantastick they sailed, And one was the Captain, and one was a Lord, And one a young hothead who carried a sword, and the last was a maiden so pale,so pale...."
This is a reference to the analogues of the Fantastic Four. In the Marvel Universe the FF gained their powers during a secret rocket trip to the moon.
Loki Carbis notes, "The song that Murdock sings here uses the same scansion as the song Gaiman wrote for Thomas the Rhymer
in The Books of Magic. If you want to know how it would sound, Tom Lehrer's "The Irish Ballad" also uses this tune and scansion. It's a very old folk song tune."
Panel 3. A "groat" was a coin which was worth four pence.
The blind minstrel "Matthew" is an analogue for the Marvel Universe hero Daredevil, who is blind and whose civilian name is Matthew Murdock.
"Bog-trotter" was and is a derogatory term for the Irish. ('cause there are bogs in Ireland, see, and so the Irish must trot across them....)
Page 8, Panel 1. "...if the Queen had had issue, the world would not be in the parlous state it is."
The fact that Queen Elizabeth never bore children was a source of some dismay to the English, especially as she grew older. The peaceful transition of kingdoms, from one ruler to another, was more often accomplished via family, from father to son, than otherwise, and the awful years when the Catholic Queen Mary, who had gained the English throne following the death without issue of Edward VI (1537-1553), persecuted Protestants, including burning around 300 of them at the stake in 1555 and 1556, would still have
been remembered by the English in 1602.
Panel 2. This is an analogue for Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man. Chad Underkoffler wonders if "Peter's almost unnatural
fascination with the spider could be riffing off of JMS's concept of "Spider-Man as totem-warrior" that's being explored as a subplot in Amazing Spider-Man?"
Page 9, Panel 5. "If a Devil is one who dares, when others hold back, then I am happy to play the Devil in this Mystery, boy."
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance a "Mystery Play" was a dramatic presentation of a Biblical story. Although they began with a simple retelling of the Christmas or Easter story during their heyday, from the 13th to the 16th century, they were lavish presentations performed by various trade guilds on movable stages. There were four cycles of English Mystery Plays, and some included various comic elements, such as the story of Noah's wife, who was so stubborn that she refused to enter the Ark.
Panel 6. "Peter Parquagh."
If there's a reference, historical, cultural, or etymological, to "Parquagh" beyond its homophonic similarity to "Parker," I'm unaware of it.
Page 10, Panel 2. "...Count Otto Von Doom? The one they call The Handsome"
In the Marvel Universe Victor Von Doom, who later became the ruler of Latveria and the supervillain Dr. Doom, was very handsome until a laboratory experiment scarred him.
Panel 6. The reason that Matthew does not need the light to catch the diamond is that he likely has the same sensory powers that Daredevil does and so does not need his sight to catch the diamond.
Page 11, Panels 5. "He is not afraid of the dark.? No, Peter. Nor anything else, I'll wager."
Daredevil is known as "The Man Without Fear."
Page 12, Panel 1. In the Marvel Universe Dr. Strange's house is a creepy, magical mansion with a similar design to the one seen here.
Panel 3. The white-haired woman is an analogue for Clea. In the Marvel Universe Clea was a woman from another dimension who Dr. Strange rescued and fell in love with, and who lived with Strange for some time before leaving him to become Queen of her native dimension.
"Or another Spanish invasion"
This is a reference to the attempted Spanish invasion of 1588, when the Invincible Armada of Spain was destroyed by English ships, a massive storm, and the spells of Dr. Dee.
"Or James of Scotland, who has no love for magics, or those who try
to master them..."
This is a reference to King James I (1566-1625), who succeeded Queen Elizabeth as ruler of England. James' mother was Mary, Queen of the Scots, and before his ascension it was widely rumored in England that he, like she did, would make Catholicism rather than Protestantism the legal religion of England. As well, James was paranoid and suspicious, esp. about magic. Paul
O'Brien adds:
For the benefit of American readers not familiar with British history, it may be worth clarifying some very basic stuff.
This story takes place before the United Kingdom was formed. Scotland was still an independent country at this point. However, thanks to intermarriage between the royal families, when Elizabeth I died, the throne of England was inherited by James I - who was already James VI of Scotland. Scottish school history textbooks generally refer to him as "James VI and I", or at least they did when I was at school. (The present queen insists on referring to herself as Elizabeth II even though there was no Elizabeth I of Scotland. Some people find this very annoying, and bizarrely enough, Scottish postboxes reflect this by carrying a logo that reads "ER" instead of "ER II.")
Page 13, Panel 3. "Triaseia Ogneia...."
Chad Underkoffler wondered if these words might refer to Enochian, the angelic language. Note that Strange takes Edward Kelly's role and Clea takes Dee's. From the Britannica ref you provided:
"Dee and Kelly lived for some years in Poland and Bohemia in alternate wealth and poverty, according to the credulity or scepticism of those before: whom they 'exhibited,' They professed to raise spirits by-incantation; and Kelly dictated the utterances to Dee, who wrote them down and interpreted, them."
Pages 14-15, Panel 2. The white-haired girl is be an analogue for Virginia Dare (1587-?), the first white child of English parents born in America, in the Roanoke Colony. Given her white hair, she might be an analogue for Ororo Munroe, a.k.a. Storm, the mutant weather controller of the X-Men.
Panel 3. "I am in the heart of a mountain, far from here, a place built to hold Earth and Air, Water and Fire."
Mike Grasso notes what I should have gotten immediately: that in the world of 1602, in which the Fantastic Four
gained elemental powers, a "place built to hold Earth and Air, Water and Fire" is obviously an analogue for the Baxter Building, the headquarters of the Fantastic Four.
Another alternative is that it is a prison for the Four. Bala Menon wonders if it might not be an analogue of Wundagore Mountain, which in the Marvel Universe was the tomb/prison/resting place of the primal god Chthon.
Or perhaps there's an Earth, Wind and Fire joke here I'm not getting.
Page 18, Panel 4. "Sister Wanda" is an analogue for Wanda Maximoff, who in the Marvel Universe is the mutant and Avenger the Scarlet Witch.
Page 19, Panel 1. Mike Grasso notes that the Grand Inquisitor might be an analogue for the Marvel Universe mutant and supervillain Magneto. Magneto, in the Marvel Universe, is the father of the Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver. He is also the archenemy of Professor Xavier of the X-Men.
Others, including Mark Coale, have wondered if the Grand Inquisitor, with his anti-witchbreed stance, might be an analogue for various anti-mutant types in the Marvel Universe, including the Reverend Stryker (a religious fanatic) or one of the Trask family (a group of anti-mutant types, one of whom was responsible for creating the Sentinels, the mutant-hunting killer robots). And Bala Menon said, "given the general aura of hate, cynicism and manipulativeness of the Inquisitor, I'm leaning towards Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, a member of another (twentieth-century) inquisition of sorts." In the Marvel Universe the Red Skull was Captain America's German opposite number during World War Two.
"Javier" is a reference to the 1602 analogue for Professor Charles Xavier, the mutant telepath and leader of the X-Men.
"Petros" is an analogue for Pietro Maximoff, the brother of Wanda Maximoff and the mutant speedster Quicksilver.
The quote here, about various types infesting England, may be real - certainly has the feel of a quote from those days - but I've been unable to find a source for it.
Page 20, Panel 1. "...obviously they wish to blow up the Houses of Parliament in some sort of explosion."
This is a reference to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when a group of Catholics, tried to blow up the houses of parliament; they were angered that King James did not do more for the Catholics of England. The Plot failed, obviously, but November 5, the day of the attempt, remains known in England as "Guy Fawkes Day," after the man assigned to light the fuses on the explosives.
In at least one novel, William Ainsworth's Guy Fawkes (1841), John Dee is described as being a friend of Guy Fawkes.
Page 21, Panel 1. Mike Grasso points out what I should have immediately gotten: that "Rojhaz" is the analogue for Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. Mike further points out that the Mandan people, natives of North Dakota, were said to be "white, blue-eyed Indians" and were possibly the descendants of a Viking expedition. (A quick Google search turned up this site for information on the Mandans).
Panels 3-4. "But if he sends his daughter, the first child born in the colonies, and her Indian guard and protector, why then all of London will be buzzing like a hive. Then Roanoke will see more colonists and investors."
This is a reference to the 1587 trip of Virginia Dare's grandfather, Governor White, to London. White was trying to gain aid and assistance for the colony, but suffered from bad timing - he arrived as England was about to war on Spain - and didn't make it back to Roanoke with a relief expedition until August 1590, by which point the Roanoke Colony had disappeared, leaving behind only the word "croatoan." Virginia Dare, along with the rest of the colonists, vanished, in what is an interesting historical mystery. The prevailing school of thought is that the colonists were absorbed into the local Croatan tribe.
Page 24, Panel 3. A number of folks, including Mark Coale, Loki Carbis, David Goldfarb, and Paul O'Brien, see the man attacking Fury as an analogue for the Marvel villain the Vulture, because of his bald head, claw like hands, white ruff, and green cape. I'm not convinced of this, but the preponderance of opinion is against me on this one.
Page 26, Panel 2. I've been prompted by several folks to point out what I thought was obvious: that Fury's comment, "I wish Sir Reed was still alive," would seem to imply that the 1602 analogue of Reed Richards is dead. If the theory that the "place built to hold Earth and Air, Fire and Water" (see Page 14, Panel 3 above) is a prison is correct, than Sir Reed is only thought dead, and
is instead a prisoner.
Panel 3. Reg Osborne says, "Fury makes repeated reference to the two of them being a 'shield,' pretty clearly a reference
to the organisation the Marvel Universe Fury heads up."
Panel 4. "Captain Nelson" is an analogue of Foggy Nelson, who in the Marvel Universe is Matthew Murdock's best friend.
Page 29, Panel 2. This is an analogue of Iceman, the mutant icemaker and X-Man.
Panel 3. This is an analogue of Cyclops, the mutant X-Man.
Page 31. The identity of the Old Man is a subject of some dispute. One argument (mentioned by Mark Coale, Loki Carbis, and Phil Young among others) has him as an analogue for the Ancient One, the aged Asian mentor (and master sorcerer in his own time) of Dr. Strange.
Page 32, Panel 5. As with the Old Man, just what the "most powerful thing in the world" is has been the subject of several differing e-mails. Bala Menon wonders if it might be an analogue of the Darkhold, which in the Marvel Universe is an analogue for the Necronomicon, the mind-blasting tome of forbidden lore created by H.P. Lovecraft. Phil Young wonders if it's "the Evil Eye...That had
a connection to Prestor John in an FF issue between about 60 and 80 (before being the MacGuffin for the Defenders-Avengers Clash) so would fit quite well." (In the Marvel Universe the "Evil Eye of Avalon" is an object of magical power which Prester John (a mythical Eastern emperor) was given on the Isle of Avalon). And Bala Menon wonders, "if it is the Ancient One, he might be simply passing on the Eye of Agamotto to Dr. Strange, as the next Sorcerer Supreme." In the Marvel Universe the "Eye of Agamotto" is a very powerful magical device which Dr. Strange was given when he ascended to the title of Sorcerer Supreme, the magical guardian of either Earth or the Marvel Universe, depending on which Marvel comic you read.
Page 33, Panel 5. "Scotius Summerisle"
Cyclops' name in the Marvel Universe is "Scott Summers." I'm not sure where the "Scotius" might have come from, unless it's from the English philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotius (or "Scotus") (1265/6-1308). Phil Young mentions that "Summerisle" was the setting for the film The Wicker Man. Chad Underkoffler explains further:
"Summerisle" is the name of the isolated island in the fantastic British 1970's horror/thriller flick The Wicker
Man, where the Christians have been driven out and the old, pagan religion holds sway. Christopher Lee plays Lord Summerisle. What better name for a mysterious island full of witchbreed?
"Robert Trefusis"
In the Marvel Universe Iceman's name is "Robert Drake." "Trefusis" is a English placename, from Cornwall. Mike Grasso quite usefully decodes the joke here: "Cornwall is close to Wales, and Wales' symbol is a dragon. Dragon = Drake." Jim Van Verth, among others (including "Queen Volcano"), interprets the name this way:
John Trefusis is also a relative (by marriage) of Sir Francis Drake. From what I can puzzle out, Sir Francis Drake died at sea 1595 and left his estate to his nephew (confusingly, also Francis Drake). This nephew married, as his second marriage, Joan
Strode. When the nephew died, his son (also Francis) carried on the line. Joan Strode married John Trefusis. The nephew's daughter,
Elizabeth Drake, married John Trefusis, Jr.
"John Grey"
In the Marvel Universe "Jean Grey" is the civilian name of the mutant telekinetic and telepath Marvel Girl. She is "John" here most likely because she went to sea in disguise as a male, which a number of women did (and which Gaiman showed in an issue of Sandman).
Page 34, Panel 1. Bala Menon notes, "I quite like Gaiman's method of introducing these as "X-Men", something that no longer comes from Xavier's initial (which is a "J", here), but rather, from the brand inflicted on the witchbreed."
Thanks to: Chad Underkoffler, Mike Grasso, Phil Young, Paul O'Brien, Mark Coale, Loki Carbis, Jim Van Verth, Reg Osborne, Queen Volcano, David Goldfarb & Bala Menon.
