This was one of those titles that I was meaning to read a few years back but put off. I went through the original Gaiman miniseries over the course of three days and was blown away.

Fantastic art, an intelligent story that builds slowly and does a great job at keeping readers on their toes, and a fine example of historical fiction.

Has anyone else read this? I'm really shocked I haven't heard anything said about it.

There are three spinoffs, "New World" "Fantastic Four" and "Spider-Man."

I'm picking up the "Fantastic Four" story next and I'm hoping it will retain the same positives from the original "1605."

1602.

I like that story a lot. I think it's rated just about right, though. I don't think it's a "classic", but it is really enjoyable. One of the better "what ifs" of the recent past.

I dug the concept and thought it was a fun read

I checked out the trade paperback from the library a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. The stuff with Quicksilver being a largely unseen courier of information reminded me of an anecdote in Chronicles of the Crusades about an unseen voice informing a king of events. The king never sees or identifies his informant, but is able to act on the information. Of course, that was alleged to have happened four hundred years before Marvel 1602, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn Gaiman had taken inspiration from it.

I really enjoyed that Gaiman was able to explore the themes at the heart of these characters, while removing them from their natural contexts. Persecution has always been a dominant theme in Marvel Comics, and Gaiman clearly made that a central tenet of Marvel 1602, along with disputes over the proper use of power. My only real complaint was the very end felt too much like the contrived ending of Gangs of New York. On the whole, though, I found it a very thoughtful and enjoyable read. I loved Andy Kubert's art and especially the Scott McKowen scratch board covers.