Marvel 1602

Marvel 1602 is an eight-issue comic book limited series published in 2003 by Marvel Comics. The limited series was written by Neil Gaiman, who also wrote Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Among others. This story doesn’t take place in the normal Marvel Universe, it’s an alternate universe. The reality the Marvel 1602 takes place in is classified as Earth-311.

All over Europe, strange weather is provoking panic. Many believe the unnatural occurrences are the beginning of the Apocalypse. Dr. Stephen Strange, the court magician of Queen Elizabeth I, senses that there are unnatural forces at work. He also comes to learn that the secret treasure of the Knights Templar is being moved from Jerusalem to England; Elizabeth tells her head of intelligence, Sir Nicholas Fury, to bring the weapon to England safely. Fury in turn contracts Matthew Murdoch to rendezvous with the Templar guard and secure the weapon. On the road, Fury and his assistant, Peter Parquagh, are attacked by an assassin, whom Fury disables and locks in the Tower of London. Meanwhile, the ship "Virginia Maid" arrives in England from the New World, carrying the young Virginia Dare, the first child born in Roanoke colony, as well as her hulking Native American bodyguard Rojhaz. When a flying assassin tries to snatch Dare, Rojhaz quickly disables the killer, but Virginia has transformed into a white gryphon. Rojhaz subdues Virginia, and Strange bespells her to human form before Fury sees her transformed. She has strange shapeshifting powers, and Strange suspects she is the cause of the disastrous weather. Fury interrogates one of the assassins to learn who sent him; Fury learns that Otto von Doom, ruler of Latveria, is behind the attempted killings, but is too late to stop one of Doom's machines from killing Elizabeth.
But this is only the beginning, this book is extremely slow paced and almost unbearable to read. I will say that it is fun to see popular Marvel characters in this setting. Read it, and try to enjoy it.

WANTED

Wanted was written by Mark Millar, who also wrote Kick-ass, Skrull Kill Krew (5-issue miniseries (co-written with Grant Morrison!!!!!), and Superman: Red Son, among others.One of the best Graphic novels I’ve ever read. Let Me give you a little synopsis of the plot:

Wesley Gibson is a loser. His girlfriend is cheating on him, his boss ridicules him day after day, he works at a boring job going nowhere, and getting walked over is a daily part of life. This all changes when he discovers that his father is the deadliest hitman the world has ever seen and killing people is written on Wesley’s very DNA. To make matters worse, his father is dead and Wesley must take his place or go back to his pathetic life.

He's dragged into a world where supervillains have taken over, killing of every last superhero on earth. The villains call themselves "The Fraternity" and they control everything behind the scenes and can do whatever they wish because they have rewritten history to hide their presence from daily life and have all government organizations under their thumbs. Earth is divided up between five different villains, each leading their “house” in the manner they choose. There is dissention amongst the five houses though, as two of the houses, led by Mister Rictus and The Future want to go public and rule the world with fear and power. The other houses disagree, worried that the heroes of the multiverse will descend and attack what they have so carefully set up. Wesley Gibson, trains to take the mantle of his father, The Killer, and joins the ranks with The Professor, one of the villains who would prefer a more legitimized existence of villainhood.

When Mister Rictus shows his hand in a diabolical plot to take over, it’s up to Wesley and his father’s girlfriend, The Fox, to stop the villains. Wesley goes from being nothing to being Wanted. ( see what I did there?)

Wanted seems to be a parody of the superhero genre, there are a lot of nods to the superheroes of Marvel and DC. Hints to Superman, Batman, Watchmen, and many other comic characters abound in the series, mostly at their expense. You have to have a careful eye or you will miss many of the similarities, although I found myself finding more hints to the DC Universe than Marvel’s. I’ll give you a few examples:

* The Professor - Solomon Seltzer, mad scientist. A "Level 9" intelligence, the Professor's motivation for crime is to fund his scientific research similar to Lex Luthor. His former arch-enemy is shown in silhouette as an analogue to Superman.
 * The Doll-Master - Technological mastermind, specializing in toy weapons and robotics like Toyman; will kill innocents but won't swear in front of children. Keeps his criminal career a secret from his family.
* Fuckwit - A clone of a superhero. He is extremely strong and able to fly but has down-syndrome. A Bizzaro analogue.
* Shithead - Like Clayface. A creature made of the feces of six hundred and sixty six most evil people in the world, including Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Dahmer.
* Deadly Nightshade - A plant-manipulator just like Poison Ivy.
* The Puzzler - Has a costume designed to resemble a crossword puzzle. He is just like the Riddler.

I absolutely recommend reading Wanted.

District X: Mr. M (Volume 1)

District X stars the X-Man and FBI agent Lucas Bishop, assigned to the ghetto to investigate rising crime rates among the population in New York's ‘11th Precinct' in Alphabet City.

Originally a mutant paratrooper from the future, Bishop has gone through a bunch of character shifts, due largely to Marvel’s inability to figure out his place in the Marvel Universe; he’s been an X-Man, he’s been an alternate reality savior, he’s been a warrior in a post-apocalyptic future.

Bishop works with NYPD patrolman Ismael Ortega, an ordinary human married to a mutant (Armena Ortega). A major subplot is Ismael's relationship with his family, with the stresses of his job adversely affecting his home life.
 
Volume 1, or Mr. X, begins as violence erupts between rival crime lords “Shaky” Kaufman and “Filthy Frankie” Zapruder over a mutant, Toad Boy, and the addictive narcotic he produces (known as 'Toad Juice'). (his mother is obsessed and addicted to this toad juice and some very disturbing scenes where she licks his neck to get it.)

When Kaufman learns of the sales of 'Toad Juice' in District X, he raids Zapruder’s facilities and kidnaps the Toad Boy for himself. But, it’s unknown that Toad Juice can be fatal to humans and a theft of the drug leads to the death of over a dozen human teenagers at a party.

After the death of a human patron at the nightclub Daniel’s Inferno caused by exposure to Toad Juice, the police begin a desperate investigation before other unsuspecting addicts face the same fate. This prompts a turf war between Zapruder and Kaufman. Both men are eventually arrested.

When Absolom Mercator, “Mr. M“, finally decides to use his powers to try and help others, his efforts backfire and he suffers an intense identity crisis. Believing that he must use his powers to destroy Mutant Town, Mr. M warns his friend, Hanna Levy so that she can escape safely. The police intervene and use Lara the Illusionist to show Mr. M the devastation he could unleash. This snaps the mutant back to his senses and he willingly returns to his peaceful life of quiet isolation after a short period in jail.
　

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

I am not a Batman fan, let’s get that out of the way first. I mean, I don’t mind Batman comics like Dark Victory or the Killing Joke, but I’m not a “fan”. But, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth by Grant Morrison, was simply amazing. One of the best, although very short, graphic novels I’ve read.
Arkham Asylum is located on the outskirts of Gotham city and is where those of Batman's foes that are considered legally insane are incarcerated.

Batman gets lured into the asylum by the Joker, who has taken over the place along with Killer Croc, Clayface, the Scarecrow, Doctor Destiny, Two-Face, Maxie Zeus and the Mad Hatter. Batman fights his own demons as he fights the “demons” in Arkham. The book also tells the “Origin Story” of Arkham and of the original administrator, Jeremiah Arkham.

The graphic novel presents very different versions of several characters in the DC Universe:
* Maxie Zeus has messianic delusions and is obsessed with electric shocks and the consumption of
Feces.
* Clayface is rapidly wasting away due to the lack of “feeding”.
* the Mad Hatter’s obsession with Alice in Wonderland has pedophilic overtones
* Killer Croc is more of a deformed person like The Elephant Man.
* Doctor Destiny is a frail, yet creepy man in a wheelchair.
* Two-Face is reduced to a gibbering wreck as a result of weaning him away from a dualistic way of thinking.
* Batman who is driven close to the breaking point by the Asylum itself.

Dave McKean’s art is astounding. His brushwork (and perhaps use of mixed media; there are places where I can't even tell if he built collages on the top of his art or just painted it that way) is gorgeous. Grant Morrison is an awesome story teller, and I loved his work on this book as well as 52 and Final Crisis, both DC Comics series. The combination of two of the best people in comics makes for a jaw-dropping book.

Read this book!