| Title | : | 1602: Witch Hunter Angela |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785198601 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785198604 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 128 |
| Publication | : | First published February 23, 2016 |
Collecting: 1602: Witch Hunter, Angela 1-4, 1602 1
1602: Witch Hunter Angela Reviews
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This is one of the best of the Secret Wars miniseries. If you haven't yet read Neil Gaiman's
Marvel 1602, you'll probably feel a little behind the curve at first. Not that I think you would have necessarily had to read it, it would just help with understanding the basic concepts. And then Bennett goes in an entirely new direction, almost immediately, moving from witchbreed (ie, mutants) to faustians (those who bargain for their powers). At first, it's a fairly witty, beautifully illustrated, and too episodic story. I wouldn't mind the episodic nature in an ongoing series, but in a miniseries that's kind of a waste of time. And then Bennett dials in on the emotional core of the story, and I can honestly say that it took me by surprise. I went from reading a perfectly enjoyable book to reading a great one, all in a few pages. And then there's the wonderfully bittersweet and romantic ending. I was really skeptical about what good could possibly be done with Angela in the Marvel Universe, but between this and
Angela: Asgard's Assassin, I'm actually becoming a fan of the character. -
Bit the bullet and finished it, wasn't being defeated by a comicbook lol.
Sticking to the rating I gave though, still disappointing as it could of been so much better. I admit it gets a little more interesting toward the end but far too little too late...
Pity 😢 -
This is going to be a short review because I didn't understand a single thing that happened.
I thought Angela was part of the Asgardian mythology but here she seems to have nothing to do with it. Which is just confusing, because that's the defining trait of the character? Also, who is this Serah person?
The storyline was mind-bogglingly twisted. The main narrative is interspersed with shorter stories that are marked by a change in art style, and this takes a while to catch on to. Along with the already difficult to keep up with style, the main plot is deeply confusing as well, because something-something happens and then someone dies but doesn't die and then something happens again.
Partly, the failing is mine since I'm sure more experienced Marvel readers can instantly recognize who is who and actually keep up with the Kardashians. That said, I don't believe in any comic being this inaccessible to a new(er) reader and I tried my level best to like it. There's the original Neil Gaiman work (a bit of it, to be precise) at the end, which I thought was much better, if more cheesily obvious. On the plus side, the art can be really beautiful at times:
So yeah, that was a bust. -
Patchy art work and confusing story.
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Phew, how do you make a four issue miniseries feel like twenty? Hire Marguerite Bennett, the hack who also co-wrote A-Force, to script it!
I read Neil Gaiman’s 1602 about ten years ago but I remember it being ok. The concept was putting Marvel characters into Elizabethan roles, similar to the ones they have in the present day. Angela is cast here as a hunter of “witchbreed” (mutants); I haven’t been reading her solo series so I’m not sure, but is that what she does these days - hunt mutants? That’s pretty shitty if it is.
Anyway, Enchantress hexes Angela’s girlfriend who’s gonna die if blah blah blah. It was super hard for me to pay attention to the crap plot when Bennett’s in love with being as precious with the language as possible, cramming in “thous”, “thees” and “hasts” into every sentence. God it was awful! What’s mostly happening during the terrible dialogue is Angela fighting witchbreeds - just tedious, tension-free action to wade through to get to the next one.
There are some side-stories co-written by Kieron Gillen that were slightly better but didn’t really have much to do with the plot. Marguerite Sauvage and Frazer Irving contribute art too which helped make them more palatable.
Stephanie Hans’ art is definitely the only major positive about this book. Her painted art was really stunning throughout, the Guardians of the Galaxy redesigns were clever and those Renaissance-inspired covers were great. She’s an enormously talented illustrator. Her art almost kept the headache I got from reading Bennett’s words at bay (the ibuprofen made up the difference).
Maybe if you love - REALLY love - fantasy, you’ll get something out of this one otherwise I wouldn’t recommend Angela Witch Hunter to anyone. Just another shite title to toss onto the growing pile of Secret Wars tie-in garbage! -
Felt like this really captured the best parts of the original 1602 series and the Angela: Asgard's Assassin series. Always fun discovering new alternate versions of established characters.
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Another attempt by Marvel to shove their newly acquired (for no purpose other than to piss off Todd McFarlane) character, Angela, down our throats. Look, I know I've been beating this drum for a while now and it's probably getting boring, for which I apologise, but this character just doesn't fit into the Marvel universe... They completely restructured the Marvel version of Asgardian myth to shoehorn her in... and for the life of me I can't see why!
Does the Marvel Universe really need a brooding bimbo in a metal bikini running around? I say thee nay!
Anyway, this book was another pointless Secret Wars tie-in that bears little resemblance to the original 1602 book. About all I can say for it is that some of the artwork was nice but, due to the fact that they kept switching artists for flashback sections, the overall effect was disjointed and lacked flow. -
Marvel 1602 was one of the earliest American comic books I ever read, during a high school Neil Gaiman binge. I'm not sure I had ever read a Marvel comic before. I was only familiar with the characters from the first two X-Men films, but I loved the Elizabethan setting, so I happily muddled through the confusing parts. I was delighted to discover this companion volume written by Marguerite Bennett, primarily illustrated by Stephanie Hans (other artists step in to illustrate some of the short stories sprinkled throughout the four chapters). The story begins with Angela and her lover Serah, confronting and then killing King James, who in the struggle reveals himself to be a Witchbreed. In the Mermaid Tavern they encounter an even more dangerous enemy: a Faustian. Whereas Witchbreeds are born with powers, Faustians gain their powers by bartering with a dark supernatural being. This presence reveals herself to Angela and makes a threatening promise: if Angela kills three more Faustians, Serah will die. Angela must make a choice to give up her calling or give up her one true love. This is a very strong mini series, with a nice balance of humor and drama. The art is gorgeously luscious and matches the tone of the writing perfectly. And I can attest to the fact this book stands on it's own even if you are unfamiliar with the title character.
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I mean, we all know I'd die for Angela and Sera, that's nothing new, but this ALSO has great art and it was fun piecing together everyone's medieval counterparts.
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This is one of the better tie in books from the Secret Wars event.
First, the art is gorgeous. The line art is delicate and bold at the same time. But the coloring is simply incredible at times. I'm assuming its digitally painted but there are panels where it looks like an actual painting. Mixed with the line art, its just a pleasure to simply look at this book.
The story is solid as well. basically, it deals with Angela and her "companion"Serah who are witch hunters carrying out their mission with ferocity, efficiency and plenty of sass.
I appreciated Bennett's ability to build on the 1602 mythos that Neil Gaiman created but without encroaching so much that it would ring as an impression. Instead she takes her own voice and builds this really great story. It has less to do with battle world (besides the occasional Doom reference) and more to do with the adventures of the two principal characters in what is essentially a fantasy period piece.
Check this out if you like really beautiful art or period pieces ala Marvel. -
O bogowie, to było dobre.
Jestem zaskoczona, że z serii 1602 mogło wyjść coś dobrego, ale Anegla bije wszystko na głowę. Zasadniczo najlepsza seria Battleworldu, jaką dotąd przeczytałam (nie, żeby było ich tak wiele, bo to jest ta faza Marvela, która głęboko mnie nie interesuje i przyszłam tu tylko po lesbijki).
Grafika o wiele lepsza niż w poprzednim "1602", projekty graficzne Angeli zapierają dech w piersiach. To jest prawdziwa sztuka powieści graficznej. Dostosowanie estetyki do epoki, ale nie w ten karykaturalny sposób, co "Marvel 1602". Nie umiem określić grafik w tej serii inaczej niż piękne i dotyczy to każdego kadru bez wyjątku, chociaż .
Wykorzystanie postaci też o wiele lepsze, widać, że Bennettt czuła się z tym swobodniej niż Gaiman i nie bała się zrobić z bohaterów ofiar czy złoczyńców. Bardzo podoba mi się podejście do Rough i mam teraz headcanon, że Sera i Angela ją adoptowały, tak jak Jessica Drew i Carol adoptowały Aranę. Jeśli jest coś, co może uratować Marvela to tylko lesbijki adoptujące krzywdzone przez fabułę i scenarzystów dziewczyny.
Oczywiście, pomijając ciekawą, przygodową i brutalną fabułę, związek Angeli i Sery to czysta perfekcja. Kiedy pierwszy raz usłyszałam o tym koncepcie, bałam się, że Sera skończy jako uwieszona u ramienia Angeli piękność w opresji, ale Bennett jest za mądra na ten schemat i chyba Spider-Man ma na niego wyłączność. W każdym razie, Angela i Sera są siebie warte. Pomijając to, że są wyszkolone w zabijaniu czarownic, Sera burząca czwartą ścianę z większą gracją niż Deadpool i świadoma narracji jako funkcji sprawczej i imperatywu narracyjnego, jest skarbem tej mini-serii i trudno nie kochać jej tak bardzo, jak ubóstwia ją Angela.
Pod wieloma względami fabularnie seria przypomina mi to, co Gaiman osiągnął w opowieści o Sandmancie ze "Snem nocy letniej" jako głównym motywem, co było jedną z najlepszych opowieści- zabawną, ironiczną i upiorną jednocześnie. Tutaj mamy podobny klimat, chociaż gwiazdą jest Kit Marlow, co jest nawet ciekawsze. Will też się pojawia, bo jak snuć historię bez barda? W każdym razie, seria godna polecenia nie tylko fanom Marvela. Jest cudowna. Czytajcie. -
(3,9 of 5 for a cool 1602 story with plenty of references)
The coolest thing about these comics is the art. Gillen's style fits perfectly for those stories. From the 1602 series, this is the most "fantasy" of them all, but the idea is great. Angela is a witch hunter, hunting with breed all over England but eventually digs herself into something much more serious.
The storytelling is a bit rough at the start, but Gillen's art held me into reading for that bit. But the finale is great and I enjoyed all the cameos. Especially "Guardians".
This was thrilling to read, even if the start is a bit slow and the whole thing is a bit short. -
The art in this book is absolutely breathtaking! It has this really cool vibe with whimsical lines and beautiful coloring. Definitely a joy to look at.
The story itself was interesting enough but, it didn't really grab me. It's a shame because I adored Angela: Asgard's Assassin. However, the love between Serah and Angela was lovely as ever so, I enjoyed that part of it. -
I had been crossing my fingers that this mini-series would live up to its name, and am happy to say IT DOES! Neil Gaiman's 1602 has always been my favourite alternate reality setting in the Marvel multiverse. Angela has, in the last couple years, gone from being a mis-used, aimlessly shifting property purchased by Marvel, to a complex and compelling, queer and powerful character across several titles.
The whole Secret Wars thing seems to have produced one of the highest outputs of pure garbage in recent mainstream comics history, and Marguerite Bennett has not been a consistently good writer (to say the least). But the creative team manages to tell a fantastic quest tale, making superb use of historical figures Gaiman has played with over the decades multiple times (Kit Marlowe and Wil Shakespeare). The love between Angela and Serah is sincere and runs deep, despite the characters' drastic differences in terms of temperament and primary purpose.
Now I'm crossing my fingers that Marvel is learning what a huge portion of their less-targeted demographic really loves about Angela and her companion lover, and keeps them going strong with quality writers and editors at the helm. -
My comment is totally biased: I love Stephanie Hans' art, Kieron Gillen's writing, and the amazing cameos that Jonson, Spenser, Marlowe, and Shakespeare did because the 17th century English literature rules.
Wolverine as King James? Yes, I want that. Enchantress as the Faerie Queene? Yup, that's what I like. The Winter Soldier as a handsome knight? I totally dig it. Rogue as a lady with a horrible fate? Totally yes. The Guardians of the Galaxy as a group of actors 'cause all the world is a stage? Kieron, you know what I love. Angela as a badass assassin that loves to kill witchbreed and Faustians? That's my kind of shit!
Bonus: Cloak and Dagger as actors playing Othello/Desdemona & Romeo/Juliet yass. -
Sadly, the best thing about this book is the fact they reprinted the first issue of Neil Gaiman's original Marvel 1602 at the end. But this new story has very little going for it. The artwork is so-so, especially given the fact that it was divided up among several artists. I don't know who to blame for the art at the beginning of the first chapter, which reminds me of the worst parts of iZombie. And the layout of the panels was confusing: do I go across the page now, or down, or what?
The most enjoyable parts of the new book (and, really, any of the 1602 books) was figuring out what present-day characters were being portrayed. But that didn't make up for the negative side. -
The artwork was solid. Loved every single panel of it. Also the alternative costumes and such of every character was great.
The dialogue was ok.
The plot was like... hmm.. let me put it this way. The plot was like having 5 seconds to live and you would only get to live more than 5 seconds in this world if you could watch a slug cross across a country in less than the 5 seconds you have to live.
Yeah.
That.
Oh well. -
Pretty awful
The art work is nice but the dialogue was not at all to my taste. Loved the original, really disliked this sequel. -
I'd love to see Supernatural in medieval instead of modern world. Bored of current comic and this is a good change <3 some part remind me of Dragon Age as well.
if you love witches, beautiful art, good story, read this one. -
personally i love alternate universes and this one specially is really cool. set in the english renaissance this is truly a gem. i think it was very fitting to write angela in this universe since both her and 1602 come from neil gaimans mind. anyways read this please
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Not much to recommend here besides Stephanie Hans’ lovely art. The story is a mess and manages to make Angela fairly villainous. I’ve yet to read anything set in the 1602-verse that was any good beyond Gaiman’s original work and this continues the trend.
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DNF
This fucking sucks. There’s no positive way to spin it.., everything about this is awful. I wish I could unread what I managed to struggle through. -
Mostly pretty artwork and a unique, fantasy story are really the main things this series has going for it as I wasn't familiar with the two main characters and found it to be somewhat disconnected from the rest of the 1602 comic line.
Please Note: While I will not be getting into spoilers for WITCH HUNTER ANGELA, I will have to mention a couple of details about the original MARVEL 1602 series as well as the ending to NEW WORLD that would be considered spoilers.
CHARACTERS/STORY
Angela and Sarah are the two main heroes of this story set in the 1602 universe. I may just be dumb, but I honestly had no idea who either of these characters were or if I should have any particular attachment to them. There is a bit of a romance between these two women, although they tend to be referred to as "friends." I thought this was interesting in that the characters aren't super outward about it which made sense for the time period it was set in, but I was also confused about how this aspect of their characters did or didn't jive with their faith. I mention faith in particular, because I was extremely confused by what was going on in this department. Angela is a holy hunter of people who have made a pact with a deadly temptress and are now known as "Faustians," but Angela does not seem to be an agent of the Catholic Church as previous characters in the 1602 universe have been up until now. Instead, it seems like Doom has somehow taken on a god-like state and it is unclear if he is actually alive at this point or not. It also confused me that Faustians seem to be the new target instead of Witchbreed and I think a lot of my disorientation stemmed from the fact that this series appears to be tied much more closely with the SECRET WARS comic line than it is with the rest of the MARVEL 1602 continuity. I found this to be somewhat unfortunate since one of the main draws for me with the 1602 universe is that I didn't need to understand the rest of the Marvel series to appreciate it. While I suppose it is neat that the 1602 characters presumably got temporarily merged in with the mainline Marvel comics, I also found myself wishing that I had treated MARVEL 1602: SPIDER-MAN as the end to the 1602 story since I had absolutely no idea what was really going on in WITCH HUNTER AGNELA although Angela and Sarahs adventures did entertain me. One other little gripe is that I found myself confused by a very early twist involving King James. In some ways, this maybe explained why he didn't get killed by Hulk, but in others, it opened up so many more questions.
THE ART
The majority of this series has some of the most beautiful artwork in all of 1602. A lot of it's shots look both modern but also very fitting to a classical fantasy setting. The story is much more focused on dark magic and the fae, so I loved that the visuals reflected that theme. I also enjoyed seeing even more Marvel characters get the 1602 treatment, including the Guardians of the Galaxy! Randomly, the artwork does look very dull and not especially pleasing (especially in the last few pages of the final issue), but I think this was actually an intentional artistic choice to indicate that the magical element had diminished. If so, then that's an interesting concept, but a rather odd choice all the same since a simple change in lighting or color pallet would have been a better way to visually communicate that idea rather than a full downgrade in the art fidelity.
CONCLUSION
While I was able to enjoy this for the compelling story it told and intriguing characters I wasn't previously familiar with, I do not think this made for a good way to close out my 1602 reading experience as it didn't seem to be as connected to the events of previous series in this comic line as I expected it to be. Perhaps I will eventually look into the SECRET WARS comics to see if they help me fill in some of the blanks, but I would say that those who mean to stay within the confines of the 1602 universe should probably just stop at SPIDER-MAN.
(+) Mostly stunning artwork
(+) More 1602 versions of classic Marvel heroes and villians
(+) An intriguing story filled with more magical elements
(+) Leads that I came to like even though I was not familiar with them
(-) Some odd artistic choices
(-) Very confusing to get into if you've only been following the 1602 line and did not partake in the SECRET WARS event (I am assuming that reading those comics would have cleared things up, but I don't actually know). -
*deep breath*
Not only does this book contain space lesbians, but also they are Jacobean space lesbians. 1602: WITCH HUNTER, ANGELA is such a perfect cross-section of my areas of interest that the 5 stars are practically guaranteed. But then this book went on to be soooooo drop dead gorgeous in its art and allusions and storytelling that I kind of want to send Bennett fanmail now. Like, really.
Angela and Serah are fast becoming my favorite Marvel couple. I wasn't even mad that they murdered one half of my other favorite couple because I would willingly let them murder me too. My little diverse character loving heart was all aflutter constantly, with Jacobean England looking just as it should, with plenty of people of color present. In fact, the fusion of Marvel elements into Jacobean England worked surprisingly well. In real life Jacobean literature, there is running theme of the fading away of Faeire and the belief in the Gentle Folk, and Bennett wondrously mixes that in to her work with added spices of the queen and queendom motifs that are so present in the next comic book, Angela: Queen of Hel.
To summarize, this book was full of delight and delightful elements. If you like me, you'll like this book. And yes, I did order Angela: Asgard's Assassin from Barnes & Noble, thanks for asking. -
"I am the Dealmaker. I am the hand in the dark of night. I am the strike that seals that bargain, for this world, and for all worlds which shall be remade."
Ever since I first discovered/learned of Angela in
Angela: Asgard's Assassin: Priceless, she has hands down been my favorite Marvel female. She is a complicated, complex, badass, gorgeous, kick butt character. I will happily, unapolegetically, read anything she is in. This particular collection was definetly interesting. It is the first time I've read any of the 1602 stories; I guess there are others. But for the most part it didn't really interfere with my understanding of what was going on. This was definitely a mixed bag of genres. This had a bit of history, fantasy, and classic super-hero action mixed in and some how it all worked. It was both a tragedy and a comedy, a tale of love and loss. -
Pomysł na temat bomba, wykonanie już niestety mierne. Piękna katastrofa. Tak mogę podsumować ten tytuł, już na starcie.
Mamy powrót do działa Gaimana pod nazwą 1602, gdzie mamy świat Marvela przeniesiony do XVII wieku, gdzie króluje magia, wiedźmy i stosy. Mamy naszą bohaterkę Angelę, która niczym Vin Diesel w filmie poluje na przedstawicieli ras innych niż ludzka. Podobało mi się, że nie "certoli się" ona w robocie i w zasadzie jest bezkompromisowa. I to na tyle, poza jakimiś wtrętami na zasadzie: "O to ta postać z Marvela, tyle że ma inne imię".
Nic dobrego nie mogę powiedzieć o fabule. Dialogi są słabe i nudne. Akcja miewa momenty, ale zazwyczaj jest ospale. Sytuacji nie ratuje pierwszy zeszyt z oryginalnego eventu 1602. Angela i jej problemy były mi obojętne, a całość zacnie służy na dobry środek nasenny. Nie mogę jednak narzekać na inny aspekt tego tytułu.
Kreska. Gillen przechodzi sam siebie. Ilustracje wyglądają fenomenalnie, odpowiednio do całej tej bajkowej tematyki. Podnosi to wartość całości o jedną gwiazdkę, ale to stanowczo za mało, żeby nie mówić o rozczarowaniu. -
https://osrascunhos.com/2017/09/23/16...
O mundo deste volume começou com 1602, um livro de Neil Gaiman que apresenta uma realidade alternativa onde os super-heróis apareceram durante os Descobrimentos, em auge pleno da Inquisição. Julgados como aberrações, demonstrações do poder do diabo ou resultado de bruxarias, os heróis surgem em meio pouco propício e facilmente acabam na fogueira.
Depois de 1602 de Neil Gaiman seguiram-se outras aventuras no mesmo Universo por outros autores, Fantastic Four ou Spider Man, aventuras mais standard num enquadramento diferente. Em Witch hunter Angela o ambiente difere de todos os volumes anteriores, com um ambiente mais negro e denso que contrasta a religiosidade com a magia, conferindo à caçadora de bruxas um aspecto angelical apesar da sua missão.
Entre peças de teatro e apresentações da corte que revelam monstros entre humanos, Angela avança, implacável e impiedosa, percebendo que alguns dos novos monstros não nasceram assim, mas escolheram o seu próprio destino e são, por isso, menos propensos à sua piedade ou simpatia.
Mas até a caçadora tem pontos fracos e será através destes que será testada e corrompida, manipulada apesar da força que demonstra. O poder da magia encontra-se em todo o lado, alimentado pelas preces de quem pouco tem e algo precisa.
Com coloração densa, escura e brilhante, a maioria das páginas contém uma composição arrojada que nem sempre está de acordo com a história que se apresenta, de narrativa mais classicamente fantástica apesar dos toques de super-herói, em que personagens conhecidas como Fury ou os Guardiões da Galáxia.
Ainda que, visualmente, não me tenha agradado (salvo algumas páginas) a história é interessante por cruzar personagens históricas com o Universo Marvel, e por retirar a perspectiva simplista de bom / mau usada nalguns outros volumes. Angela chacina os que já não são humanos sem dó, a serviço de algo em que acredita. -
Stephanie Hans' artwork is the true brilliance of this book, not to diminish all the other fantastic artists who contributed to each issue. But Hans is in a league of her own, supernaturally elegant and mystifying.
Angela and Sera make their way throughout the 1602 AU of the Marvel universe, hunting witchbreeds (aka mutants) and Faustians (ordinary people who made a bargain to become stronger), becoming enraptured in the deal-makers (like the angels regular Angela is a part of) and story-tellers. There's fun in seeing how Marvel heroes are adapted to the 1602 universe, including Angela's longtime friends the Guardians of the Galaxy becoming a streotypical Dungeons & Dragons group, but the real joy is in Angela and Sera's relationship. Watching them try to save each other and find beauty in the telling of their own story, waging it in a war against the sicker Faustian stories that aim to tear them apart. -
There was a lot of "good" here that I just didn't find executed well enough in my opinion. A big part of that lack of idea realization was the artwork. It seemed that it would be these beautiful, painted quality, dreamy sequences, but they were actually often chaotic layouts that were hard to follow. Whether this was a fault of collection in graphic novel form, I do not know. Also, the alternate art style for the framing scenes was VERY different and didn't seem to work.
Writing-wise...it was okay. There was the aspect of the magic of stories which I usually am a huge fan of, but here it was very surface-level and not too developed.
This edition does contain the first issue of the original 1602 and that was interesting, which I think was actually to the detriment of this alternate-reality mini-series when put into direct contrast. (In all fairness the original 1602 was written by THE Neil Gaiman, so...that's pretty hard to live up to!)
