Sometimes, a comic get announced and we all question what the publisher was thinking. Marvel‘s 1776 #1 is a perfect example of this phenomenon. When it was announced, we got the cover with Marvel’s heroes and the Founding Fathers of the United States, and a brief synopsis that gave readers the basics — Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Cyclops, Doctor Strange, and Invisible Woman go back in time to save the United States during the Revolutionary War. It seemed needlessly jingoistic and something of a throw back story, and fans were mystified by the book’s existence. 1776 #1 is the most basic Marvel comic ever; it’s not terrible, but there’s really not much of a compelling reason to read it.
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The book is written by J. Michael Straczynski, the man responsible for the best Spider-Man run of the 21st century, so this isn’t a completely terrible comic. Straczynski’s recent Captain America book wasn’t his best work, but that doesn’t change that he’s one of the most skilled writers in comics. He does his best with this issue, and it’s not what you would call a terrible comic. The writer sets up a somewhat interesting plot and gets most of the characters’ voices right — his Bruce Banner is the weakest — but this whole issue is mostly just set-up for the story. The pacing isn’t slow, luckily, but there’s really nothing going on under the hood of the issue.
The plot is classic Marvel cheese, which is part of the problem. Morgan le Fay has decided that the best way to destroy the Avengers is to go back in time and make the US lose the Revolutionary War. It’s not the strongest idea in comics, and it feels slapdash in the worst possible way. It honestly kind of feels that editorial wanted a rah-rah America story (possibly trying to cash in one the wave of jingoism sweeping the country) and worried about the plot later. The book is kind of spineless — why not send one of Marvel’s black heroes back to those days so we can talk about the hypocrisy of the Founding Fathers — although it does have a part that talks about whether it would be so bad if the British won the Revolutionary War. However, if you don’t like old school Marvel-type stories, this isn’t a book you’re going to enjoy.
Rating: 2 out of 5
| Pros | Cons |
| Most of the characters are written correctly | The plot isn’t interesting |
| Bruce Banner isn’t well | |
| Spineless |
1776 #1’s Art Is Fine but Won’t Wow Anyone
1776 #1 boasts two different artists, with penciler Sean Damien Hill and inker Jay Leisten handling the pages that took place in the Revolutionary War and Ron Lim and Roberto Poggi handling the pages set in the present day. As far as it goes, the art is perfectly fine. The two different art styles feel right for the story; Hill’s style is grittier than Lim’s and it fits the past setting. Lim’s art has a modern, cartoonish feel to it. Lim is a Marvel legend; he was the artist for Infinity Gauntlet #4-6, Infinity War, and Infinity Crusade, and can draw every Marvel character pretty well. Its great to see him get a chance to draw some Marvel greats, but he honestly wasn’t given much to work with.
Marvel got an artist that gave readers some brilliant action scenes, and other than Spider-Man chasing a stolen car, there’s no action at all in this comic. In fact, Lim’s pages are basically just exposition pages, which is a waste of such a great artist. The art honestly feels like the writing in the comic; it’s perfectly serviceable without anything that makes an argument for its existence. I just read it a bit ago and can’t really remember any highlights from the book. It’s the most milquetoast thing that you could ever imagine. Again, there’s nothing bad about the art — the detail is fine, the figure work is good, and the character acting works — it just doesn’t get to do any of the cool things that make comics worth reading.
Marvel has put out some ambitious comics over the decades but 1776 #1 isn’t one of them. Ever since the book was announced, readers have been predicting its failure, but failures can be fun, a least. 1776 #1 is not a fun comic. It’s just a comic. It has a plot and characters and sets up a story. None of us expected for the book to be groundbreaking or anything like that, and Marvel definitely delivered on that note. It isn’t a comic you need to read at all.
1776 #1 is on sale now.
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Image courtesy of 2th Century Studios -
image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
