1963

 1963 #1

Not sure what I can say other than this level of mimicry can only be done by someone who loves Marvel and is a student with a keen eye. I wonder where there'll be depth beyond being 1:1 Fantastic Four parodies. At this current moment, it feels a bit limited by the mimicry and I'm wondering what is substantial that's being said.

1963 #2

A Spider-Man pastiche this time. I guess these will be one-shots honoring Marvel's greatest? From a deeper level of what I was expecting, it feels one-dimensional, but it's a pretty great distillation of the time period's writing, characters, and art. I'm really loving how the lettering feels so perfectly of this time. I'll have to wait if I connect with this further as it continues.

1963 #3

Captain America and a lot of heavy handed propaganda. It's crazy how much of the Red Scare worked its way into comics. I was slightly shocked at the explicit references to real historical figures and events.  Hypernaut is so dope. This is probably the furthest deviation from one Marvel character so far, and I think that works for the best. It shows Moore being so classically inventive and creative, while keeping the playfulness that the rest of these stories have.

1963 #4

Hulk and Dr. Strange now.  Really not much to say about N-Man other than I'm trying to see why "N-Man," given that the name instantly draws a parallel to the X-Men. I also feel like we're seeing more and more diverging characters from the ones that they're based on.  That Johnny Beyond story is the absolute highlight so far. I could totally see the plot as a Tom Strong arc. Fun time hijinks and I love how it was based on the principle of flipping. Just a great presentation of a fun idea.

1963 #5

A Thor type character based on another culture's mythology evidently works. I love the Kirbyesque cosmic art, that was the main draw of this issue.

1963 #6

I feel like if this was the ending that the book was leading to, there should have been an emphasis on the build up and a little less focus on the parody side of things. This is a surprisingly good, but also somewhat middling result by Moore in my opinion. I feel like going the Top Ten route, where more commentary and depth can be given to some of the tropes and iconography of the genre would have fit this story better. However, I can understand that 1963 was supposed to more closely emulate Marvel Comics during this time period. While the imitation is purposeful, I don't think it is used in order to enhance a narrative or say something thoughtful, which is a shame and why I think this one is just okay.  Side Note: Flat out calling them Earth's Mightiest Heroes on the cover is funny.