This was an interesting experiment: transplanting several of Marvel’s most well-known characters back to the 16th century, but it’s one that left me mostly cold. It’s taken me quite a while to read, because I’d keep putting it down and not want to pick it back up again. Towards the end the pace picked up and I started to enjoy it more, but the first half or more felt slow and ponderous. Lots of portents of doom but it didn’t feel like the plot was going anywhere.
It was a nice touch to make James VI & I one of the villains of the piece, since he’s noted in the historical record as believing in the supernatural and writing on the matter, as well as personally supervising the torture of people he believed to be witches. And how could a 16th century mind interpret mutants and superheroes, but as witches.
The art is very pretty, and the artist did a good job of rendering traditional superhero costumes into something that looked appropriate for 16th century Europe, while simultaneously staying true to the characters we know and love in the present, mostly by use of colour and texture.
It’s something that may be served by a reread, but I don’t know if it’ll ever get it. I’m a casual comic reader at best, being more familiar with the MCU than the source material, but this didn’t really grab my attention, so I doubt I’ll revisit it any time soon.