Back for more sins? Okay, but this is the last time. Thanks for joining us for the wrap up installment of Comic Booked’s coverage of Marvel’s big summer event, Original Sin. I admit, I may have one more article later, since we are still waiting on the finale of Thor and Loki, Daredevil, and Guardians of the Galaxy, but for the most part, the main part of the story is told with this installment. so, if you want to know that stuff, just go buy it.
Guardians of the Galaxy #18 – Gamora is none too happy with Peter Quill, since he announced that he had made a deal with Thanos. This all stems back to the Cancerverse debacle and now Gamora wants to know “Where is Richard Ryder?” So, Quill begins his tale. As he and Ryder bore down on Thanos, Quill with the cosmic cube in hand, they really felt they had him for good this time. The Cancerverse was a dying universe, imploding and soon to destroy them all. Luckily, they find Drax, still alive and dying for vengeance. The battle rages back and forth until the horde of robot bugs attacks and Quill uses the cube without even thinking about it. However, just like the One Ring of Mordor, the cube exacts a price from its user. As the cube began to take control of Quill, Thanos did his best to convince Peter to relinquish the cube. The problem was… this was not even a possibility. My Rating: 4.5/5 (It has Thanos)
Original Sin #5.4: Thor & Loki – The Tenth Realm #4 – Thor is in some pretty bad shape after being beat up by a girl. Of course, that girl is Angela, hunter of the Tenth Realm, a realm locked away from the other Nine until Thor and Loki found it in their search for their sister. As Loki, a female now, leaves his brother to be tortured, he plays a sort of mind game with Angela, perhaps planting seeds of doubt. Later he/she is off to destroy Asgard for the Queen of Angel. Thor, still hanging around the dungeon, takes a whipping but keeps on kicking. Even seemingly beaten, Thor seems to have a plan, or it may just be bravado. All he wants is his sister. As Loki approaches Asgard, which we all know if no longer the home of the Norse gods, the angelic fleet is whipped into a frenzy and, at Loki’s command, plunges forward, only to smash against the barrier erected by Odin to seal off the realm. It shatters, but so does the fleet. Loki, a traitor? Say it ain’t so. In the end, we see both ploys as Thor calls down the thunder on the angels and Loki finds a long lost power to assist in the coming war. My Rating: 4.5/5 (Because BARRAKKABOOMMM)
Avengers #34 – Let’s catch you up. Time gem. Avengers hopping through time. Seemingly random. Disjointed visits with future people and places. A.I. defeated. Captain America is all alone. In the future, called Betrayal + Forever, Cap is saved from certain death by Iron Man… I mean, Iron Lad, another version of Kang. Iron Lad takes Captain America to see the last of the Avengers, Kang and Immortus. Cap is trepidatious, to say the least, and does not trust what is happening. The Kangs team up to capture the Time Gem as it reforms, thus stopping another jump through time. Now it is time to explain to Cap about the incursions and what all this has to do with him. They tell him that they have tried to solve this problem before, to no avail. Now, they hope that by removing Captain America from the equation, the Illuminati will continue to sacrifice other earths to save their own, thus allowing the cycle to end. My favorite line? Cap, finishing up a crowd rousing battle cry of a monologue, says “I rescue the helpless. I raise up the hopeless. I don’t measure people’s lives, I save them.” Kang looks at him and says “No one here… cares.” Cold, calculating, and trying to save all of humanity, while Captain America is just trying to so some shred of his own humanity. In the end, Cap figures it all out… and it gave me a little chill. Cool stuff and you have to be reading this. My Rating: 4.5/5
Uncanny X-Men #25 – Now we find out the truth behind Professor Xavier’s will. He left everything to Lockheed… just kidding. Instead we are told the story of Matthew Malloy. You may remember Matthew from the last couple of issue as a mutant exhibiting destructive powers on a massive scale with no idea of how it happened. This is the story of him as a child. Matthew was a super powerful mutant beyond anything that the professor had ever encountered. He barely survived this meeting, since the child seemed to have the ability to practically reshape reality. The X-Men, listening to this recorded will, have to take a break and this gives us the opportunity for everyone to catch up. Old friends get to hug and someone finally comments on Allison Blair’s crazy new haircut and dye job. Back to Charles. He used a psychic projection of himself as a child to insinuate himself into Matthew’s mind and put some controls into place to stop him from using his powers and causing all sorts of disasters. This goes against everything that the X-Men had ever been taught and cuts right to the heart for Scott, a man who idolized the father figure presented by Professor X. Bottom live from the prof, find Matthew Malloy, now a grown man, and be sure that the psychic barriers are still in place. After the mission, then She-Hulk can reveal the rest of his will. Good luck with that, X-Folks. My Rating: 4/5
Original Sin #8 – This is what you have all been waiting for. I will definitely be spoiling this as this is our last time together for some sinning. Nick Fury is on the moon trying to stop Dr. Midas from stealing all the good stuff from the Watcher’s house. And, talk about morbid, but Midas also wants to eat Uatu and drink his blood. Gross. So, what happens? Nick finally admits that it was he who killed the Watcher and took his second eye. As Midas tries to absorb the Watcher’s powers, Nick comes at him, shooting off one of his hands and hitting him with the eyeball. The power is too much and he explodes. Exterminatrix snatches the severed hand of her father and runs off, only to later be landed on Earth planning the rebuilding of the Midas empire. The rest of the heroes show up, fighting off the Mindless Ones and all seems hopeful. However, Fury directs them to leave and, after hitting the Orb with another eyeball, the house of the Watcher, along with his body and Nick Fury, explodes. A group of Watchers had gathered to watch and they all leave immediately after the explosion. Captain America is troubled looking for a reason for it all. Bucky Barnes takes up Nick’s role as the man on the wall, so we have a series spinning off from this. We also get to see the Orb with an extra Watcher eyeball planted in his chest running around watching things. The final scene is interesting as we see a hooded figure moving through the rubble, with a chain around his ankle. He is the Unseen and he is Nick Fury, forever consigned to watch but not interfere. A fitting end for this man who gave up his humanity to save humanity. My Rating: 4.5/5
Well, that was a long journey. I hope you enjoyed our coverage of this massive crossover and will join us as we begin coverage of both Edge of Spider-Verse and Axis in the coming month. Thanks for being Comic Booked.
since when is “it has thanos” a good thing post-infinity gauntlet?