WARNING: This article will probably contain some spoilers about the events going on in Marvel’s Original Sin Event… because this is a full review of the events going on in Marvel’s Original Sin Event. I mean, really people, why else are you here?
I will say that the last couple of weeks have been full of shock and awe. For those of you who have not read the first three issues of Original Sin, I am probably going to tell you things that will make your jaw drop. If you have been reading, then you already know that this has been an amazingly twisty ride so far, including not so mindless Mindless Ones, several B-List villains coming to the forefront, and Bucky doing some awful things to “get ahead”…
Reviews
Original Sin #4 – A quick recap. The Watcher, Uatu, was found dead on the moon. We have three teams of heroes following different paths to the same answers, being directed by a mysterious person known only as “Mysterious Boss”. Nick Fury, old Nick not new movie Nick, was also the head of a team of heroes including Hulk and Wolverine who are looking for Uatu’s killer. Nick can no longer be the head of the team as Bucky took that ability away… along with Nick’s head last issue. Currently, Black Panther, Emma Frost, and Ant Man have just met up with the second team of Punisher and Dr. Strange in a satellite of unknown origin in Earth’s orbit. Gamora and Moon Knight were stranded on a distant planet when Bucky, the Winter Soldier, blew up their ship and teleported in to kill Nick Fury. Oh, and The Orb, a low-rent villain with an eyeball for a head, held up the Watcher’s eyeball in New York city and exploded secrets all over everyone. BEST LINE SO FAR: “Hello! I talk to eyeballs.” Back on the satellite, it looks like the band is getting back together. Confrontations highlight this issue as Bucky appears on the satellite and the tension rises. Things escalate quickly when Gamora and Moon Knight make their appearance on the satellite and the fights begin. Let me just say that the ending to this issue was exactly what I had been expecting, well, almost exactly, so good job not surprising me. Overall, this was a great way to keep everyone on track and continue the storyline. One loose end is tied up, at least.
Nova #18 – Sam Alexander, the newest, and probably youngest, one and only member of the Nova Corps, had visited Uatu in Original Sin #0. At the end of that book, The Watcher told Sam that his father, also a Nova who had gone missing and was presumed dead, was still alive out there somewhere. In this issue, we back up a little bit and see how Sam found out that Uatu had been killed, then we follow him to Earth where he is trying to let people know what he found. Nova joins in the fight against the Mindless Ones and Eterminatrix in downtown New York City. As always, this series is a nice break from some of the more serious books like Avengers. Gerry Duggan can include just enough humor to lighten an otherwise morbid and extremely sad issue without making it farcical and stupid. Of course, all of that ends when the finale of this issue has Sam caught in the blast of secrets from the Watcher’s eye. What he sees is a revelation about his father that makes him question everything about who this man was and what he was capable of. An interesting twist in this chapter of Nova.
Avengers #31 – Jonathan Hickman brings us the next time-hopping issue of Avengers, “500 into the Future”, as Captain America and crew are being jaunted through time, past and present, by the shattered Time Gem. 422 years in the future, the Avengers, less Hawkeye who falls away from the group and ages to dust in between times, is captured by a version of the Avengers from the future. This world is ruled by Ultron Prime, he is even the All Father, ruler of Asgard. Captain America is taken by his counterpart and implanted with a bomb. “When it goes off, it is going to change the future. And won’t that be fun.” Black Widow meets a future version of herself, created by Ultron Prime to mirror the original. She gives Natasha two gifts, very cryptic, but something that will be key to their survival and possibly correcting the problems they are finding with their futures. Finally, the Time Gem reforms and catapults them to “Betrayal + 5045 years”, but not before both Hyperion and Thor fall away and age to dust. This issue can really be summed up by quoting the last line of this comic, “Does anyone know what the hell is going on around here?” Knowing Hickman, it is bound to be something crazy cool and twisty.
So, that just happened. Another week of Original Sin all summed up for you in a nice neat little package. And it was really hard to wrap with all the sharp edges and the Escher-esque lines and shapes. but, I do this for you, the fans, hoping that I am in some small way filling a need for you and making your world a happier place to live in. Be sure to tune in next week, same time and same place, for the next chapter in Marvel’s huge Summer event, Original Sin. Who knows, we may eventually even find out who killed the Watcher.
