Original Sin Event Coverage: May 21, 2014

Had to take a week off last week to get some things in order, but this week we are right back at it and catching you up on all the comics involved in Marvel’s Original Sin event. So far, we have gone over a lot of the pre-event news that Marvel has put out, but there have been two big reviews, Original Sin #0 and #1. If you missed them, go here. This week we get a little more meat.

Reviews

Avengers #29 – The first official released tie-in for Original Sin. For those who have been reading this series from the beginning, we know that Jonathan Hickman has setup a long storyline involving encroaching universes that threaten the very existence of Earth. To keep “our Earth” safe, they Illuminati has been reformed, even though they were disbanded following the events of World War Hulk. The Illuminati are made up of Black Bolt, Namor, Reed Richards, T’Challa, Doctor Strange, Hank McCoy, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers. When the “incursions” began, the only solution that worked was to somehow destroy the other world to stop each incursion, therefore killing anyone alive on that parallel planet. When Captain America stood against them, instead of fighting with him or trying to convince him, Doctor Strange messed with his memory just a little bit, but not so much a la Identity Crisis Dr. Light. Of course that was after Captain America, the moral guidepost for this super team, used the combined powers of the Infinity Gems, the Infinity Gauntlet, to push a world back into place and stop an incursion without a loss of life. The problem is, all the gems shattered… except the Time Gem which just disappeared. Now, Steve is having bad dreams about these events, despite his memories having been clouded with magic. This issue is all about the confrontation between Steve Rogers and the man he calls brother, Tony Stark. And this is an issue not to be missed. The ending is… wow.

Original Sin #2 – Just a quick summary of what’s going on. The Watcher was murdered and his eyes have been stolen. There are two groups of heroes in this story. One team led by Nick Fury, the real one not the movie one, and comprised of Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, and Black Widow. They are investigating the Watcher’s murder. The other group, led by a mysterious man in the shadows, has been sent on several different errands. Emma Frost and Black Panther have gone to the center of the Earth with Ant-Man to investigate the deaths of monsters. Doctor Strange and the Punisher have traveled to another dimension to find a murdered king of beasts shot with the same bullet that killed the Watcher. To be the counter-point to our hero teams, the team of villains who hold one of the eyes of the Watcher, is an interesting group. There are about a dozen Mindless Ones, the other dimensional mindless beings of death and destruction, only these Ones are evolving and becoming sentient because of exposure to the eye. The two seeming leaders of the band in this issue, anyway, are two characters that I had to go look up. Exterminatrix, Oubliette Midas, first appeared in Marvel Boy #1 released back in 2000. In that series, she worked with her father, Dr. Midas, and the Midas Organization to steal Marvel Boy’s cosmic ray engine. Also that series ended up with a Mindless one chasing them and, of course, a big fight. Now, she seems to have been souped up by the Watcher’s eye, more powerful, faster, angrier. The other, more pensive partner, is The Orb, a villain with a giant eyeball for a head. While the original Orb, appearing in Marvel Team-Up #15 in 1973, was a person wearing an eyeball helmet, this seems to be the new Orb, whose head is actually a giant eye. As the super heroes of New York surround their penthouse hideout, the villains bust out all the guns and (not so) Mindless Ones to make their escape.

So far, this is turning out to be an interesting story. Jason Aaron’s writing is solid and Mike Deodato’s art is, as always, amazing. Tune in next week for more Original Sin Event Coverage right here on Comic Booked.