Original Sin is the All-New Marvel Now comics event for the summer from The House of The Mouse Ideas. It comes with an intricate publishing plan with several series and titles being roped in. Here’s how it shakes out:
- Original Sin, the 8 issue (9 if you include the #0 issue) core event book (no “s” at the end), that surrounds the mystery of who killed The Watcher, what he saw and what’s the deal with his eyes; the House of Ideas’ take on a cosmic whodunit.
- We get an interlude in Original Sin with, I believe, with more branding-over-story controversy a.k.a. numerhoaxology from Marvel as Hulk vs. Iron Man gets the Original Sin #3.1 to #3.4 treatment. Did Tony Stark lead to the creation of the Hulk?
- Continuing in that vein, we also have Original Sin #5.1 to 5.5 mini-series called Thor & Loki: The 10th Realm involving the revelation that former Spawn stalwart Angela is the sister of Thor and Loki!
- We’ll get Original Sin tie-ins in some regular ongoing series where we learn of some “sins” of Marvel Now’s heroes and villains. Like with All-New Invaders #6 and many others.
- The Original Sins (with an “s” at the end) is a companion anthology 5 issue mini-series to spotlight Young Avengers in particular, but also showcase done-in-one tales from across the Marvel Universe presumably revealing more sins, but this time for characters who don’t currently headline their own ongoing series.
The core Original Sin mini-series has been chugging along and finally picking up (somewhat) last week with an impactful cliff-hanger. What’s transpired so far:
- All-New X-Men #25 provided the stealth launch of Original Sin.
- Original Sin #0 provided a retelling of the Watcher’s origin that enhanced his Marvel role and power set.
- Original Sin #1 and #2 provided the set-up for the four investigations into the Watcher’s death and eyes theft.
- Original Sin #3 provided a climax with the death of a classic Marvel character by another fan fave.
Now that your caught up, that brings us to
Spoilers and capsule review for Original Sins #1 follow.
We know that Young Avengers will be consistently in Original Sins. So, how does Marvel Comics choose who else will be featured in done-one-issues? Looks like Original Sins will be the prequels or set ups to upcoming All-New Marvel Now series. So, first up we have Deathlok who gets his own series in October described as (movie buffs take note): “The Manchurian Candidate meets Robocop“.
His Original Sins tale leads directly into his new series.
This all capitalizes on the character’s prominence in Season 1 of ABC’s Marvel Agents of SHIELD.
The book ends with the Young Avengers tale. It seems the team is drawn to Dr. Midas’ daughter Exterminatrix, as revealed in the free preview page below via CBR, who along with Dr. Midas and the Orb caused havoc for the Avengers in the core mini-series in Original Sin #2 and #3. In turn, a surprising villain – that Marvel really wants fans to think is a major Big Bad – confronts the team with an offer they seemingly won’t be able to refuse.
The Hood. Dr. Midas. Exterminatrix. The Orb. These are the villains revealed so far in Original Sin and Original Sins. Does the cast of villains make you think the Avengers are in serious trouble? I didn’t think so.
Original Sins seems more like a promo book to start with Deathlok (which is a well written and well drawn lead into his new series) and a relevancy project with Young Avengers (which was a confusing story with an art style I’m not a fan of).
I was hoping for some more Orb-induced original sin revelations in Original Sins, but we didn’t get it. A missed opportunity for Marvel to be sure and a very misleading title of “Original Sins” for this companion mini-series.
Thanks for reading. All feedback welcome.