Original Sin #1-8

So I’m having a bit of a hard time determining exactly what the point of Original Sin was, exactly.

SPOILERS AHOY!

So the big reveal is that Nick Fury has kept on aging since WWII, and that we’ve seen dozens of his LMDs over the years, rather than the actual dude himself. That’s a pretty big reveal, I suppose. We also found out that he’s been “the man on the wall” shooting big monsters and aliens if they get too close to our precious blue marble. As is usually the case with these huge reveals, it brings up a lot of questions better left unanswered. I assume Nick Fury vs. SHIELD never happened. Nick Fury’s blood donation of the Infinity Formula that saved Mockingbird? I guess she actually got a bag of robot blood? Works for me.

If I understand correctly, he selected a crew of possible replacements (that’s the Black Panther, Ant Man, White Queen, Gamorra, Moon Knight, Dr. Strange, Punisher, Winter Soldier team). As anyone who has read the solicits for next month’s comics knows, Winter Soldier is the lucky winner, getting a new series with the high concept that he will be shooting mysterious aliens and monsters in the head before they see him. I’m not sure how that will fill 20 pages a month, but I’m sure Marvel has a plan. Some of the pairings worked better than others, honestly. White Queen, Black Panther, Ant Man, and Dr. Strange made a surprisingly likable team. Moon Knight and Winter Soldier fit in nicely too. Gamorra, Punisher, and Rocket Raccoon never quite fit in as well, though.

As is often the case with these types of books, it is hard to nail down the stars. Black Panther’s team is the closest thing we’ve got, but most of the conclusion in issue #8 features the Avengers. It is disappointing we didn’t see more of them, because Jason Aaron does a really nice job with their voices, especially Captain America. Nick Fury’s interaction with Cap has to carry a lot of history and emotion, and Aaron manages to deliver exactly what is necessary. Again, my guess is that the main reason the Avengers featured so prominently is so that Thor could drop his hammer once he proved himself unworthy.

Aaron’s pet characters make out pretty well. Dr. Midas is seemingly killed, but his hand lives on, complete with the alchemical gold power that gave him his name. His daughter Oubillete can either become the new Dr. Midas, or just take on his empire. It’s a good new status quo for a villainess with potential. The Orb makes out a bit better. He’s still got an eyeball head, but now he has one of the Watcher’s eyes embedded in his chest. Maybe that will give Orb a few new powers too.

The central mystery, “Who shot the Watcher?” has two answers. The Orb shot out one eye. Nick Fury killed Uatu and took the other. I don’t exactly understand why. I guess Uatu was tired of watching? He says “I’ve seen too much” and basically commits suicide by cop with Nick Fury, but… the why eludes me a bit. Then there is the ending. There is a weird, one-eyed dude wandering around in some purple crystal gear, and I assume it is supposed to be Nick Fury. Or is it some other weird guy who was chained up in the Watcher’s home? Does it matter? Honestly, I’m not sure!

Mike Deodato’s art is pretty solid. His character work is very strong throughout. His Moon Knight and Black Panther are particularly cool. I would have liked a bit less bling on Dr. Strange and a few other guys that don’t need all those weird little chin straps and shoulder pads. I also thought some of the action scenes looked odd. Heroes and villains looked oddly shrunken, like colorforms placed on a background. Is that just me?

So this was 8 issues with mostly at $3.99, some at $4.99. It makes for an expensive read that was decent, but not great. Frankly, I wish Jason Aaron would have stayed on Wolverine & the X-Men a few more issues rather than this FAIR comic.