A sneak, spoiler-free peek at Marvel’s big event book!
Original Sin #1. Writer: Jason Aaron. Artist: Mike Deodato. Color artist: Frank Martin. Readers complain of event fatigue when it comes to the Big Two and rightfully so. Events have become so commonplace that they can’t even be called events anymore. So, as these huge gatherings of heroes are no longer stop-and-take-notice events, they must all be judged on their own merits as stories.
Original Sin is an event and one hell of a story.
Original Sin #1, out this week, is a book where a master of his craft, writer Jason Aaron, is at the top of his form telling a story that is incongruous as it is riveting. For those not in the know, the Watcher has been murdered and Original Sin is a whodunit with dire consequences for all involved. Too often in these types of books, all the characters sound the same, but Aaron’s pantheon of Marvel heroes all have their unique voice. The incongruity of the characters involved works wonders for the story. Characters like Moon Knight and the Punisher involved in a cosmic event? Yeah, I’ll read that.
The story is bugnuts, but Aaron grounds it. He has Nick Fury tell Captain America, Black Widow, and Wolverine a war story in a steak house, a moment that really allows these heroes to shine as human beings before they are off to solve the murder of a giant bald man who lives on the moon. Established aspects of the MU pop up like the Ultimate Nullifier and the Mindless Ones, but the story never overwhelms because of Aaron’s extraordinary character work.
And let’s face it; no book will suck that has Jason Aaron writing the original Nick Fury.
Mike Deodato nails it in every way an artist can. Not every artist can draw a scene in a steak house and bring it to life with as much skill as a murder on the moon.
Original Sin will be the Red Bull for your event fatigue. At least if the first issue is any indication.
Grade: A