COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews Original Sin #1

Writer: Jason Aaron

Artist: Mike Deodato

Color Artist: Frank Martin

Publisher: Marvel Comics

There has been a lot of buzz around Marvel’s latest event since it was first teased with the tag line “Who Shot the Watcher”. Indeed the image of several Marvel heroes standing over the dead body of Uatu the Watcher. This lead to speculation and intrigue and even applause especially when it was announced at C2E2 of whom exactly would be involved and affected by this unthinkable murder.

Uatu first appeared in Fantastic Four issue #13 from 1963 and has been a constant presence and to that fact one that many thought omnipotent for over 50 years in the Marvel Universe it was a shock when we found out he was going to die.

Well this week we were privy to the first issue of Original Sin and I must say that as far as openings to events go, this one was one of the finest I have seen in a while. It wastes no time getting right to the heart of the matter and though I don’t think I am spoiling anything since we all knew it was going to happen, Uatu is murdered. Not just murdered but mutilated at the same time as someone wanted something from him pretty badly to go to this much trouble.

Of course it isn’t long before the Avengers are called in to ascertain what exactly happened to Uatu, but not before we get a story on what was the best stake each of them have ever eaten. Not only members of the Avengers but the original Nick Fury as well comes along at the behest of Captain America and seems after some reluctance to take over the investigation.

I really like how Aaron handled this first issue, it was done with a sense of urgency in the characters as well as dread as they all seem to be shocked that someone could have enough power to kill the Watcher. The pacing in my opinion was perfection as the opening, middle and end of the issue all seem to gel quite nicely. At the front of the issue as done in most Marvel books these days it tells you exactly which characters will be featured in the issue. Aaron found just the right formula to allow each of them to have adequate time in the panels and bring them into the story without it feeling like they just had to put them there.

I feel readers will be interested in the team of heroes that a mysterious person (whom I think is Fury) put together to hunt down the murder suspects. These characters are Black Panther, Ant-Man, Emma Frost, Doctor Strange, Punisher, Winter Soldier, Moon Knight and Gamora. I don’t know about the rest of you but that is a team I wouldn’t want to mess with for anything! I especially like the opening banter between Doc Strange and Frank Castle; it was done true to the characters and gave me a laugh.

There is one thing that had me wondering where this story falls within continuity however. One of the heroes who are first to the Moon is Wolverine. At this point he is still with the Avengers so my question was does this fall before or after the current run of Wolverine? I understand continuity is loose but at the same time they are playing up Wolverine with his healing factor gone and working on the other side in his book but yet he is still right in the action with Cap and Black Widow in this one. While it may be a little thing when it comes to where things fall in the timeline it is an honest question.

Mike Deodato’s art mixed with Frank Martins colors are simply beautiful for this type of story. They make many of the panels dark and full of shadows and in this type of story where we are dealing with a murder of epic proportions that is what I want to see. If it was the bright colors of the current Silver Surfer book I may not have taken it seriously, but the textures and tones work superbly. The characters all look great and Uatu at the beginning truly looks ominous and powerful as he is supposed to be. Even the action sequences with Thing and Spider-Man while still having a dark tone finds the right combination of shadows and brightness to give us an impressive bit of art.

For an opening salvo for this much anticipated event I feel the creative team did a fantastic job. The story is dark as it should be and the tone truly makes the reader understand the weight of the situation our heroes find themselves in. Aaron and his team made it so you want to know what is going to happen next and who the killer is, especially since you get a very shadowy glimpse of them at the end. Even with that it is hard to tell who exactly it is. Also I am loving that fact that finally we get the original Nick Fury back doing what he does best and that’s hunt down those responsible. I understand with the movies out many writers do go for the Ultimate/Samuel L. Jackson incarnation of Fury, but I am glad that Nick will be doing more with this event than he did in Age of Ultron.

If some past events have given you a bad taste in your mouth, I would say give Original Sin a try as you might be pleasantly surprised.

So I’m back! And with that this is Spin giving Original Sin #1

4.5 out of 5 nerds