Review: Original Sin
Quick Summary
Pros: The action is exciting and well done. The murder mystery itself is very interesting and does a great job in building tension. The artwork is beautiful and goes well with the story.
Cons: The main subplot throughout the volume is disappointing. The story’s deeper meaning is not well-executed.
Overall: This unique approach to the murder mystery genre works well as a showcase for fun action but stumbles in other regards. This is a collection with plenty of action, loads of suspense, and questions that will keep the reader guessing all the way through. However, small errors outside the main storyline weight it down and keep it from reaching its full potential. Luckily, there are still enough positives for this volume to appeal to anyone looking for some fun mystery and high stakes action.
Story
Original Sin, by Jason Aaron, performs well as an action-packed murder mystery but isn’t necessarily great beyond that. The main storyline is tense and interesting, as the stakes are high and the villain is a complete unknown. There are also a ton of great moments from a variety of Marvel heroes. However, some portions of the story are less compelling and the more meaningful aspects of the narrative are lackluster. This creates a volume that is generally positive but still remains mixed in a few key places.
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On the positive side of things, Original Sin is incredibly exciting right from the very start. The murder of the Watcher instantly raises the stakes and gives this entire storyline a clear sense of danger. Beyond this, individual fights between members of the Avengers and various villains ensure that there is plenty of action. All of this cumulates in Nick Fury’s final battle against people he previously considered friends. This battle showcases Fury’s ability to adapt to any and every situation and features a number of creative and exciting encounters. All in all, the action throughout this book is well-executed.
The other exciting and very positive attribute in Original Sin is the murder mystery. This entire volume centers around the death of the Watcher and constantly asks readers to consider who did the deed. Investigations performed throughout the collection go on to further develop suspense and interest, as readers see the aftermath of more murders committed by this mysterious assassin. As these murders become more numerous and more dramatic, readers realize the power this mysterious “enemy” wields, building even more trepidation for the final reveal. This reveal is also well executed since Nick Fury wasn’t anywhere near the top of my list of potential suspects.
Unfortunately, Original Sin also has its fair share of negatives to go alongside these positives, the first of which centers around the event’s primary subplot. This subplot starts out strong and has unique pairs of heroes investigate aspects of the murder mystery. However, the unique aspects of these hero pairs go almost completely unused. In addition, the methods and rationale behind this adventure are rather murky. All in all, though it does produce an exciting end result, there are too many undeveloped pieces for this to be a worthwhile subplot. It feels as if this subplot would have performed much better had it been written as a full miniseries designed to complement the main event.
Original Sin also suffers from a lack of clear meaning. As the event develops, a cautionary tale about the dangers of keeping secrets begins to develop. Literal “truth bombs” are used against the heroes and their metaphorical purpose couldn’t be more clear. However, the volume’s conclusion goes on to justify the act of secret keeping in a strange, and pretty ineffective, about-face. It makes a beyond surface level read more confusing and even a bit frustrating at times.
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Art
Though the story has its ups and downs, the artwork in Original Sin is consistently high quality. Mike Deodato’s realistic approach to the Marvel Universe works out well in a story as grim and tense as this one. Light and shadow are played with in ways that allow for more dramatic reveals and help highlight some of the more intense moments. Meanwhile, varied page layouts allow structure to set the mood, where more traditional layouts create scenes that lend themselves to action while more chaotic layouts create scenes that lend themselves to mystery. All of this is also enhanced with some great coloring from Frank Martin, which helps further establish the grim and tense tone of this story. Overall, this is a visually impressive collection that works well with the story being told.
Continuity
Original Sin is a Marvel Comics event that does not have origins in any specific comic.
The Original Sin event stretches across a number of tie-in issues. The Original Sins series directly relates to the main event and shows some actions taking place around the main event. Meanwhile, other tie-in chapters see individual characters deal with secrets that are revealed during the Original Sin event. These tie-ins include: All-New Invaders #6-7, collected in All-New Invaders Vol. 2: Original Sin; The Amazing Spider-Man #4-5, collected in Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1: The Parker Luck; Avengers #29-34, collected in Avengers Vol. 6: Infinite Avengers (Review); Daredevil #6-7, collected in Daredevil Vol. 2: West-Case Scenario; Deadpool #29-34, collected in Deadpool Volume 6: Original Sin; Fantastic Four #6-8, collected in Fantastic Four Vol. 2: Original Sin; Guardians of the Galaxy #18-20, collected in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4: Original Sin (Review); Mighty Avengers #10-12, collected in Mighty Avengers Volume 3: Original Sin; Nova #18-20, collected in Nova Vol. 4: Original Sin; Uncanny X-Men #23-25, collected in Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4: Vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.; Original Sin #3.1-3.4, collected in Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man; and Original Sin #5.1-5.5, collected in Original Sin: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm.
The specific reading order behind this event will be explained in our “Original Sin Reading Order” (coming soon).
(warning: the names of collections listed here may contain small spoilers from Original Sin)
The main story here does not continue in any one specific comic. However, major story elements go on to affect a number of characters: the Orb’s story continues in Doctor Strange #14-16, collected in Doctor Strange Vol. 3: Blood in the Aether; the Winter Soldier’s story continues in Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier 1-5, collected in Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier Vol. 1: The Man on the Wall; Nick Fury’s story continues in the Exiles series, collected in Exiles Vol. 1: Test of Time; and Thor’s story continues in the Unworthy Thor series, collected in The Unworthy Thor.
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This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Images in the Watcher’s Citadel foreshadow the Age of Ultron event.
- Many elements from Sam Alexander’s recent adventures are mentioned in Original Sin #0. His recent adventures are detailed in Nova Vol. 1: Origin (Review).
- The Avengers vs. X-Men event explains a number of elements from this story. This includes:
- Nova’s involvement with the Avengers.
- Nova’s “gift” to the Watcher
- Cyclops and Emma Frost’s status as “wanted criminals”.