Marvel Comics’ latest crossover has begun! After being disappointed by ‘Age of Ultron’ and being enthralled by ‘Infinity’, it’s now time for the most epic murder mystery that the Marvel Universe has ever seen with ‘Original Sin’ from writer Jason Aaron and artist Mike Deodato. Technically, it all began a few weeks ago with ‘Original Sin’ #0, but that was more of an enhancement book. Regardless, the opening shots have been fired and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (and then some) set out to uncover the culprit behind Uatu the Watcher’s gruesome murder.
In the first issue of the next big event from the House of Ideas, Nick Fury is called out of retirement when Captain America gets word from Thor about Uatu’s demise. With a murder of this magnitude, Fury needs an army of operatives from all walks of life and that’s one of my favorite things about this series so far. There are so many unlikely teams thrown together for various missions under Fury’s orders and from what I’ve seen so far, they’re all great! In this book, we’ve gotten to see such groupings as Doctor Strange and the Punisher, Emma Frost and Scott Lang, Spider-Man and the Thing, and the trio of Moon Knight, Winter Soldier, and Gamora. This assembly spans the entire Marvel Universe and beyond because that’s how important it is to solve this mystery. Personally, I’m stoked to see Bucky, Frank Castle, and Marc Spector involved in the festivities. The first two are a couple of my all-time favorite characters and Moon Knight has been interesting me since ‘Civil War’, so to see them all included in this story makes me more excited for things to come. Aaron gives us a lot of great moments with these strange bedfellows and I hope for many more as this eight-issue series unfolds.
The art is another favorite thing of mine in this issue. Deodato gives the book almost a noir vibe, which fits perfectly with the subject matter being explored in this story. The excellent coloring by Frank Martin also furthers that aesthetic. I first noticed this especially whenever Nick Fury is on the page, but it happens with other characters too in that shadows really come into play in the artwork of this book. It’s so fitting because this group has to work in the shadows in order to get the results they’re looking for without anyone noticing. Marvel has a pretty uncanny ability to match up the perfect artists with stories that will make them shine and this is just another example of that.
The bottom line is that this is a very solid first issue for a very promising summer blockbuster from top to bottom. The stage has been set for an exciting ride over the course of the next few months. Now that the ball is in motion, I’ll be waiting in suspense for the next set of clues about the villains of the story. After all, with the epic collection of heroes introduced in this issue, the villains have to be just as good to pull this off and stand against these warriors seeking retribution for the death of the Watcher.
Final Score:
ORIGINAL SIN #1
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Mike Deodato & Frank Martin
Cover by Julian Totino Tedesco
