After the initial murder of the Watcher in the first issue, another huge death in Jason Aaron’s ‘Original Sin’ occurred in the last issue. After learning that all the mysterious locations being investigated by a cavalcade of heroes on behalf of a mysterious boss are connected, the Winter Soldier shocked his team consisting of Moon Knight and Gamora by stranding them on the moon and decapitating Nick Fury in a gruesome, ‘Game of Thrones’-esque manner. Now, Cap’s former sidekick comes face to face with his colleagues, some of whom are very upset with him, in an attempt to set the record straight and find out who they’re all really working for.
With all the secrets of the Watcher suddenly being revealed, it’s hard to trust anyone in the Marvel Universe these days (or any days when a major crossover graces it’s pages). But now that it looks like one of their own has straight up murdered the one man who is trusted and respected by nearly every hero, the questions and curiosities are at an all-time high and no one is really in anyone else’s good graces.
Firstly, I’ll admit that I was pretty thrown off guard by the final page of issue three. I mean, most of it was because that Winter Soldier is one of my favorite characters, but also because the moment was just so graphic and unexpected. But now that I’ve read this issue, things make more sense and I’m even more invested in what’s going on. Even casual fans are bound to notice when someone as important as Nick Fury gets his head cut off, so this is a pretty big deal. That’s why the huge reveal at the end of the issue was even better. After a book filled with hero on hero action, it needed to end in a big way and it most certainly did.
Next, the whole “mysterious boss” thing has been so confusing. Last time I reviewed this series with issue two, I mentioned that I was wrong in thinking that Fury had commissioned these teams to investigate things further. But now, this issue mentions that everyone on these black ops teams were under the impression that they were working for Fury too. While I’ve been enjoying the storyline, that aspect of it has been pretty messy and more confusing that it should be. Aaron could have still achieved this massive reveal at the end without making all that other stuff so puzzling. That said, I probably would have been surprised by the reveal either way because it was still a pretty big bomb.
Finally, my favorite part of this issue was all the different team-ups that came out of it. Although they may have wasted an opportunity for a Fastball Special with Wolverine and the Hulk, the writer made up for things by giving us Gamora & Emma Frost, Black Panther & Moon Knight, Ant-Man & Doctor Strange, and best of all Punisher and Rocket Raccoon. Those last two should appear in things together more often. I loved seeing Rocket call Frank Castle “skull-boy”. But maybe even more than that, I think I enjoyed all the shade being thrown around by Bucky when he’s trying to justify the heinous acts that he pulled in the last issue. He was super harsh to the Punisher, but then it’s hilarious when his teammates catch up to him and he’s just so accepting of it. “Actually, I think this one might be on me.” That was definitely a funny scene for me.
Overall, even though the whole “Trust No One” thing is a little played out, ‘Original Sin’ managed to give us a payoff worthy of recycling of that overused tagline. Just when we think that Nick Fury couldn’t possibly pull over another one on us, this happens and we’re left in shock, awe, and excitement for the next issue. At least, that’s how I feel about it. Hopefully the series keeps up with this level of interesting developments as the story moves into it’s second half.
Final Score:
ORIGINAL SIN #4
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Mike Deodato & Frank Martin
Cover by Julian Totino Tedesco
