Original Sin #8: Review

Aug 2014

Jason Aaron, Mike Deodato Jr.

Story Name:

The One who Watches

Review & Comments

Rating:

Original Sin #8 Review by Peter Silvestro (September 6, 2014)

Review: The end of ORIGINAL SIN is here, so how did they do? First up, the art by Mike Deodato is great and goes a long way toward making this issue enjoyable and coherent. On the other hand, Jason Aaron’s story is wrapped up in a not-very satisfying manner since it was clear a few issues ago that Fury was the killer all along, the only “mystery” was why—and I’m still not sure. And there was quite a bit of confusion in hopping back and forth between two stories, both featuring Nick Fury (I’ve kept them distinct in my synopsis because that’s the kind of hairpin I am). Meanwhile at its most bizarre, the series completely rewrote Nick’s past in order to make him a rocket ranger sci-fi hero but ends up with him being the new “Watcher;” The last part doesn’t connect with the first. I had guessed that he would die but this is the next best thing, turning him into an immortal being but having everyone else think he was dead; either way we won’t be seeing him again in the same old fashion and movie fans can be comfortably lulled into thinking Nick Fury has always been black. Most of the large number of characters brought into the story had very little to do here but we’ve been teased with upcoming plot developments for the new BUCKY BARNES THE WINTER SOLDIER #1 (where I hope they explain why –and when—Fury picked Bucky for the job) and THOR #1 (where they are obligated to explain Thor’s downfall). And wait—what’s the idea of choosing grade-Z villains to be the prime movers in the story? I had t look them up on Wikipedia and they still didn’t matter (I will say that the Orb was pretty creepy—I hope they do something cool with him eventually). And pulling in Ulana (who, to be honest, I hadn’t heard of either since I don’t follow the Fantastic Four) for no reason? Final verdict: Great art makes this big event palatable while the plot fizzles out. The best thing about it? The series could be read and understood without having bought the tie-in issues—more events should be like

Last work of review: "this."

Comments: Ulana, the Watcher’s girlfriend, was introduced in FF (2013) #13. Captain Marvel (Carol D), Daredevil, Mr. Fantastic, and Iron Fist appear on the cover but are not in the story.

Oops! Captain Marvel (Carol) is in the issue after all! But the other three guys still aren't so my comment is 75% accurate! Baseball players would kill for that average!

Original Sin #8 Review by Rob Johnson (September 7, 2014)

There are other tie-ins still to come. I'll describe them when they're *all* published.

September 3rd:- UNCANNY X-MEN #25 delayed from 27th. The secret from Xavier's will this time is that he once found an extremely powerful young mutant Matthew Malloy and installed mental blocks so he'd forget about his power. (That power later kicked in catastrophically as seen in the last 2 issues.) It seems that the will *still* isn't over, although next issue in Previews sounds totally unrelated.

August 27th:- AVENGERS #34 delayed from 20th. Captain America reaches the end of time, shortened by the incursions in New Avengers. Immortus, Iron Lad and Kang try to stop him from returning to the present and opposing the Illuminati's efforts to solve the problem. But of course they fail and we're heading for an Avengers/Illuminati war. I've struggled to see how this tie-in can tie in to the rest of Original Sin. Now the suggestion of upcoming events makes me believe that a large chunk of current Avengers/New Avengers will have to be an alternate timeline that will eventually get cancelled like Age of Ultron and recent Uncanny Avengers. ORIGINAL SIN #5.4 delayed from 20th. Female Loki tricks the angels into opening the way to closed, abandoned Asgard for her/him, and brings Odin back. And Thor proves he was only *pretending* to be their helpless prisoner. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #18 This secret isn't actually revealed by the Watcher's Eye - Gamora just gets fed up not knowing why her ex-lover Nova/Richard Rider is the only 1 not to have returned (without any explanations) from the Cancerverse (Nova and Star-Lord were trapped with Thanos in the Thanos Imperative limited series). She demands answers from Star-Lord, who starts to spill the beans. But the story will continue in #19 (and I believe #20, not listed as an OS tie-in). (Drax the Destroyer has also been seen post-Cancerverse, and he's in this story too. But this is doubly-mysterious as he was supposedly killed earlier in the Imperative.)

August 20th:- DAREDEVIL #7 DD rescues his mother Maggie from Wakanda, and finds out what really happened to make her leave him as a child to become a nun. His father Jack wasn't really abusive. Maggie suffered from severe post-natal depression and left for their own good. NOVA #20 Nova continues his hunt for his father, and to find out whether he really turned to the dark side. This story will conclude in #21 which isn't actually labelled an OS tie-in. ORIGINAL SINS #5 In what is perhaps the only worthwhile story in this side-series, Dum Dum Dugan comes to see the aged Nick Fury in his Moon base. Dum Dum offers Nick some of the Infinity formula in his blood to reverse/stop Fury's aging. Nick has to tell his old friend that he's actually 1 of the LMD's that believes it is who it's duplicating. The real Dugan was killed in 1966. The Dugan LMD asks Fury not to replace it, before shooting itself in the head. In the Young Avengers story, the Hood gets away from them with loads of the Watcher's secrets. But Prodigy, who encrypted the data for him, then reveals that he used a random encryption key, so Hood won't be able to access the data. Later still we see that the key wasn't random, and Prodigy has the data. The humorous 2-pager that rounds off the issue is 1 of the better ones. Nick Fury asks loads of supercharacters to tell him what secrets the Watcher might have had about them - like Gambit isn't really French, he just uses French words to seem cool. At the end the old Nick Fury bursts in and shoots the other 1 who is actually a rogue LMD.

There are 3 weeks of tie-ins this time:-

I've not much to add to Peter's synopsis this time except that Nick Fury/the Unseen at the end reminds me of DC's Destiny. And there's a continuity error in the scene with Captain America's squad. Thor's holding Mjolnir when according to the end of last issue and this he's not supposed to be able to lift it now. However I will comment on Peter's comments. I think he was right the 1st time - I don't think Captain Marvel *is* in this issue. We only see Cap's squad in the 1 scene (apart from Thor trying to lift his hammer later). It's not easy to identify the players seen from above in the opening panel of that scene, but it makes sense that they are the 6 mentioned in the cast list page (Black Widow, Cap, Hulk, Iron Man, Wolverine and Thor) alongside Black Panther and Dr Strange. And this fits with people seen in the following panels. And I don't see Carol Danvers anywhere else. And considering the other characters on the cover, I don't think Iron Fist has been in Original Sin *at all*. I also don't think Luke Cage belongs on Peter's cast list. I admit that I thought at 1st it was him and his bald head standing nearest to Cap in that opening panel. But later reflection made me believe it's Wolvie and his yellow/orange cowl.

Here are the late tie-ins I promised:- NOVA #21 doesn't say tie-in but concludes the storyline. Sam has cleared his father's name. He also finds out that he's still alive, but can't find him. ORIGINAL SIN #5.5 Odin arrives in Heven and recognises Angela as his daughter, which the Angels didn't know. Angela gets thrown out of Heven, but won't join the hated Asgardians. Odin and sons return to Asgard, and Thor to the end of Original Sin. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #19 The Cosmic Cube had sent Drax to the Cancerverse instead of killing him in Thanos Imperative. Now Star-Lord kills Thanos with the Cube, but he comes back to life and kills Quill, who also revives. They realise that death is impossible in the Cancerverse. Then the supposedly-dead Revengers (Cancerverse Avengers) return and get hold of the Cube. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #20 *does* have the Original Sin banner. Bad news for Richard Rider fans. The original Nova uses the Cosmic Cube and sacrifices himself to give Drax and Starlord a way out of the Cancerverse. But he accidentally lets Thanos out as well. For some reason he makes Drax and Quill promise not to reveal his fate to anyone, especially Gamora. But Gamora now persuades them to tell her. ORIGINAL SIN ANNUAL #1 This tells us more about Woodrow McCord, the Man on the Wall, and introduces us to his predecessor just known as Stafford. After UNCANNY X-MEN #25 the title dropped the Original Sin banner and stopped reading Prof X's will. Possibly more of the will will be revealed in #29 in December. I may mention it here if it does.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Original Sin #8 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Days earlier, Nick Fury confronted the one-eyed Watcher on the moon and asked who had shot him and stolen his treasures. Uatu declined to reveal anything but told Fury that he had seen The Unseen, which surprised that veteran agent. Fury poured out his anger on the all-powerful being who declined to interfere—except when it suited him—while Fury was the "Man in the Wall," Earth’s first line of defense. Fury puzzled out that Uatu’s secrets were stored in his eyes; the Watcher was weary and ready to go and so made a threatening gesture at Fury—who was forced to shoot him in the face….

Now on the moon as they are observed by the Watchers Council, the villains led by Dr Midas are planning to steal all the energy and knowledge contained within the dead Watcher and so conquer the world. Nick Fury arrives and shoots Midas’ stony hand off. Midas sics the Mindless Ones on him. His daughter the Exterminatrix seizes the severed hand and runs away while the Orb, consumed with the thought of the knowledge concealed in the Watcher’s eyes, is suddenly possessed by one of the eyes. The heroes gathered by Fury arrive to battle the Mindless Ones; Fury confesses to Dr Strange that he killed the Watcher and heads off to save the world one last time. Inside the building, Fury assaults Midas with the Watcher’s remaining eye, which discharges a massive amount of energy and destroys them and the moon base….

Later, Captain America is left with more questions than answers about his old friend’s death and he realizes that Dr Strange and Black Panther know more than they are telling. Exterminatrix returns to Earth with plans of a new Midas Empire. The Orb has bonded with the eye and heads off to observe a grisly murder. The Avengers take off, leaving a distraught Thor on the moon still trying to lift Mjolnir. Bucky Barnes the Winter Solider is the new "Man in the Wall," holding off alien menaces. Finally we see on the moon, a prisoner, shacked to the ground, forced to take up the Watcher’s duties: he is called The Unseen—and he was once Nick Fury….