Comic Booked will be covering all things related to Marvel’s Original Sin event this year, so be sure to come back here every Wednesday for the latest updates. This week I will get you a sneak preview of Original Sin #0 coming out April 23, 2014. We will also take a look at the four teaser posters and try to deconstruct them as best we can.
First, let’s take a look at Original Sin #0 written by Mark Waid with awesome looking art from Jim Cheung. Marvel Comics was nice enough to provide us some great art and awesome covers for this first issue. As with any #0 issue, this comic will focus more on who Uatu, The Watcher, really is. Setting the stage for the coming event, Sam Alexander, the boy who has taken up the mantle of Nova, travels to the moon and spends some time with Uatu. What he finds out will change his life forever, as this issue will reveal a secret about The Watcher that lays the groundwork for the crossover event that really begins with Uatu’s death.
Don’t worry about having to go back and read all the old comics featuring The Watcher. Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, in an interview on Marvel.com stated, “If you know nothing about Uatu, or you’re not up on what his deal is right now, the story in Original Sin #0 will give you all of the information you need.” I think this is a great idea, but then people will not feel alienated by a character they may not be familiar with. Picking up Original Sin #0 will really be the only prerequisite to enjoying this huge event from Marvel Comics.
This last week also saw the release of four different posters that tease at things to come within Original Sin. Let’s take a look at each one and see if we can discern some truths or at least start some rumors. Each poster is similar and has a giant eyeball in the middle. The colors and text are different with each one, so that is what we will focus on.
The first one released was the big blue eyeball. “What have you not been told?” This is pretty vague, because I am sure there are a ton of secrets that the Marvel Minds have kept from us the readers. I thought this was an interesting poster because the colors can be associated to certain characters, which may be a stretch, but I think there is still something there. Maybe this has something to do with Adam Brashear, The Blue Marvel, as it has been alluded to that there are some secrets surrounding him that we don’t know. Or perhaps the blue is related to Captain America? What sort of secret could he harbor that we have not been told? Something, perhaps, that would tarnish the reputation of the True Blue American hero… This one is still pretty mysterious, although I would almost say that this has more to do with Captain America remembering everything about the Illuminati and the fact that they have messed with his memories. That was something inferred in earlier issues of New Avengers, as Namor, Reed Richards, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Captain America, and Tony Stark were dealing with the major issues of the world. This little groups has not always made the best decisions… remember World War Hulk? Yeah, they caused that.
The next poster was a sinister looking red eyeball. “The Watcher is dead. Who is next?” With the red background and the word dead in the text, I would associate this very quickly with Deadpool. Gerry Dugan has this to say about Wade Wilson’s sin, “There are some laughs, and we’ll finally put to bed the question that everyone has been asking about Deadpool: ‘Will he be able to participate in the next Take Your Daughter to Work Day?’” This is a reference to Deadpool’s daughter, who we found out about in his battle against Butler alongside Wolverine and Captain America in early issues of the current Deadpool series. We do know that Wade does not want anything to do with her, even though he does secretly want to know if she is okay.
Third on the list is the glowing yellow eye. “Who returns from beyond?” This can mean many things. Is there some dead hero/villain that will be making a comeback? We already saw the Fantastic Four come back from beyond time and space at the end of the last series. We are going to see Peter Parker come back to himself, from beyond, in Amazing Spider-Man. Could it be that we will see a return of the Beyonder, that all powerful being from another dimension? That would be awesome. I am really not sure about this one, but I am very interested in finding out.
Finally, the most ominous of all the teaser posters, the black circle… “Who will watch us now?” This is clearly a statement about the death of The Watcher. Fans of Marvel have always known The Watcher to be there in the time of Earth’s greatest perils. He watches, but he has also intervened when necessary, despite his directive to not get involved. Will someone else be chosen to take his place? Why was he killed and how? And what happened to his eyes?
If you read the story in Marvel Point One Vol 1 #1, published back in January 2012, there was a story titled “Behold The Watcher”. In this story it is revealed that The Watcher, who is thought to be constantly vigilant, actually drops into a fugue state every three years for a period of 42 minutes. During this time he can upload all of his observations to the collective. During this 42 minute window, beings known as the Unseen gained access to The Watcher’s home on the moon and stole what they claimed were the tools to kill The Watcher. We know that other stories in this comic book were preludes to other events or series (Avengers vs. X-Men, Scarlet Spider, and Age of Ultron) and there is no reason to believe that this is any different. It is cool to think that more than two years ago, Marvel was not only mapping out things that would happen now, but teasing us with them.
That’s it for this week, True Believers. I hope this has been enlightening and gets you excited for this big event. We only have two weeks left before Original Sin #0 and then the mystery begins. I would love to hear your thoughts on this event, so comment below and tell me how wrong I am.
trying really hard not to care about this event… but the more i hear, the better it sounds.