Hey everybody! In lieu of my normal character spotlight, I’d like to take a moment, and appeal to the masses about the current state of Marvel Comics. Most already know this, but for those of you that don’t, I stopped reading most current comics about 9 months ago (November 2013 – to focus on filling back issue gaps!), but I’ve been more than intrigued by Original Sin. ComicAttack.net’s own team of Infinite Man & Aron Fist have taken up the monumental task of covering this “event”, and you can read their coverage from day one, by clicking here!
After reading through their reviews, I have more questions than answers, and that has led me to the conclusion, that if by story’s end they are still raving about it, then I’m going to buy this one in trade paperback. This got me to thinking (dangerous, I know), that a book has been lying around my man-cave for a while, because I don’t know which box to put it in, quite frankly. The issue is Point One (image above – 2012), and back when it was published, I was convinced Marvel was onto something new and refreshing. I’d like to take a look back at it, and then hopefully get some fresh perspectives from current readers on how things have progressed since this book came out, two years ago.
First up, I’d like to commend Matt Fraction, and the team of Terry & Rachel Dodson, and their herculean effort on “The Defenders.” I don’t believe there was a tougher challenge than the one they took upon themselves. Think about it for a moment. The title was masterfully crafted back in the 1970’s/80’s, by such talents as Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, Len Wein, Steve Gerber, Ed Hannigan, Sal Buscema, Don Perlin, and J. M. DeMatteis (just to name a few). Attempting to follow in those footprints is quite a daunting task, whether they’ll admit it or not. Their (Fraction & the Dodsons) run on that title (albeit a brief one) was pretty solid. It did fade out at the end, but I’ll give them a pass due to the fact that it was abruptly cancelled.
I did keep up with the new Nova title for a bit as well, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The fun-loving attitude that the new Nova has, is something we can all relate to. Sometimes those tropes can get old quick though, but from what I’ve read/heard, the title is till going strong. It seems to be factoring into the Original Sin storyline quite heavily.
The Scarlet Spider title (that was one of the features in the Point One issue) never appealed to me, and overall, no Spider-Man titles have for a very long time. I just fell off with that character’s solo activities many years ago, and hearing about the Mephisto nonsense only solidified my non-buying habits for that character. I have heard good things about it though (the Dan Slott material), but alas, my wallet can only endure so much.
As far as the Avengers story in this book…well, I think we all know how well Age of Ultron was received, so there’s really no reason to go back into that vomit-inducing story. I will say this though. What has happened in Avengers, New Avengers, and Uncanny Avengers (up until I stopped reading them) was quite good, especially the latter. I didn’t finish the “Infinity” story, and maybe I will in the near future because that seemed to have some good spots in the main book as well as the ancillary titles.
All that being said, there are a myriad of questions in my mind, and some of the answers can only be found by buying new comics again. I just can’t bring myself to do it just yet. Have I turned into that crotchety old comic book guy from the Simpsons? Maybe, but you, the readers of the “now”, might be able to convince me other wise. Are you up for the task?
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
Original Sin is OK, but not worth buying. it’s not really a “murder mystery” as it’s billed, more like a Nick Fury story. just download the cbz
Apparently the seeds for Original Sin are in Point One during the story that deals with Uatu.
As a whole, Original Sin is much better in terms of art & story and that it’s not Avengers heavy like the other events seemed to be. We get a focus on several characters that are usually reserved for tie-ins during other events and that’s what gives this one a much different feel to it. It’s still a “murder mystery” just on a galactic scale this time.
As far as the tie ins go…well, you’ve been there before so pick well. Just avoid by ALL COSTS the Deadpool ones. There’s no reason for that one to be involved nor the X-Men tie-ins either
Speech, is Doc Strange a big part of this story? I’ve seen some images with him in them, but don’t know if it’s just two panels and done.
Also, what happened to him in the Infinity story line? I remember some kind if shenanigans, and was wondering if that spilled over into this arc.
Strange is pretty prominent as his part of the investigation teams him with Punisher.
His role in Infinity kind of spills over to New Avengers for a bit but he actually has a larger role as they continue to battle the incursions and I actually have enjoyed reading him in it. Yeah, I know…”strange”.