Original Sin is this summer’s crossover from Marvel Comics

Every summer for the past couple of years Marvel Comics has been putting out event-crossover stories.  Certainly it’s an attempt to drive sales, but the stories can also be quite good too.  Avengers Vs. X-Men was two years ago and easy to grasp because it was what the title said.  The Age of Ultron was 2013 and very good, partially due to building up name awareness for the pending Avengers movie with the same name.  This summer’s crossover story, Original Sin, is less grandiose, has characters that aren’t known to broader comic fans but is still enjoyable here’s why.

Space

By now we’ve accepted the fact that the superheroes in Marvel Comics go to space.  Don’t bother trying to fathom how Captain America or The Punisher can breathe in areas far beyond the realms of man.  They’re there, it works-accept it.  Now is only DC can get their Earthbound heroes to space it’ll get interesting over there too.

More Nick Fury

Nick Fury is white?  That’s what people who only know Nick Fury from the movie will ask.  As with space, yes.  In the comics he’s a white, grizzled older military guy who has a core that’s similar to Captain America or Iron Man, except Fury is less apt to take crap from anyone. His gruff, old school attitude is refreshing in a pool of superheroes that look alien or wear costumes.  He’s just a guy who’s tough, will beat you to a pulp and shoot aliens when needed.

A big cast

Just like the previous summer crossover stories all of the folks in the Marvel Universe are here.  I like Ant-Man, I know it seems like they’re trying to force him on use in advance of the movie, but his perspective and abilities are utterly unique in a sea of folks who physically big or shoot.

Original Sin is not religiously based.  On some of the promotional ads and inside the comic you’ll see a quote from the book of Romans in the Bible.  That quote is there just for atmosphere and perhaps a subtle nod to the title of the book, Original Sin.

In the first issue The Watcher was assassinated and someone stole his eye.  Yeah, The Watcher may have flown over the casual comic fan.  I‘ve seen him before and he always reminded me of baby new year.  In fact, he’s a huge, sentient being that watches over space and time and has amazing weapons that are sublime, but have great power.

Original Sin #2 picks up with superheroes in the middle of the Earth, the moon and Manhattan.  By the end of the book they discover that The Orb killed The Watcher , took his eye and has harvested it to become the most powerful force in the universe.  The Orb also has a crew of monsters that are evolving, into what, we don’t know.

I was hesitant to jump into this summer series because of the title and Bible verse.  Marvel Comics goes Bible, I’ll pass.  However, it’s worth a read.  We’re not buying all of the variant storylines, but the main storyline for Original Sin is shaping up to be a big story with enough action, dusted off characters and new monsters to keep it interesting.   Original Sin is a comic that’s rate T+ for violence.

Wednesday is new comic book day!  To find the closest comic book store just go here.