Original Sin

Collects Original Sin issues #0-8, Original Sins issues #1-5, Original Sin: Secret Avengers Infinite Comics #1-2, and material from Point One issue #1

I usually base my rating on the entire collection, but in this case, my 5-star rating is just going to the main story that is made up of Issues #0-8 and the Point One prologue (the five issues of "Original Sins" and the two issues of "Secret Avengers" can be skipped, and I think this collection would be stronger if they were left out entirely and collected somewhere else).

I loved the story in "Original Sin." I don't often quote from the back of the book summary, but it perfectly encapsulates what is happening here: "A Murder Mystery With Cosmic Ramifications"

The powerful alien known as the Watcher has been murdered, and a unique group of heroes has collected to try to figure out who is responsible. Along the way, many long-kept secrets are revealed that shake some characters to their core.

I was immediately drawn into the murder mystery, and was hooked on this miniseries from start to finish. I didn't have very high expectations, but in the end I found it to be virtually flawless.

I liked this better after reading it a second time, though it is still a deeply flawed story. We get a bunch of villains playing a big role in the story that I've never heard of before, which is somewhat unusual for me since I've got an extensive Marvel collection. They weren't the main focus for much of the story, however, so I was able to move past that without much issue.

Early in the story we get several team-ups of seemingly random characters going off on secret missions with a shadowy figure pulling the strings, which bugged me at first, but when I read it a second time, knowing who was behind it and why, the selection of characters made much more sense to me.

And it was interesting to get a closer look at The Watcher, a character who supposedly is sworn to never intervene, but does so all the time anyway just by showing up, which everyone in the MU knows means something big is happening. It is interesting that the higher-ups at Marvel decided to kill him off (not a spoiler since it's clear on the cover image) right before their big "universe ending" story in Secret Wars, easily the one event Marvel has done that changed things the most.

**SPOILERS**
I didn't like the big reveal at the end, however. Nick Fury is already an impossibly busy character, with his fingers in more pies than should be possible, and now we're meant to believe that all along he's been doing some pretty major stuff on top of all that. A bit too much for me.

Wow! I really really hate it when creators try and change established continuity with a cheesy "you didn't know it fact" that changes everything, like the Gwen Stacy-Norman Osborne love affair thing that J. Michael Straczynski over in Spider-Man. Don't get me wrong...I think he's a great writer and it was a great story, but not for Spider-Man. I mean, this could've easily been an old story he had rattling around in his head and then dusted it off and threw Peter Parker into it. It was just sloppy and awkward.

But...Jason Aaron truly changed the Marvel Universe in a plausible and yet enjoyable way! I won't go into spoilers, but it's been a VERY long time since I've been this impressed by. Think...MIB meets This Is Your life TV show. It started a bit forced, and there were a few things which could've been unveiled a little differently, but I'm definitely NOT complaining.

If you are a Marvel fan, this is required reading.

Bad. Bad. Bad story. Immediately rewrites marvel history. And for what? The writing is bad, the characters are shallow, and plot holes aplenty. Not a rewarding read. Art is fine, layouts could use work.

Great Experience!

not as great a read as i thought it would be, arrived on time and undamaged

Truely a great story. Loved every page.

*Personal Favorite!!!
Been reading Marvel comics a long time and this series is a must have

Started off great. But the mystery turned out to be lame and contrived. I wanted to like this, but it was just bad.

Good book, but disappointing near the end.