Friday, May 23, 2014

Original Sin #2 (of 8)

   I have a confession to make.

   When I first decided to tackle this blog back in 2008, my original concept was very different.

   My first thought was to make it much more snarky and negative, playing the reviews for laughs. But I quickly realized I couldn't maintain it - I'm not a negative person by nature, and I can't bring myself to be spiteful - after all, comics creators have feelings, too.

   Given the usual variation in publishing, most weeks I post agreeable reviews (after all, I mostly buy what I like) - but from time to time, we run into a week where I don't seem to like much of anything.

   This is shaping up to be one of those weeks.

   Case in point: Original Sin #2. It's a comic with terrific artwork by Mike Deodato, who manages amazingly detailed art that has a wonderful realistic edge to it.  

   But the story so far continues to be... well, pretty weak.

   We check in with the teams of heroes who are investigating the murder of The Watcher (but don't expect much in the way of clues here). We get a gathering of an army of Marvel heroes, fighting against the rampage of The Mindless Ones. We get some fight sequences that mostly happen off-camera. We get a sliver of information about the mystery behind the Watcher's eye (which strikes me as the silliest McGuffin in recent memory).

   And then there's that last page. Intended as a shock, a surprising twist, an unexpected moment, it instead managed to make me... laugh. Somehow, I don't think that was the reaction they wanted.

    If not for a brief action sequence with (the original) Nick Fury, this issue would have been almost completely forgettable. Not a good sign in a big event comic.

Grade: B-

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