Original Sin has got an interesting tie-in concept going for it because the main event isn’t revealing everyone’s sins. It doesn’t have to since the main draw is the mystery of who killed The Watcher. So let’s figure out what Hulk and Iron Man have to be so guilty about. Is it good?
Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man #1 (Marvel Comics)
This issue opens with Iron Man and Hulk throwing down. I’m a huge Mark Bagley fan and I can say without question this sequence is pulse pounding and awesome. It definitely has a throwback feel to the 90’s and it is an awesome away to open the issue. Heck, it even has a surprise in store and doesn’t play like the other dozen Iron Man vs. Hulk scenes we’ve seen before it. Unfortunately for this issue though, the main chunk of the story is about the past dirt between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.
Love the lines!
I’m not sure if all the Original Sin storylines are hellbent on changing origin stories, but this one packs a doozy of a change. I won’t ruin it here, but let’s just say Tony Stark has a lot more involvement in Bruce Banner’s gamma bomb mishap. It’s unclear exactly how, but we get a good reason why in this issue. In a way this issue is like a throwback to the 80’s when Tony was a jerk and drinking heavily. We get to see the vain and lazy nature to him. He wants all the acclaim, knows he’s a genius, but doesn’t act on it.
JG Jones writes this issue rather well, but I couldn’t shake the feeling this story was similar to the one Dan Slott cooked up between Doc Ock and Tony Stark. (Doc Ock and Bruce Banner both being geniuses who don’t have the confidence to follow through on their actions.) That doesn’t help the narrative since the issue plays out very slowly. There isn’t much to say beyond a page or two of content so it proceeds to reiterate the relationship in the flashback and then haphazardly show Tony guilty when he wakes up from his Original Sin dream.
Who is smarter than who contest…boy are those entertainingNOT.
Is It Good?
Purists may hate the rewriting of Bruce Banner’s origin, but I can assure you most will be bored with the main narrative. Still, that opening action sequence is one to behold.
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