by Gavin Smith

Titan, out now

Who killed the Watcher?

Original Sin was originally a 2014 storyline which had its own series and ties ins with The Amazing Spider-Man. The writer, Jason Aaron, brought together a huge cast of characters to investigate the death of Uatu, a Watcher.

If you’re at all familiar with the Marvel universe, cinematic or otherwise, you’ll have come across this character and know what his game is.

Gavin Smith has taken the story and adapted it for his latest, a novel of the same name.

Adaptation can be difficult, especially with something like a graphic novel – not least because you have to bring the story out of the visual medium and deliver something worth the reader’s time. After all, with a comic you can literally see these characters as they go through their adventure.

The challenge here then is to bring something new without deviating from the story that’s so very clearly laid out in the comics. If you wonder why The Rings of Power seems to be channelling Peter Jackson it’s because once you’ve seen something defining it’s hard to get away from it successfully.

Smith does a good job of bringing that extra ingredient. The core story is here but that’s almost by the by. If you’re interested in this it’s because he’s managed to layer in emotion and internal motivations that are either told to us or absent from the graphic novel.

Internal monologue is hard to show visually. Sure you can tell but it quickly drags the pace down just where you don’t want it to.

This is a clever move by Smith because we get more than what was in the pictures – we get something where characters we know actually feel things, whether it’s fear or ambition or joy, doubt and determination. I enjoyed being inside the heads of the many, many characters that take part in this story.

Stepping away from its parent for a moment, the novel is an ensemble piece featuring many characters familiar to those who just dabble in the MCU and many more for those who are absolute die-hards. However, at no point do you feel lost. The structure of the book – which is different enough from what came before – ensures that the switching and moving around of the plethora of people involved in this cosmos shaking event get just enough screen time to make sense and enough time to let us know why they’re there, what they want and how that ties into everything else going on.

The action is well written, fast paced and easy to visualise. With super powered action sequences it can be hard to understand who is protected by what plot armour or just their own powers but the novel is clear about who is punching who even as we navigate our way through the central mystery – who killed Uatu.

Verdict: If you like Marvel this is a fun entry into the universe featuring characters we love as well as some who might be new. It offers a lot of fun and I think makes a neat addition to the growing collection of Marvel novels.

Rating? 7 all seeing eyes out of 10.

Stewart Hotston

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