Let’s measure DC’s Future’s End against Marvel’s Original Sin. So far I love that these two comic giants are going at it through use of big events. I always love it when there is something I can, as a reader, look forward to reading that I just know will shake the foundation of their characters. With that in mind, I decided to compare and contrast Future’s End title with Original Sin title.
First, I want to tackle Future’s End. I am at odds with this title. The premise is awesome. Go from an established future (Batman Beyond future) and pinpoint, for lack of a better term, the moment “Skynet became aware.” One problem with that: they missed the jump by a few years. Now Terry McGinnis has to try and stop Brother Eye from ever getting the upper hand in order to erase the future that will become his own.
Okay…very cool zero issue. Very well played, DC. Grab everyone’s attention in an amazing zero issue that you gave out for free on Free Comic Book Day.
But now we get to issue three. And three issues in…I am pretty upset as a fan. A Grade A character like Terry McGinnis is thrown back in time and must adapt… okay. But why are other characters that were just rebooted being retooled? I understand its a few years in their future, but they were JUST rebooted less than four years ago. And the fact that I feel like I HAVE to read some other issues instead of this main arc to feel like I know what is going on is beyond ridiculous.
The story is LITERALLY all over the place and some of the characters are just too far gone from the characters I am currently reading. With the “Five Years Later” event happening soon, I can only see things getting worse.
Now for Original Sin. I have really enjoyed these issues. Every issue has had something happen to further the story. The characteristics of each character haven’t changed from any of their core books and the story telling is really driving this one home.
While Marvel has already announced all of their Original Sin tie-ins, I don’t feel that I NEED to read them in order to get the full story. This is a great thing for people that just want to get the big picture. And, purely as a comparative note, I think it is much like DC’s Identity Crisis. You didn’t NEED to get the tie-in issues to get the whole story. You just needed to get the main mini-series in order to see the progression of the story.
Back to Original Sin, another reason I love this series is that you really don’t know all the players yet. It’s a guessing game and you are still left guessing by the end of Issue 2. I mean “Z-List?” REALLY? I didn’t see it coming.
The bottom line is that I am really enjoying everything about this series so far. It hasn’t let me down and I feel like my money has been well spent. With Future’s End I feel like I am in a taxi. The driver is taking me where he wants to; all the while the meter is running. And so far, I’m not really enjoying the sights.