Original Sins #4

Original Sins #4 (2014)
by James Robinson & Alex Maleev
cover by Mark Brooks

Original Sin was the company-wide crossover of 2014 at Marvel.
I found it to be nearly incomprehensible, but luckily for me it gave us this little standalone story that is one of my favorite Doctor Doom gems few people know.

You might think the initial narration is from Doctor Doom himself, given his ego…

…but no, it’s from someone with an ego to match since they believe they’re going to take down Doom.

Meet Gil Carmichael, a regular guy who is explaining that he came into possession of one of Doom’s memories.

He explains that he happened to be near the Big Dumb Battle that took place during the main event of the crossover.

The basis of the event was that the (extremely minor) supervillain The Orb came into possession of one of the Watcher’s eyes, and used it to reveal secrets to both superheroes and the world at large.

It’s a neat premise and a few books put it to great use to enhance their own storylines, but the event on its own is a real mess.

Fortunately for me, the details are not important to this story: all you really need to know is that Gil just happened to receive one of Doom’s memories.

Gil’s friend might just be the smartest character in comics, because he points out that a random civilian blackmailing Doctor Doom is an INCREDIBLY dumb idea!
Keep this panel in mind for later, it will be important.

In addition to Doom’s secret, Gil seems to also have received his self-importance.

If you had any doubts that what Gil is legit, Doctor Doom is going to PERSONALLY fly from Latveria to the embassy in order to meet him.

The best part of the story happens while Gil is waiting for his appointment, which is something I never thought I would have to say.

First, his secretary informs him that his lawyer just killed himself.

Then his wife informs him that someone suicide-bombed his bank.

His mistress (I assume, based on the previous conversation) doesn’t even answer the phone.

And when he tries to call the friend who tried to warn him, and who at this point is already the only other person who knows Gil learned the secret…

…he learns the friend was ALSO attacked.

Gil’s life has been completely destroyed in 2 and a half pages… BEFORE he talks to Doom.

Precisely like his friend warned him, in a truly chilling finale.

We never see Gil Carmichael ever again. I’m sure he’s fine.

I wonder what WAS the secret that he found?

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Doom significance: 0/10
Never referenced for obvious reasons.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Definitely not!

Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
I love this story. You can see a reflection of Doom’s ambition in Gil, but without the skill to back it up. It also really sells you Doom being a truly larger-than-life being from the perspective of a common person.
The story also wisely knows what to leave unsaid: whatever the secret ends up being can’t compete with whatever you imagined (which is why most of the crossover feels flat for me, because nearly all secrets aren’t really that big of a deal).
And not showing what Doom does to Gil’s friends really amps up the horror and the fact that Gil is completely at his mercy.
As if that wasn’t enough, Doom’s actions towards those around Gil feel in-character to me.
Based on his conversation, Gil left the evidence of the secret to four people: his lawyer, the bank manager, the wife and the mistress.
The lawyer and the manager are the only ones confirmed to be killed. We don’t know if Doom did anything to the mistress and he definitely didn’t kill the wife: it WOULD be in Doom’s character to keep them alive and just scare them to death.
Gil’s friend is also not confirmed to have been killed, he only “had an accident”… which granted COULD mean he died, but it could also mean Doom just injured him to encourage him to keep his mouth shut… remember the friend didn’t know what the secret WAS, just that Gil had it.

It was a Doombot all along
We are told Doom personally flew in from Latveria. Of course this could just be a Doombot, but since this is a personal secret for him… he’s definitely petty enough to want to be there in person when Gil’s life is crushed.