'Fear Itself: The Worthy' begins with Sin

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By Marvel Comics

An issue on Sin kicks off the Fear Itself: The Worthy digital comic series.

By Marvel Comics

An issue on Sin kicks off the Fear Itself: The Worthy digital comic series.

The Worthy are eight powerful men and women — made even more powerful by mythical hammers — that lay waste to civilization in the Marvel Comics event series, Fear Itself.

And over the next eight weeks, you'll get to know them personally.

Starting Tuesday, the Fear Itself: The Worthy digital series will be available for free download on the Marvel Comics app for iPhone and iPad, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited and Marvel Comics on Chrome. A new member of the Worthy, the group of people who have been empowered by the reawakened Serpent, will be featured each Tuesday for eight weeks with a four-page origin-type story.

"If you needed to break the world in half, who would you put on your bench? They all have that in common: They are all big heavy hitters, and ultimately the Serpent is leading a nine-man war against the world," says Fear Itself writer Matt Fraction. "There are cannon-fodder troops in the mix, but for the most part it's the Serpent and his eight servants."

Every Monday, USA TODAY gives you an exclusive look at that week's Worthy character and issue — starting today with Sin, written by Christos Gage and drawn by Italian artist Elia Bonetti.

Who she is: Sin (aka Synthea Shmidt) is the daughter of the original Red Skull, Nazi supervillain and arch-rival of Captain America. A peasant woman was picked by the Skull to give birth to an heir, but wanting a boy, he decided to cast the baby into the sea. The Red Skull was stopped by Mother Night, who raised Sin at Skull-House to be an angry, vicious child. She then became a much angrier, more vicious adult, leading the Sisters of Sin, partnering up with the evil Crossbones, getting her face burned off in an explosion and becoming the new Red Skull, and now wielding the hammer of the Asgardian goddess Skadi.

Daddy's girl: "She is the heir to all the evil of the Red Skull, but with the added anger that comes from being rejected by him," Gage says. "In Fear Itself, she accomplishes something her father never could. Her origin will show readers what shaped her into the person who could accomplish such a feat."

Skull central: In illustrating Sin and her dad for The Worthy: Sin, Bonetti drew from other artists' takes, but also tried to design a new Sin tied to his style. "I think she's a beautiful character, and I really enjoyed drawing her," Bonetti says. "I also like the Red Skull, one of my favorite characters, and when was told that I had to draw him, I got really excited. I tried to draw Sin much like her father, giving her the same expression of an evil skull, while maintaining the appearance of a woman."

Why she's Worthy: "The Red Skull is the obvious choice," Fraction says. "She has all the viciousness and hunger that her father has, with none of the patience or discipline. She's the ultimate trust-fund kid: She has everything and deserves nothing. She certainly hasn't earned anything. She's completely psychotic and obsessed with being a better Red Skull than her father was."

From the editor's desk: "The thing that makes Sin different from her father, the Red Skull, is that, at least in theory, the Skull believed in Nazism or fascism or tyranny," says Tom Brevoort, Fear Itself editor. "But Sin doesn't believe in anything — she's all anarchy and thrill-killing and just getting off on being a murderous brat. With the power of an Asgardian god behind her, the potential for wanton destruction is just massive."

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