The crossover story Original Sin by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato, Jr. exposed the dark secrets of the Marvel Universe, brought to light by an otherwise-insignificant Ghost Rider villain named Orb. After Uatu the Watcher was found murdered on the moon, his eye went missing, and Orb got ahold of it.
Being just a person with an eyeball for a head, Orb was a surprising candidate to become the central focus of such a major event. Wielding the Watcher's eye, he revealed everything the Watcher had ever seen, unleashing these truths in a single blast. These secrets tear the Avengers apart as each character is forced to reexamine their own past. Amid all the chaos, it can be easy to overlook one of the coolest details revealed about this Z-list supervillain.
Created by Jason Aaron and Tan Eng Huat, the Orb is actually the second villain to bear that name, both of whom were Ghost Rider villains. He was born with an eyeball for a head, which could understandably make things like eating or breathing difficult. This is actually a core part of the character, who is simultaneously absurdly comical and genuinely horrifying.
A flashback sequence in issue #3 of Original Sin shows the events that led up to the Orb's involvement. While speaking with the villains Midas and Exterminatrix, he explains, "that's what I do--I see things others cant. And sometimes...I steal eyeballs and roll around naked in them." This line, which exemplifies the intersection of humor and horror, is followed by Orb telling Exterminatrix that he has "seen" that she has thought about killing him seven times. She responds by threatening to do just that if he does not remove his mask, at which point, Orb tells her that is his face.
Here, his most interesting power is revealed when Exterminatrix demands to know how someone with no mouth can speak. Orb says it took him "a long time to learn" and that he used to only be capable of "squishy noises." This detail is bizarre but revealing. Sound is just vibrations moving through the air. People speak by vibrating their vocal cords and shaping those sounds with their mouths. In order to talk, Orb must vibrate his entire eyeball-shaped head in a way that replicates the speech patterns one can form with their mouth, and do so without others noticing.
Presumably, he has some form of vocal cords and breathing apparatus, but it could just as easily be through some supernatural phenomenon. How he does this is genuinely a medical mystery. In fact, many details about Orb remain shrouded in mystery, including his real name. But the revelation about his speech is truly shocking, and the only reason more people don't discuss it is because of all the other shocking truths revealed in Original Sin.
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