About Heroes

The Sentry is forever a hero that must first and foremost fight with himself. He suffers from the constant inner demon properly named the Void. The reason is simple he’s Schizophrenic. The solution is far more complex however, simply because there is no cure for Schizophrenia if you know anything about the disease then you know that it can only be kept in check through medication. Therefore, in classic Marvel character development, the Sentry will remain always as an average person fighting an inner battle as well as a superhero fighting for the sake of the world.

I really love the Sentry; I find the character very unique and refreshing. Sure, I’m with the rest of you, he reminds me a lot of Thor and Superman, but he’s not a god and he’s not an alien, he’s just a kid with a disorder who got mixed up ten ways to Sunday and he’s been trying to patch himself back together ever since. That’s what the three installments regarding the Sentry are about. I call them installments in the Sentry Saga: The Original Mini-Series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, The Four-Parter by Brian Michael Bendis with creative consultant Paul Jenkins and art by Steve McNiven, and this last Eight-Part Mini-Series by Paul Jenkins and John Romita Jr. (I hope that one day they are all compressed into a big Hardcover or something).

Overall I liked all of these. The first series was by far the best. Jae Lee’s moody artwork with Jenkin’s creativity and quirks are two halves that make an excellent whole. The story was great and ended great with a solid A+. First of all I love to be tricked as a reader, I never want to be comfortable and I always love being submerged into the world that the writer has created and for the most part Jenkin’s is great at that, and he does it well with this series. It wrapped up nicely too, with no questions. So, when the character pops back up on the cover of New Avengers I was thinking, “wtf.” But I needed to see what was going on. There were key moments that I enjoyed, I liked the heroes helping the Sentry, Paul Jenkin’s guest appearance was hilariously twisted, and the inner workings of Robert Reynolds’ mind with Emma Frost were odd and compelling science fiction. The character I love didn’t really need a reawakening, but man I love badass stuff like ripping Carnage a new one in the first New Avenger’s story arc. My problem is that as badass as that was, to start of a character in a no nonsense kind of way, the character sure went through some nonsense to get to a good conclusion. I liked the Four-part enough to give it a B+.

Now for the big boy, Jenkin’s had no easy task taking up a character that was wrapped up so well and unraveling it so that he could somewhat pick up the pieces enough to create a team member class character. I think he succeeded in his goal in the Sentry Eight-Part Mini but man it was one hell of a roller coaster. The first issue was a great start, we see the Sentry in all his Exploding Sun-powered Glory, but at the end of the second issue I was ready for some answers. We got the answers but it came at around issue 6-8. A lot of the filler, I’m talking about the Sentry and Hulk’s team-up into the Negative zone to search for the General, and his wife’s possible romantic fling with the fitness instructor. Though hilarious, compelling, and well done, these might have served better as plot devises in a monthly on going or something of a side story in New Avengers. I loved issues 6-8. The twist with the Psychiatrist, and what happens to the fitness instructor fling, and pretty much all of what happened in issue 7, I felt like a towel being rung out there were so many twists going on. But remember what I said, I like to be uncomfortable and on the edge when I’m reading. The last issue, which I just finished, was very well done, Jenkin’s did another great job at wrapping up the character but leaving it open enough for a future rather then a return to how things used to be. The shocker, or the final twist, or the truth-to-be-revealed, however you want to put it was not all that surprising. But that is not necessarily a bad thing, it wasn’t far-fetched, or out of left field, Jenkin’s was building to a moment and it was there all along, just as the Sentry put it, and it finally came through for the reader to see. Like I said at the beginning, you can’t cure schizophrenia, so you know what that means, but at least we wont have to see the Void for a while. I encourage you to pick this issue up and the first mini, especially for you New Avengers fans wondering why the Sentry has returned as such as the badass in New Avengers and in the New Avengers Annual that also came out this week.

A quick note of the artwork, because you know we can’t forget about that. I’m not a fan of Romita Jr.’s artwork on anything other then Spider-man. I think he belongs on Spider-Man and he is one of the best artists for Spider-Man. My problem is with his time, either from page to page or even panel to panel. Which is to say, he can go from one great page or panel to one that totally blows. These last issues of the Sentry have been his best. The first couple left a lot to be desired, he does a great rendition of the void and I think detail can only improve his artwork. Sometimes it seems like there hasn’t been much of an adjustment from thumbnail to final pencils. Mark Morales, Dean White and Richard Isanove, the inker and two colorists deserve a hand because they really help me to enjoy Romita’s work; the more time they put into the rendering process the better. Working on my own comic book I know how time consuming the thing can be or turn into, so I try to be as understanding as possible and nothing kept me from reading this book. So as an overall rating I give it an A-. Issue 1: A, 2-3: B, 4-5: C, 6-8: A. So there you go folks, now you be the judge, check it out!