Sentry Appreciation 2024 - The Man with the Power of a Million Exploding Suns

[ENTRYS]

Another year, another appreciation thread for the Golden Guardian of Good. The man with the power of one million exploding suns:
Robert Reynolds AKA The Sentry AKA The Void

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Art by Bryan Hitch

WHO IS THE SENTRY?

The Sentry is a man named Robert "Bob" Reynolds. A schizophrenic with paranoid delusions and back-in-the-day agoraphobia. To combat his mental illness he resorted to drugs. One day he broke into the lab he worked and drank an experimental serum hoping to get high. What he didn't know was that the serum was an enhanced version of Captain Americas super soldier serum. A version 100.000 times more powerful. Where the original serum allowed Steve Rogers to achieve peak human potential, the Sentry serum absolutely shattered that potential and turned Bob into a hyper-powerful reality warper. Not fully aware of the full extent of his power but with the willingness to do good with the power Bob became the Sentry, a Golden Guardian of Good, humanity's only hope. But the serum didn't heal Bobs mental problems. They remained and took on a life of their own as a manifestation of Bobs fears, insecurities and paranoid thoughts. That dark side of Bob manifested as the Void. For every good deed Bob did, the Void would strive to perform an act of evil. Can the Sentry save the world or will he give in to the Call of the Void and be the one to destroy it?

WHAT ARE SENTRYS POWERS?

The Sentry at his core is capable of changing reality on a molecular or maybe even subatomic level. He has all the regular superpowers you expect a flying brick to have like flight, super strength, super speed, nigh-invulnerability, energy projection and enhanced senses. But every now and then he taps into crazy powers. He has resurrected and healed others. He has regenerated from a single atom. He can create force fields, read and invade minds, shape-shift, share his power with others and much more.

A video showcasing the many superpowers of the Sentry.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT THE SENTRY?

Someone working at Marvel once talked about Wolverine and explained why he finds Wolverine and other Marvel characters so appealing. In his eyes, Marvel characters were a bunch of flawed people trying to do the right thing. And the Sentry fits perfectly into that universe. He is a deeply flawed man. He is mentally ill, has a convenient set of morals, and is sometimes egotistical. He doesn't shy away from killing his opposition if the situation calls for it or even sacrificing someone for the sake of the greater good. He loves the power he has and doesn't like the idea of all of humanity wielding it as well. But deep down he is still a good person trying to do the right thing. He could have ruled the world but instead, he chose to put on a pair of uncomfortably tight pants and save the world - to the best of his ability that is.

RECOMMENDED READING ORDER
Everything in bold letters is essential and recommended. Everything else is just the icing on the cake. Some of the stuff is good, some not so much - but it's all of the major appearances of the Sentry in the Marvel universe.

• The Sentry - Volume 1 (10 issues)

• The Age Of The Sentry (6 issues)

• New Avengers #1-#3, #7-#10

• The Sentry - Volume 2: Reborn (8 issues)

• Civil War - The Return

• New Avengers #24

• Mighty Avengers #1-#14

• Silent War #2, #5

• World War Hulk

• Dark Avengers (skim through to get to the Sentry stuff)

• Siege

• Sentry - Fallen Sun

• What If? Osborn Won Siege

• Uncanny Avengers #10, #11, #15, #21, #22

• Doctor Strange #382-#385

• The Sentry - Volume 3: Man of Two Worlds (5 issues)

• Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #1-#2

• Annihilation: Scourge

• King in Black #1

• King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #1-#4

• Strange #9-#10

• The Sentry - Volume 4

You will notice that very little stuff is essential. That's because following the recommended path will give you a cohesive understanding of the Sentry as a character and partially his place in the Marvel universe. These books also mostly build off of each other. So those recommendations are the least amount of reading you can get away with. If you want more, go back and read everything in the specified order to always have the full context.