What's your opinion on Sentry?

[Cmbmool]

He shouldn’t have been made. Maybe as an What If tale or two, but other than that...just no. I mean there’re others who can fight the Hulk to a standstill.

To me the Sentry is a literal genie in the bottle situation that no one can put back in.

[ENTRYS]

I love the Sentry. My favorite comic book character e... no, actually my favorite fictional character ever.
At the same time the Marvel universe is my favorite fictional universe. I read a quote once: "The Marvel universe is full of flawed people, who are just trying to do the right thing", or something along the lines. And I think that the Sentry fits perfectly into that universe.

Sentry is a thinking mans favorite superhero and I can't wait for his upcoming on-going this month, which is coming out on the 27th of June, to be exact. Pre-order it and buy it, if you want to read some actually good Marvel comics.

[numberthirty]

Potentially the most interesting character in the Marvel stable.

[JasonEsta]

He's not interesting. He's not fun..not charismatic..there is no hook to his story like a Silver Surfer. The Osborn story where he used him to keep everyone in check was silly. Why would Dr. Doom put up with any of that for that long? Another pett character pushed too hard.

[Geralt of Rivia]

I dislike just about everything about the Sentry. From his non-defined powers to how they have tried to retcon him into the past lives of every character. Marvel does not need their own "edgy mentally ill" Superman knock off and never has. He just does not work in the greater MCU, and never really has no matter how hard they try to make it work.

This is exactly what I think about Sentry.

[Gridde]

Good limited series, but other than that I've found the character to be a terrible stain on the Marvel universe.

The actual premise of Sentry is interesting but he has been used so unfathomably badly in basically every appearance he's ever had since his first solo series that I feel genuine dread when he appears in a book I was previously enjoying (latest Doctor Strange volume being a great example).

If the new series is anything like the original (ie a somewhat meta and self contained story about a god among us) it has potential to be interesting, but my expectations are low. Given how the character is written 99% of the time I'm kinda expecting 8 issues of Sentry effortlessly defeating everything around him while every major Marvel character guest stars to talk about how great he is and introducing retcons to make him crucial to their own backstory, before ultimately being cancelled and we go another 10 years with nary a mention of him.

[GrandEleven]

He's basically a walking 90s trope, the very embodiment of the dark ages of comics.


Marvel somehow managed to take the Mary Sue trope, marry it with power fantasy trope, then wrap it up about as much edginess as they could understand in the 90s (read: all the edginess of a Hot Topic).


Stupid powerful. Powerful to rip people in half (Carnage). To rip gods in half (Ares). Powerful enough to be blinked out of existence by Molecule Man and simply "come back", use his own power against him, and fix the universe. Power Fantasy level 11. Literally nothing he can't do.


Stupid popular and everyone's favorite guy. Retconned to be known by every Marvel hero ever, and in deep and meaningful ways. He can calm Bruce, Reeds confides in him, he taught peter photography, oh and he banged Rogue cause he's immune to her power absorption (that's a 2 for 1!). Mary Sue cranked to 11. Anyone claims "Mary Sue" is some kind of anti-feminist thing … point them at Sentry.


Oh but he's edgy. The monster (void) within. tortured and isolated. No one can understand him. My god put on the dark eye-liner and listen to some Moresy & Depeche Mode already.

Sentry is simply a mistake and a failure on every level.

The most evil thing Marvel has done lately is point on of my favorite writers (Lemire) on one of my most hated heroes (Sentry).

[Tendrin]

I think I'll write a post later on some things I think people are missing about the Sentry. o.o

Anyway, Marvel didn't put Lemire on the Sentry. Lemire put Lemire on the Sentry. And if you like Lemire's writing, I urge you to consider that maybe you're missing something if he sees something you don't.

[Agent Z]

A terrible depiction of mental illness even by superhero comic standards.

[Golden Guardian of Good]

People saying Sentry a mary sue but love characters like Hulk, Silver Surfer or Wanda. I seriously can't take any of this seriously. Just irrational hate.

But I'm no longer tryingbto sway people's opinon on here regarding the Sentry. The Sentry in fact has a fanbase and Marvel sees potential in him and so certain people gonna have to deal with it.

Edit:
How the heck is ripping Carnage apart "overpowered", thats something ANY high herald being can do. I don't even doubt that Thor can do that.

[Tendrin]

A terrible depiction of mental illness even by superhero comic standards.

The original mini was a pretty nuanced and excellent take on it, in my view. Bendis' take on mental illness, however, was just frigging dreadful.

[Golden Guardian of Good]

I think I'll write a post later on some things I think people are missing about the Sentry. o.o

Anyway, Marvel didn't put Lemire on the Sentry. Lemire put Lemire on the Sentry. And if you like Lemire's writing, I urge you to consider that maybe you're missing something if he sees something you don't.

No, just let them have their irrational dislike for the character. I just hope Lemire fixes the mistakes Bendis caused.

[Gridde]

The original mini was a pretty nuanced and excellent take on it, in my view. Bendis' take on mental illness, however, was just frigging dreadful.

It's the second mini he's portrayed as ill, isn't it? I thought the first one just explained that all memories of Sentry/Void were removed at Bob's on behest when he initially realized he was Void.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (it's been some year since I read them) but I thought vol.1 doesn't really dive into his character's actual personality much besides the extensive testimonies by other characters describing how he beat up Galactus, solved all their problems, etc etc. It's 2 that has all the stuff with his maybe-wife and has him really go back and forth trying to understand the nature of the Void and Sentry personas.

I think I'll write a post later on some things I think people are missing about the Sentry. o.o

I think a lot of the reason people do not like the Sentry is because practically all of his appearances involve everyone around him singing his praises near-constantly (on top of the ridiculous power-set and the cringe-inducing retcons which means he cheapens other characters simply by existing). No matter what positive case you make for the character, but you unfortunately cannot erase this stuff.

His limited series have been cool because they are largely self-contained, have zero net impact on the rest of the Marvel universe and seem to prioritize telling good stories rather than telling us ad nauseum through proxies that Sentry is the most awesomest guy ever (though vol.1 does still basically read like a cookie-cutter Mary Sue story). If the new series follows vol.2 (ie next-to-no reference to how Sentry had a pivotal role in the background of every major Marvel character ever, and generally downplays his Godlike power while focusing on his possible insanity) it could well be a good read.

Lemire is probably the perfect guy for this as well, having done a trippy 'am I actually insane?' series for Moon Knight very recently. I think this approach is the only way to make a character like Sentry at all bearable.

[Tendrin]

It's the second mini he's portrayed as ill, isn't it? I thought the first one just explained that all memories of Sentry/Void were removed at Bob's on behest when he initially realized he was Void.

No, he was always ill. The entire first mini is entirely about mental illness and addiction. Bob's a drug addict. His drug is being the Sentry. It's why the most heroic thing he does is beat down his addiction by giving up all his power and go get some chilidogs. Bob being the Sentry is how he hides from his illnesses, as well.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (it's been some year since I read them) but I thought vol.1 doesn't really dive into his character's actual personality much besides the extensive testimonies by other characters describing how he beat up Galactus, solved all their problems, etc etc. It's 2 that has all the stuff with his maybe-wife and has him really go back and forth trying to understand the nature of the Void and Sentry personas.

None of that actually happens in the original mini. One of the things about Sentry is that people tend to, well.. /do this/. Most of what you're actually complaining about here doesn't quite exist like that in the original mini itself, /kinda exists/ in the secondary minis, and the Galactus line was one throw away line from Spider-Man years later, which was later followed by X-Man saying it happened when he and Sentry stopped Galactus together once.

The second mini explores the relationship between him and the Void more deeply but has some missteps that later helped fuel the Bendisification of the character, IMO. It has strong points too.

I think a lot of the reason people do not like the Sentry is because practically all of his appearances involve everyone around him singing his praises near-constantly (on top of the ridiculous power-set and the cringe-inducing retcons which means he cheapens other characters simply by existing). No matter what positive case you make for the character, but you unfortunately cannot erase this stuff.

This really doesn't happen anywhere near as much as people think they remember it happening.

His limited series have been cool because they are largely self-contained, have zero net impact on the rest of the Marvel universe and seem to prioritize telling good stories rather than telling us ad nauseum through proxies that Sentry is the most awesomest guy ever (though vol.1 does still basically read like a cookie-cutter Mary Sue story).

To really be a Sue, Bob's flaws would only need to serve to endear him to people. This is definitely not the case. He terrifies most everyone because he's insane and people don't know how to handle or talk about mental illness. The entire point of the character, so far as the original mini goes, is what happens when we fail to cope with the mentally ill amongst us, and how we refuse to talk about them. If you look at the dialogue in the original mini, people literally /can't talk about him/. This was intentionally meant to mirror our real world issues with discussing mental illness, per Jenkins.

If the new series follows vol.2 (ie next-to-no reference to how Sentry had a pivotal role in the background of every major Marvel character ever, and generally downplays his Godlike power while focusing on his possible insanity) it could well be a good read.

Sentry's power level isn't really the issue, IMO. His 'pivotal role' in the lives of early heroes (which none of them can remember, I must point out) was meant to show how mental illness steals from us when someone falls victims to it. We could have had this or that in our life and instead someone becomes a shadow of themselves. The choice of the name, Void, is also deliberate. It represents the void that is left in our lives when someone falls victim to mental illness and we stop talking about them, cast them out of our lives. Often, we're just as unable to cope with it as they are and simply step over them and get on with our own lives as they remain trapped. Everyone moves on around them and they simply...stay stuck where they are.

Jenkins' opening dialogue for the Void has him screaming, 'I AM THE FACE OF YOUR SOUL," at Bob. This isn't just because Bob and the Sentry and the Void are all one in the same, but rather, that the Void is the voice that all of us have in the back of our minds that becomes especially loud for those of us who battle anxiety disorders or depression. That voice tell us that we're worthless, to take another drink. It makes us question our motives, tells us we're monstrously selfish and that the world is better off without us. It's the self-sabotaging nature of our own insecurity which helps bring about secret fears and preys on our resentments.

Again, though, people keep talking about the retcons and so on as a reason to hate the character but it's really more of an 'internet forum thing' than something that's actually reflected on the page outside of a few instances in the original mini (Peter's Pulitizer, helping Angel conquer his fear of flying are the two big examples I can cite in the original mini) and Fallen Sun, the latter the less we talk about the better.

That said, one thing that's intentionally left vague is just how much people's fondness for Bob is the based on the same sort of effect he has on the Hulk. It's just more obvious in the Hulk than it is in others.

Lemire is probably the perfect guy for this as well, having done a trippy 'am I actually insane?' series for Moon Knight very recently. I think this approach is the only way to make a character like Sentry at all bearable.

Sentry does require someone who gets what Jenkins was going for. Bendis really, /really/ did not.

[Gridde]

See, I really like your personal interpretation of the character as revolving around mental illness and would be totally on-board with that being the focus of the new book.

I'd be surprised if that's how he was meant to come across in the first place (in interviews with Jenkins/Veitch discussing the character's conception they only vaguely touch how drug addiction made the Void but nothing else you mentioned regarding mental illness or metaphors for depression/anxiety etc, and his arc in the second mini seemed to me to be more of an existential crisis than illness/addiction to anything) but it's a cool take. Unfortunately though you simply can't just dismiss the stuff about Sentry you don't like; Fallen Son may be a one-shot, his ability to resurrect the freakin' dead at will may have only happened once (that I recall), some of retcons in other books may be single lines that are never referred to again...but they still happened and are therefore canon and part of Sentry's (relatively short) history. I don't think it's quite fair to have a personal interpretation of the character, dismiss certain disagreeable aspects of them, and then say everyone else is wrong/irrational for not seeing it your way.

The dream would be to introduce another retcon to wipe away the crap associated with the character before taking a completely different direction with him.