Startling Stories: The Sentry Appreciation

[Vault]

Welcome to the Sentry Appreciation thread! Let’s remember the hero we were supposed to forget!



After discovering the Professor’s secret formula, meek freshman Robert Reynolds discovers that he has the power of one million exploding suns! After trouncing the school bully, Buzz, and catching the eye of the gorgeous Lindy Lee, Robert sews together a marvelous golden suit and becomes THE SENTRY! Using his amazing powers, he rights wrongs across the world, protecting humanity from the likes of the Villainous Void, the Crazed General, and Danny Boy! With the aid of his sidekick, Scout, and his super powered pup, Watchdog, the Sentry is the Golden Guardian of Good!

No, that’s not right…

College Freshman Robert Reynolds was ill. He spent half of his first year in the campus counselor’s office reading pamphlets on learning disabilities and the dangers of drug use. He was hearing voices telling him to do bad things. A graduate assistant heavily into drug abuse let him in to the research lab where a professor was working on an attempt to create a more potent version of the Super Soldier Serum. Robert stole the serum, not knowing what it was, and drank it behind the fairground stall where he worked, becoming both the heroic Sentry and the evil Void, two sides of his psyche locked in an eternal battle. The scientists tried to trick him into believing that he needed regular doses of the formula, but the truth was that he had been changed forever, and that they were looking for ways to destroy him.

Or was it…

Meth addict Robert Reynolds and another junkie broke into a secret lab where scientists were attempting to create a more potent version of the Super Soldier Serum. After drinking the serum he exploded, destroying the lab and killing his partner. He begged the professor to make more because he had become addicted to the formula, and out of fear the professor made more.

Anyway…

The Sentry eventually discovered that he and the Void were one in the same. To prevent the void from killing millions of people, his best friend Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, and himself created a device in the Watchtower, his home and headquarters, to psychically erase all memory of the Sentry from everyone. They succeeded and the Sentry, the first and greatest hero of the Silver Age, was forgotten.

Wait… that’s wrong too…?

The Sentry had been captured by the General and Mastermind… somehow. They manipulated his mind to believe that if he used his powers, the Void would kill everyone and that he had to make everyone forget. Mastermind planted a virus in his mind that caused Robert to psychically erase the Sentry from the mind of everyone, even himself. But at the same time, he was fighting it, crying out to the world to be remembered. A writer named Paul Jenkins wrote comics about his adventures as a kind of diary, thinking they were his ideas when really they were Robert’s memories.

However it happened, Emma Frost tried to heal his fractured mind. She thought she’d sent the void away. But he came back. After struggling with his dark side, the Void began to take over. After having a SHIELD Helicarrier dropped on him, he realized the Void was going out of control and begged Thor to kill him. Thor struck him down and threw him into the sun where he tried his best to stay dead in a battle against his evil persona. The Void finally became bored and went to the White Hot Room (where the Phoenix force dwells). The Sentry was eventually resurrected as the horseman of death, tore his face off, said a lot of crazy ****, saved the world and flew into space with a dead Celestial to take a long journey.

Here’s to a great concept that suffered a few bumps and retcons along the way. I'm looking forward to when they bring him back and do him justice!

Notable Series Featuring the Sentry:

The Sentry (2000)
New Avengers (2005)
The Sentry (2006)
The Mighty Avengers (2007)
Dark Avengers (2009)
Siege (2010)

[Black Angel]

Hell yea will always and forever be my fave Marvel incarnation of superman i hope he comes back soon its been way too long.

[PaxHouse]

Hell yea will always and forever be my fave Marvel incarnation of superman i hope he comes back soon its been way too long.

Be careful what you wish for....!!

IOW........spoilers:

Read DR. STRANGE #382 as this issue goes into Dr. Strange dealing with the Sentry

end of spoilers.....!!!

[KOSLOX]

I've always liked The Sentry, I wish someone would do another prestige mini series with him.

[Vault]

Be careful what you wish for....!!

IOW........spoilers:

Read DR. STRANGE #382 as this issue goes into Dr. Strange dealing with the Sentry

end of spoilers.....!!!

spoilers:

Bendis isn't writing it, I live in hope.

end of spoilers

[Golden Guardian of Good]

One of the most interesting characters and my one favorite of all time. And yet the most misunderstood and disliked for no reason by not just fans but higher ups in Marvel.

Will only come back to comics when he returns out of limbo.

[Golden Guardian of Good]

Be careful what you wish for....!!

IOW........spoilers:

Read DR. STRANGE #382 as this issue goes into Dr. Strange dealing with the Sentry

end of spoilers.....!!!

The SENTRY IS BACK!??? Dont play with ma emotions! O_o

[KOSLOX]

The SENTRY IS BACK!??? Dont play with ma emotions! O_o

It's true, check out Dr. Strange.

[Golden Guardian of Good]

It's true, check out Dr. Strange.

Getting the comic right away tomorrow.

[Vault]

[Oberon]

I'm somewhat familiar with him and in general I like his concept. Since it seems to go in or out of continuity or change, I don't pay too much attention.

I liked him in Uncanny Avengers with the Apocylyse Twins, Kang and that whole plot. It was weird when he tore his face off. It was an interesting way to use him in UA and it was sorta around or near the time when other characters were being "inverted".

[KOSLOX]

Sentry would have been a fun character to invert.

I wonder if it would have made him mentally stable or the most dangerous version of the void ever.

[Golden Guardian of Good]

Sentry would have been a fun character to invert.

I wonder if it would have made him mentally stable or the most dangerous version of the void ever.

The Sentry on paper could be the most interesting character in Marvel comics. He is a mentally unstable(schizophrenia) junkie trying to be a hero while keep imagining an evil side of him that wrecks havoc across the world. And whats scary is that he has so much power but it is in the hands of a mentally ill junkie! The character could easily provide a great psychological thriller story. And in the hands of the right writer he and his stories can reach their potential.

However, whats been holding the character back is not just misunderstanding but unnecessary hate by not just fans but what I call "conservative" Marvel writers who claim they are purist in terms of Marvel continuity. Why fans/writers don't like the Sentry is because he was claimed to have been the first hero before anyone else(I can sorta agree with that dislike to an extent) but more importantly that "he's a Superman ripoff!" When thats far from the case imo. Thats been holding him back because many just see him as another Superman(which are NOT liked in Marvel). But if you wanna call the Sentry a Superman clone, the "Superman appearance" is just the BACKGROUND for his mental instability. A mental person having "Superman-like powers" being scary. Thats what people should look at. Another problem is that after Paul Jenkins run no writer tried really developing the character further which made him come off confusion to readers. Bendis tried but he put the final nail in the coffin when it came to ruining the character.

From the looks of the scans the writer of this DS series feels comfortable writing the character. I hope I am not wrong. To fix the Sentry more writers need to understand and develop him.

[Kurolegacy]

Sentry would have been a fun character to invert.

I wonder if it would have made him mentally stable or the most dangerous version of the void ever.

Well we did have Sentry as a horseman of Death a while back and even without the Void, he seemed even more insane than ever before. Seems to be the closest we’ll get to an inverted Sentry.

[Captain Craig]

The Sentry is a character that has lots of potential that Bendis squandered.
Looking forward to seeing what's in store for him this time around.

If Moon Knight is crazy Batman then Sentry was made crazy Superman and that just didn't work. I don't consider the best MK stories to be one's where he's depicted as crazy but I digress.