Sentry (comic)
Sentry is the name of two comic miniseries and the hero of the same name.
Hoax
Sentry's story began with a major hoax . The US comic magazine Wizard reported about a Marvel hero who made his first appearance in a short story in Startling Stories 1 from 1961. Sentry would be older than the founders of the silver age of superhero comics , the Fantastischen Vier . This forgotten hero came to light when the heiress of the late cartoonist of this comic, Artie Rosen, sifted through her husband's estate. When she found the old sketches, she sent them to Marvel Publishing. There they fell into the hands of the editor-in-chief Joe Quesada . However, he left them quite carelessly and only Paul Jenkins , who was looking for reading material, found the designs. He was so excited that he brought in his colleague Jae Lee , with whom he had worked on the Inhumans series . In conjunction with Quesada, who got in touch with the character's second creator, Stan Lee , but who only vaguely remembered the character, a new concept was designed and the comics were finally released under the Marvel Knights label.
Creation and publication
However, this story is made up. Similar to Alan Moore in Miracleman , the author Jenkins plays here with the aura of mystery that is supposed to surround the hero. Because in reality, Sentry is a new invention from Jenkins. Between September 2000 and February 2001, six issues of the miniseries appeared in the USA. In addition, there were four more crossover books in February 2001, which were designed by various artists ( Rick Leonardi , Phil Winslade , Bill Sienkiewicz , Mark Texeira ) in different drawing styles. They are to be classified before the sixth issue and, in retrospect, describe the experiences of certain superheroes with Sentry. The special thing about the figure is that it is completely unknown to date, but is clearly at an exposed position in the superhero hierarchy. Sentry is friends or has connections to important heroes like Charles Xavier from the X-Men , Hulk , Iron Man and Spider-Man , all of whom he supported or even promoted at some point in their superhero careers. Most surprising, however, is that writer Jenkins tells the story in a way that makes it believable.
| number | Surname | Original name | date | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sentry 1 | The costume | The suit | September 2000 | Jae Lee |
| Sentry 2 | The Unicorn | The unicorn | October 2000 | Jae Lee |
| Sentry 3 | The photo | The photographer | November 2000 | Jae Lee |
| Sentry 4 | The Conspiracy | The Conspiracy | December 2000 | Jae Lee |
| Sentry 5 | The betrayal | The Betrayal | January 2001 | Jae Lee |
| Sentry / Spider-Man 1 | Sentry & Spider-Man | Sentry & Spider-Man | February 2001 | Rick Leonardi |
| Sentry / Fantastic Four 1st | Sentry & Die Fantastischen Vier | Sentry & The Fantastic Four | February 2001 | Phil Winslade |
| Sentry / Hulk 1st | Sentry & Hulk | Sentry & Hulk | February 2001 | Bill Sienkiewicz |
| Sentry / X-Men 1 | Sentry & Archangel | Sentry & Angel of the X-Men | February 2001 | Mark Texeira |
| Sentry 6 | The truth | The Truth | February 2001 | Jae Lee |
content
Robert Reynolds is a failure and an alcoholic. His marriage is almost over. But on a stormy night he begins to remember again. He was Sentry - the most powerful superhero the world had ever seen. He knew all heroes. He was their prime and mentor. He was Mister Fantastic's best friend , Reed Richards. What happened? Reynolds goes on a search for his past.
In New York he also meets his old friend Reed Richards. With Reed, too, scraps of memory appear. But he cannot form a picture from the memories. But he knows: he mustn't remember! At the same time, reports of dire catastrophes on earth appear in the news - and everywhere there are reports of a mysterious shadow. Richards finds a small table in his living room that he didn't know about before. There is a small unicorn bust on it, underneath is a video. A "wedding video". But there is no wedding on the video, but a message from the Sentry: “Hello Reed. I hope you will never see this recording. But if you should ever do it, we are all as good as dead. ”In the further course, Sentry reports of the return of the Void , the shadow, the most dangerous being of all. But before further information can be given, the tape is destroyed. While Sentry is out to gather the superheroes for the final battle against Void, Richards continues to investigate. He realizes that Robert Reynolds should actually be dead. During his research he comes across Doctor Strange , who tells him not to look any further for answers and that Reed Richards himself was the commissioner of this message. Richard can only choose the nature of the universe's demise by what he does. And finally, Strange shows him a glimpse into the past: Here Richards invokes Strange to do everything that they may never remember what happened.
Meanwhile, Reynolds not only collects the superheroes for the final fight against Void, but also searches for the traitor who stole his identity years ago. Then he moves back into his old headquarters, the Watchtower . Here he is greeted by his computer Cloc . Even this cannot help him in the search for answers, only knows that a virus has stolen his memory of what happened. But here Sentry finds the transmitter that ensures that mankind has forgotten him. He turns it off - and the world remembers Sentry, the guardian. But now there are other memories as well. In the final battle against Void, Sentry was believed to be killed - and Reed Richard accused him of being a traitor. Richards had erased the memory of him too. Not he, Reynolds, but Richards was the traitor. But there is no time to clarify. Meanwhile Void is here. All heroes, even the villains, have gathered at the Statue of Liberty. And the fight breaks out. But now Stephen Strange reappears and puts Reed Richards on another temporal level. And this is where Richards sees the betrayal. Yes, he had slandered Sentry, his best friend, and erased the memory of him. But why? Sentry, the most powerful superhero of all time, was a subconscious person. Sentry is also Void. Years ago they had to turn Sentry into the common man Robert Reynolds, otherwise he would have destroyed the world. Nobody should be allowed to remember him, which is why a machine was hastily developed that suppressed all memories of Sentry. And as before, all memory of the hero Sentry - especially in the memory of Robert Reynolds himself - must be suppressed in order to save the earth. Richards has to betray his friend Reynolds a second time to save the earth.
Bendis and the Sentry
A few years after the first Sentry series, Brian Michael Bendis , the then author of the New Avengers , took up this character and introduced him as a new member of the Avengers. In the second edition of the New Avengers series, the reader learns that the Sentry is currently in the maximum security prison at Ryker's Island. Here he supports the superheroes Captain America , Iron Man, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Luke Cage and Spider Woman who try to thwart a mass outbreak. In issues 7-10 of the same series, the heroes meet the Sentry again and learn, with the help of the X-Men, that the Sentry has been manipulated by Mastermind, an old opponent of this, and that the Void is only the Sentry's manifest doubts. Reynolds now has to accept his dual identity as a Sentry and his memories, as this is the only way the Void can disappear. With Reynolds memories, the watchtower also returns, which now sits on the Stark Tower, the headquarters of the New Avengers. In the following Sentry mini-series, again written by Paul Jenkins, these events are examined in more detail. A year after these events, the US Super Creature Registration Act is enacted and the Marvel Civil War event begins. Like his friends, the Sentry is now forced to choose one of the two resulting sides. He joins Tony Stark and the new Avengers group he founded. Although his side won, the Sentry has since been plagued by new doubts about his actions and the Void threatens to return.