The Sentry: Fallen Sun Review
Siege has ended and the world is picking up the pieces, but for some, it’s time to remember someone who lost his life during the fight…
The Sentry: Fallen Sun
Taking place just after the end of Norman Osborn’s failed attempt to destroy the Asgardians, several heroes meet up with The Sentry’s former sidekick, Scout, to honor the passing of both Robert and Lindy Reynolds. This tale is of remembering past events and how the Sentry touched so many heroes’ lives. We learn some new things and are reminded of others, but overall, everyone there, including the reader is there to remember the Sentry for who was as a hero, not the man he was when he died.
Having Paul Jenkins, the man who created The Sentry, write this story makes this that much more of a powerful issue. It brings ten years of the character to a close. This isn’t the time to talk about the evil the Void caused, but to honor Reynolds. A very big part of the story is Reed Richards’ memories of the different adventures the Sentry and he had. When Cloc shows up, he gives Richards the diary Reynolds kept with an instruction to read a sentence on a particular page. We don’t know what it was. A warning? A tender message to a friend? Hope that the Sentry could return minus the Void personality? Whatever the message is, I’m not sure we will ever actually find out. It seems the Sentry has run his course and it’s time to move on.
Overall, I very much liked this issue. I’ve always liked the Sentry. From the beginnings of this character being a “forgotten Stan Lee creation” to the amazing original story that challenged our way of thinking about what happens to heroes when they grow old or are forgotten, the Sentry was a cool concept. I will also admit that I had grown tired of the character in how he was used over the past year or two. He was constantly getting blown up or relapsing into his darker half or just simply being manipulated by someone he should have realized was a bad dude. I was so excited to see Paul Jenkins’ name on the cover because I thought he was the only person to write the Sentry’s final chapter.
With thanks to Tom Raney’s art, I think Jenkins has written one of the most touching stories from Marvel in a while. Raney transitions well from one character to the next and the present to the flashbacks. One scene in particular that I really loved was when Thor went to Bob’s elderly mother to give her the news of his passing. We don’t ever read that Thor actually told her or not, nor do we get any reaction as if he did. We just have a beautiful scene with an old woman who is blissfully unaware of what has happened being approached by one of the toughest warriors in all of comics history with a sincerity and tenderness that will always stick with me.
After all the dust of Siege settled, I’m glad we had this issue. There’s no need for over-the-top action or anything else. Just let us remember the Sentry for who he was.
A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATING
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Beautiful tribute to a character from his original creator. Sensitive with a memorable scene between mama Reynolds and Thor. | Can’t really find a negative thing about this issue because it delivers the point and does it as it should to honor the fallen hero. |
| Rating |
Image courtesy of Marvel Comics.
4 Comments
What was to like about this issue? It came across as Jenkins ignoring everything Bendis had ever done with the characters and writing the original characters. Since when did the characters remember the previous adventures with the Sentry? When were there memories returned? What issue ever has shown the Sentry and Reed friends besides it being talked about? What issue ever has alluded to Daredevil and Sentry having a friendship? What story, comment, issue, anything has alluded to the Sentry and Rogue having an intimate relationship? Rogue has spent most of her life being unable to have physical contact with anyone. Any story detaling this should have been more detailed, but it is reduced to about a page. She somehow had a relationship with the Sentry? Reyolds destroyed Asgard and killed who knows how many Asgardians, why would Thor care Reynold’s death when in Siege #4 he was stating Sentry would spend the rest of his life paying for his crimes? Linda tried her hardest to get away from from and even tried to kill him. Why would she want to be with him forever?
This issue is almost universally hated for these reasons and more. Just about everything written by Jenkins about the Sentry is intended to make him the greatest hero the Marvel Universe as ever seen. He is as smart if not smarter than Reed Richard. He is a greater inspiration than Captain America. He is more powerful than the Hulk or Thor. Most of the things in this issue were not even alluded to in any previous story. Jenkins wrote it as a last hurrah to try and give the Sentry depth he has never had.
For a more in-depth reasoning by someone who stated it better than me:
http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2010/05/forget-death-character-needs-to-be.html
I beg to differ.
Jenkins’ original mini-series for The Sentry was incredibly deep and laid all the groundwork for his relationship with the FF, Avengers, X-Men and many of the other heroes. He was the world’s greatest hero and greatest threat. But he was remembered as a hero. He was forgotten then remembered again only to be forgotten again. I believe the memories were returned to everyone after White Queen helped Robert try to block the Void personality in the New Avengers arc (though I could be wrong about that being the case, it might have been later and if it wasn’t, everyone could remember him once he jogged their memories of who he was). Jenkins wrote this character with the same tone as that brilliant original mini-series, and that’s what I liked about it.
As far as what Bendis has done with him for the past 6 or 7 years, it’s not the Sentry we were given originally. I think Bendis knows that. He requested to use the character, and knew the only thing he had with him was this seriously screwed up character, so he put his own spin on him to make him fit his needs. This character was never supposed to beyond that initial mini anyway, so what did it matter what Bendis wanted to do with Bob?
The people assembled at his grave, and Lindy as well, knew that ultimately Bob wasn’t really a bad guy. He had demons just like anyone else, except his demons were catastrophic in scale compared to a normal guy’s. The problem was that he was mentally weaker than the rest of the Marvel Universe and Osborn preyed upon that. The only person who could save The Sentry was himself and he wasn’t strong enough to do it until he was hit by a helicarrier. (As an aside, I hated the idea that he was a drug addict looking for a high, but came to terms with it in my own way in order push forward with what he was evolving into as a character.)
I realize I’m in the minority on both this issue and Siege #4, but for me, personally, I think we need our heroes to be the good guys again. We need the move beyond this “everyone is Punisher” characterization and revel in a more innocent era where the good guys win. Sometimes we’ll scratch our heads about it, but we’re just not constantly looking at storm clouds on the horizon waiting for the next skeleton to jump out of a hero’s closet. So, my reviews are biased on what I wanted to see and what I needed in comics, but I don’t apologize for it. I’m just glad people are reading the reviews and sharing their opinions!
You make good points, and I definitely appreciate you sharing them. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for responding. I would just address a few points.
1. The original mini was great, but all subsequent stories have pretty much treated it as a What If? In the Jenkin’s minis the Sentry and Void were stable individuals and Bob was unstable. Bendis’s take was radically different with both the Sentry and Robert being unstable and the Void being the only stable one.
2. People reading this would be expecting it to be a funeral for the Sentry they have gotten to know over the past seven or so years written by Bendis. By ignoring what Bendis has written and writing only about the Sentry from the mini Jenkins is leaving everyone wondering who he is writing about. He is essentially writing about a different character. That is why it matters. For another example take Hercules. He had a funeral issue(s) where people were celebrating the character they had known for years. If the issue had been written about people talking about Hercules as some monster than people would be left scratching their heads. People were expecting rightly so Bendis’s Sentry not Jenkin’s Sentry.
3. I checked around on other message boards and as far as I or anybody who answered knows there is no evidence people ever regained their memories about the Sentry. Even up with Secret Invasion no one remembered anything about the Sentry before being found in New Avengers. As far as most people were concerned he was a new hero. About the only one who alluded to knowing something before was Nate Grey (X-Man) . And when he commented he remembered the Sentry before the Sentry was surprised he claimed to remember. Even then it was unclear as Nate mentioned an adventure the Sentry did not remember nor that has been alluded to in any way by any story, comment, or anything else. This is another reason a lot of people were left scratching their heads.
4. I agree that I am tired of all the darkness in comics. That is one reason Marvel is starting the “Heroic Age.” Fans are tired of each story being somehow more depressing than the last. I just don’t see that should be used to excuse a comic that in a shared universe has pretty much ignored everything written about a character for the last seven years and establishes things that have never even been hinted at outside that one comic except one mini that was meant to stand alone years ago.
You do make good points, but I think we’ll just have to be on opposite sides of the fence on this one. I am definitely looking forward to Avengers #1 and the rest of the Heroic Age to bring back simpler stories that will slant more toward the entertaining aspect of the Marvel U.