The Sentry #1 (of 8)

Writer: Paul Jenkins
Pencils: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Dean White

After Brian Michael Bendis solved the mysterious return of The Sentry in the pages of the New Avengers, the character’s creator Paul Jenkins returns to explore the further adventures of the Golden Guardian of Good. Now that his mental state has been returned to normal, somewhat, The Sentry gets back to doing what he does best, saving lives and protecting the world. In order to keep his fragile psyche intact The Sentry lets his computerized assistant CLOC calculate probabilities and decide whom he saves and whom he doesn’t. And The Sentry has a lot to deal with in this issue including the madman known as Terrax, a former herald of the planet devouring Galactus.

It’s great to see Jenkins writing The Sentry again. The original series that introduced the character back in 2000 is still one of my favorites. Even so, this new series is significantly different than the original. Rather than being a dark mystery revolving around a forgotten hero, this book explores The Sentry’s life now that he has finally returned to the limelight. The Sentry, one of the most powerful superhero’s in the Marvel Universe, is basically the Marvel equivalent of Superman but in true Marvel fashion the character is far from perfect, beset on all sides by his own fears and faults. His own worst enemy is literally himself. He sees a shrink. His alter ego is agoraphobic and is having problems with his marriage.

Jenkins does a beautiful job mixing the drama of The Sentry’s life with larger-than-life superhero action. The first issue is self-contained and packs more story than you can shake a stick at. And John Romita Jr.’s art on the book is incredible. If you ever wondered what it would be like to see Romita draw a Superman comic, well this is the book for you. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this action-packed series.



Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.
 

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