I wonder what possessed me to buy this title? I don’t collect New Avengers on a monthly basis. I read that book in the store and I’m thinking about getting the first trade. I read the Sentry arc for the Avengers and I wasn’t too fond of it. I guess you can say the arc left me wanting more. I didn’t get a full take on who the Sentry truly is. I guess this is why they put this mini-series out right after the arc was over.
The first issue of the eight part mini-series (Unless Marvel plans to say this story is so big it needed an extra issue. I wonder if they do that on purpose….) shows us the main characters of the book. This isn’t a typo. We are shown the three sides of a man here.
First we have Sentry, the Golden Guardian of Good. Sentry is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe if you didn’t know by now. He seems to be a very serious guy who gets the job done no matter what. From the small exposure I’ve had to the character so far, he seems like an interesting hero. We see him take on major threats the rest of his fellow members could not take this issue.
The next character we have the pleasure of reading about is the Void. Void is the dark being within Sentry. Void is pure evil and Sentry takes the risk of unleashing this evil onto the world each time he uses his powers. This brings a lot of potential to the stories for the Sentry and I like the scene in this latest issue between Sentry and Void.
Our last character is Robert Reynolds. I know what you are thinking, aren’t these three one in the same? Yes and no. Each one of these characters is so different from one another that it feels like we are truly reading about three different people. Robert is your average normal guy who happens to be diagnosed as a Schizophrenic with Agoraphobia. He doesn’t seem confident in himself, and he doesn’t seem like he would be the Sentry at all.
This alone makes the book interesting. The story for the first issue takes let us know what the Sentry is truly about. I was honestly expecting more from the first issue but I liked what I saw. Jenkins has created quite a character here and I will have to check out the original Sentry mini-series to get a better understanding of the character.
I know there are some fans who don’t really like Romita’s style. I’m a big fan of his artwork. His Wolverine Enemy of the State really impressed me and I can not wait to get the Black Panther trade. Romita Jr. does a great job for the first issue so far. The cover by Romita Sr. is quite nice and I’m lucky that my shop doesn’t take the variant covers and jack up the prices like some.
I was expecting a lot from this title due to the hype of the character. While it isn’t the best book out this week, it certainly was a good read and it looks like I will have to get the next issue.
