Dark Avengers #13
1600 BC
In Egypt, Moses tells the Israelites that God is coming to punish the Pharaohs by killing every first-born child in the country. He tells his followers to paint the doorposts of their homes with goats blood, the only way to protect themselves from the wrath of the one true God. High above in the sky, black tendrils of energy loom over the city.[1]
Two Months Ago
Norman Osborn is in the process of recruiting the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) onto his new team of Avengers,[2] He does so by relating to Bob about his own struggles with his mental health, unaware that Bob’s wife — Lindy Lee — is listening in while pretending to sleep and what she is hearing horrifies her.[3] After Osborn convinces him to join up, he offers Reynolds a gift, a vial of the serum that the Professor used to give Bob to maintain his Sentry powers in the past.[4] When Bob drinks it, he suddenly experiences a sudden burst of power. It catches him off guard, but — speaking in the voice of the Void — thanks Osborn for the gift as he really needed it and that he owes him one. Norman tells Bob that this makes him Osborn’s secret weapon. As the two leave the room, they are unaware that CLOC — the Watchtower’s artificial intelligence — is also watching the situation.
Three Days Ago
Using a Kree blaster, Lindy Lee has shot the Sentry point blank in the face, seemingly killing him.[5] CLOC races into the room and sees what Lindy has done. She tells the AI to keep recording as she wants to tell the world the truth about the origins of the Sentry. When CLOC reiterates the tale about how Bob Reynolds discovered and drank the Professor’s formula. She tells him that she doesn’t want to continue with the lie and wants to tell the real story.
As it turns out, the reason why Bob Reynolds was in the Professor’s lab on that fateful day was because he was a drug addict looking for a score. He and a friend broke in and Bob greedily drank the formula, causing him to explode with energy. The resulting blast trashed the lab, killed his friend, and the guards who caught them red handed. However, this wasn’t the only time Bob ingested the formula. In the true fashion of an addict, he wanted more and later went to the Professor to get what he needed. Recounting all of this now, Lindy admits that she enabled this behavior because she loved the idea of being in a relationship with a superhero. Everyone enjoyed the Sentry and turned a blind eye to what was obvious.[6]
Over the years, Lindy has developed a pet theory about her husband. She believes that when he ingested the formula he opened himself to some evil power, something of Biblical proportions. She believes to be true, even though she has no way of proving it. The other thing she is clear about now is that she should have killed Bob on their wedding night.
That’s when the Void speaks up through the regenerating form of her husband. He is unhappy to hear Lindy talk this way. However, he refuses to allow her to back out of their marriage so easily. He mocks her theories and says that the only reason why he keeps her alive is because Bob still loves her. Suddenly, Bob and the Void — two voices in the same body — argue with one another. Bob wants the Void to kill him and leave Lindy alone. However, the Void believes that Lindy has lied to them when she made her wedding vows and demands that she pay for this betrayal with her life.
Reasserting control, the Sentry flees Avengers Tower and flies into space. The Void mocks him, saying that Bob can’t run from him like he has in the past. However, Bob has another plan all together. He flies to the sun and tries to incinerate his body in order to kill himself and the Void at the same time. However, the Void tells Bob that he isn’t going to die because he doesn’t want it enough. The Void then tells Bob that he makes a mess of everything he touches and if he truly wants to fix things, he needs to give the Void control. The Void has done it in the past. While the acts are usually horrendous, good things always come out of them as it is God’s way.
Recurring Characters
Sentry, Lindy Lee, CLOC, (in flashback) Norman Osborn, Moses
Continuity Notes
This is the only time it has been asserted that the Void has origins that pre-date the Sentry. How this can be has yet to be explained as of this writing (October, 2024). Lindy’s theory hasn’t been proven, and the Void is too untrustworthy to take at face value, and Bob is insane. So until this is independently verified elsewhere….
We saw most of this scene in Dark Avengers #2.
Might as well get the mental health history of both the Sentry and Osborn out of the way since it is referenced multiple times in this story:
Per Amazing Spider-Man #40, Norman Osborn was driven mad when his original Goblin Formula blew up in his face. While he has been getting regular treatment since Thunderbolts #110, he has been slowly driven insane again by Loki, as we saw in Siege: Prologue #1.
The Sentry has a history of childhood abuse and addiction. This trauma has manifested in the past as the Void, the Sentry’s dark half. See Sentry/The Void #1, New Avengers #7-10. and Sentry (vol. 2) #1-8.
The Sentry used to need regular injections of a formula to maintain his powers. See Sentry #1-5. The Professor’s full name (as of this writing) has never been revealed.
We saw part of this scene in Dark Avengers #9. This weapon was left behind by Noh-Varr when he abruptly went AWOL in issue #6.
Here, Lindy states that Reed Richards (aka Mister Fantastic) officiated her marriage to Bob. This was first told in Sentry #2.
Siege Reading Order
Siege: The Cabal #1 , Avengers: The Initiative #31, New Avengers #61-62, Dark Avengers #13, 14, 15, Origins of Siege #1, Siege: Storming Asgard: Heroes & Villains #1, Siege #1 , Avengers: The Initiative #32, Dark Wolverine #82, 83, 84, Siege: Embedded #1-2, Siege #2, Avengers: The Initiative #33, Thor #607, Mighty Avengers #35-36, Thunderbolts #141, Siege #3, Siege: Embedded #3, Thor #608, Thunderbolts #142, Avengers: The Initiative #34, New Avengers #63, Siege: Captain America #1, Siege: Spider-Man #1, Siege: Loki #1, Siege: Young Avengers #1, Siege: Secret Warriors #1 , New Mutants (vol. 3) #11, Siege #4, Thor #609, Siege: Embedded #4, New Avengers #64, New Avengers Finale #1, Avengers: The Initiative #35, Dark Avengers #16, Thunderbolts #143, Thor #610, Sentry: Fallen Sun #1
