New Avengers #10
The Sentry, Conclusion
Paul Jenkins and Lindy Lee have been taken aboard the SHIELD helicarrier for their safety while the spy agency deals with Lindy’s husband, the Sentry (Bob Reynolds). Jenkins, a writer for Marvel Comics, can hardly believe that he is standing before the Lindy Lee. Until a day ago, he thought she and her husband were fictional characters in the comic books he wrote.[1] This has opened a lot of questions for him, like how a re-write may or may not have affected the lives of the characters he was working on.
Lindy is uncomfortable about all these questions but eventually decides to sit down and talk to him about it. However, before she can, Lindy suddenly collapses.
When she opens her eyes, she finds herself in a white void. There she is greeted by the X-Men’s resident telepath, Emma Frost. She tells Lindy that they are inside her husband’s subconscious mind. Emma quickly explains that she needs Lindy’s help. This part of Bob’s mind should be full of activity but it is only a blank slate. She says that uncovering the reason why could help explain why nobody remembers the Sentry and why the Void always eventually attacks when people do remember. After being told all of this, Lindy begins to panic, afraid that the might do more harm than good. Emma says that while that is a possibility, they don’t have many options left at the moment. That’s when they hear a large boom.
This noise is coming from the waking world where the Void — who has transformed into a Lovecraftian monster — pounds on a force field that was placed around the Sentry and Emma Frost. Most of the heroes who were sent to deal with it — the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Inhumans — have been mostly defeated. Now only Iron Man (Tony Stark), the Invisible Woman (Sue Richards), and Doctor (Stephen) Strange are left standing and focusing all their power on maintaining the force field.
Back inside Bob’s mind, Emma orders Lindy to calm down so that she can help. She needs to coax Bob out of his hiding place and needs a shared memory from Lindy to do so. Quickly, Emma uses her telepathic abilities to project this memory.
The memory was from when Bob took her out to this ocean side view where they could look at the Moon in all its glory. At first, Lindy jokingly teased Bob about bringing other girls to this spot. Reynolds assured her that he only discovered the spot a few days ago while on his way to classes and his first thought was to bring Lindy there to show her. After a moment, the two kissed.
This memory succeeds in bringing Bob out of his hiding place. He enjoys watching the memory, saying that it was the day that he and his wife first fell in love with one another. He recalls how this was only their third date. He instantly feels regret with how he has made her life a nightmare all these years. Emma tells Bob that none of this is his fault and that with his help, they can put a stop to it once and for all.
Outside, some of the heroes — Captain America (Steve Rogers), the Thing (Ben Grimm), the Sub-Mariner (Namor), and Gorgon of the Inhumans — have recovered and rejoined the fight. Suddenly, the Void stops dead in its tracks, leaving the heroes confused.
Inside the mindscape, Bob is summoning up memory of who hired Mastermind to mess with his head.[2] It appears in the form of a comic book which features the Sentry fighting along side the original X-Men against a foe called the General.[3] However, he doesn’t know why Mastermind would have went after him. Emma has a history with the late Jason Wyngarde, and tells Bob that he would do anything if his price was met.[4] Her past affiliation with Mastermind during their time in the Hellfire Club has given Emma an great understanding of his illusionary powers. She explains that they are psychic in nature and work like a “mind virus”, tricking the brain to perceive whatever he wanted in the minds of others. She has also determined that the Sentry has great psychic ability, which Mastermind piggybacked off of to make the entire world forget he ever existed.
Emma also believes that the Sentry’s past appearances — moments where he briefly made people remember — and the comic books written about him were Bob’s efforts to fight back against what Mastermind did to him. The Frost woman believes that she can end this nightmare once and for all. Not only that, the Sentry will have a blank slate to start over as an Avenger, something Emma wishes she could have done a number of times in her life.[5] Bob finds this hard to believe after everything that happened but Emma suggests he ask the Avengers themselves.
Just like that, Bob is back in the waking world where emergency crews are dealing with the wounded.[6] Standing before him are Iron Man and Captain America, who indeed wish him to join the Avengers. When he asks why, Stark explains that the Avengers have always given a second chance to those who need one.[7] Bob agrees to join the team, and Emma uses her powers on him one more time to unlock his memories. Suddenly, Bob remembers who he is and transforms into the Sentry once more. He is then reunited with his wife, Lindy, who is happy to see that her husband is all right again.
That’s when the Avengers get a panicked call from Jarvis, their butler who tells them that something has happened to their headquarters.[8] When the team takes the Quinjet back to Stark Tower they are shocked to see a strange black structure has suddenly appeared atop of it. Jet black with jutting architecture, it is emblazoned with the Sentry’s insignia and has a massive glowing orb atop of it. While the his new teammates are astonished by the new addition to their headquarters, the Sentry instantly recognizes it as the Watchtower, his old base of operations. Bob figures that it had always been there, only that nobody could see it because of what had been done to him. Witnessing this new development also helps convince Captain America that reforming the Avengers was fate after all.[9] When they land, the Sentry enters the Watchtower to reaquaint himself with his entire life. As he goes in, Iron Man tells him that the New Avengers will be waiting for him.
Later, Iron Man holds a meeting with the Illuminati, a group of heroes who meet in secret to discuss global threats.[10] Present at this meeting are Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), Black Bolt, and the Sub-Mariner. Everyone is concerned about how powerful the Sentry is and worry that he might start to slip again.[11] Tony assures them that should that happen, the New Avengers will be able to deal with it. Reed then asks Tony what is going on with SHIELD, having heard rumors of the New Avengers clashing with them in the Savage Land.[12] Tony lies by telling them that it was nothing out of the ordinary, nor is it anything they should worry about.
Recurring Characters
New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, “Spider-Woman”, Wolverine, Sentry), The Void, Paul Jenkins, Lindy Lee, X-Men (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Colossus, Shadowcat), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon), Illuminati (Sub-Mariner, Doctor Strange), “Edwin Jarvis” (voice only), SHIELD
Continuity Notes
Typically, real life individuals appearing in stories are considered topical references. The only exception being Marvel creators. Since Fantastic Four #10, they have regularly appeared in stories in the relative prime of their lives. Sometimes appearing after their IRL counterpart has died. The reason why everyone thinks the Sentry is a fictional character is because he has been wiping memory of his existence from people’s minds in order to protect them from the Void, his evil dark half. See Sentry #1-5, and Sentry/The Void #1.
We learned last issue that recollection of the Sentry had somehow been erased from everyone’s minds by Mastermind in some way.
The Sentry’s team-up with the OG X-Men to fight the General was told in Sentry/X-Men #1.
Emma Frost mentions a few off hand comments about Mastermind they are:
She knows him by name due to the fact that he was a member of the Hellfire Club alongside her from X-Men #129-135.
She states that he is an “old school” member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Mastermind was one of the first members that Magneto brought together waaaay back in X-Men #4.
She refers to him in the past tense because, at the time of this story, Mastermind had been dead for years after contracting the Legacy Virus as seen in Uncanny X-Men Annual #17. Mastermind will remain among the deceased until he is resurrected many years after this story in Empyre: X-Men #2.
Emma is referring to her criminal past. She was a member of the Hellfire Club for years as first depicted in X-Men #129. Eventually, she later reformed during the Phalanx Covenant in Uncanny X-Men #316-318/X-Men (vol. 2) #36-37, leading to her becoming head mistress of a new group of young mutants dubbed Generation X. In more recent times, circa New X-Men #116, she has been a member of the X-Men where she has remained a mainstay for years, as of this writing (April, 2024).
Among the injured is a woman who appears to be Spider-Woman is actually a Skrull spy named Veranke sent to infiltrate the team ahead of a Skrull invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion #1-8. Her true identity is revealed in issue #3 of that series. Per New Avengers #40, Veranke took the place of the real Jessica Drew circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
The Avengers have frequently been a group that offers redemption to those who seek a better path, starting with the second roster of the team which included the reformed Hawkeye and mutant terrorists Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, as seen in Avengers #16.
The man who appears to be Jarvis in this story is another Skrull infiltrator, as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #1. He took the real Jarvis’ place sometime prior to New Avengers #1.
At the time of this story, the New Avengers had recently been formed in New Avengers #1-5. This happened after the original team disbanded months earlier after they were decimated by the Scarlet Witch. See Avengers #500-503/Avengers: Finale #1.
The Illuminati have first formed following the Kree/Skrull War (circa Avengers #89-97), as will be revealed in New Avengers: Illuminati #1.
The Sentry’s mental health problems will rear their ugly head again in Sentry (vol. 2) #1-8.
The New Avengers first mission involved a breakout at the Raft. One of the escapees was Sauron, who was discovered to be helping a team of rogue SHIELD agents illegally acquire Vibranium from the Savage Land. All of the rogue agents were seemingly killed before they could get answers, as seen in New Avengers #1-5. It’s later revealed in Secret Invasion #1-8 that this was all part of the aforementioned Skrull invasion plot.
