New Avengers #9
The Sentry, Part 3
Yesterday
Iron Man (Tony Stark) had called a meeting of the Illuminati, a secret order of superhumans that address global threats. In attendance the Sub-Mariner (Namor), Black Bolt, Doctor (Stephen) Strange, Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), and Professor X (Charles Xavier). He has called them together to discuss the Sentry (Bob Reynolds), an incredibly powerful superhuman that nobody seems to remember.[1]
He then turns things over to Reed since he was the one who asked Matt Murdock to visit him in the Raft on the same day of the massive breakout.[2] However, Richards has no memory of doing so, or who the Sentry is. To prove that he has no knowledge of this person Reed consults his tablet to see how many files it has on him. To their surprise, Reed’s records have 1223 files on him. That’s when Xavier asks for permission to search Reed’s mind.
Now
When confronting the Sentry, Iron Man has called in his New Avengers — Captain America (Steve Rogers), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Luke Cage, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew),[3] and Wolverine — as well as the Fantastic Four — Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman (Sue Richards), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm) — the X-Men — Cyclops (Scott Summers), Emma Frost, the Beast (Hank McCoy), Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), and Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde) — the Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak), the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Strange to confront Bob Reynolds at his suburban home.
Upon seeing the heroes, Bob broke down and told them that it is too late to stop the Void. Before they can get him to explain the are all ambushed by the creature, which first appears as formless black tendrils. While most of the others defend themselves from this threat, Emma Frost and Mister Fantastic join Bob on the sidelines and ask for him to help them against the Void. They know that Bob is the key to stopping this threat, but Reynolds insists that there is nothing they can do and that they are all doomed. That’s when the Void suddenly takes on a physical form, that of a massive flaming demon armed with two axes.
Richards keeps on pushing Bob to try and help by showing him a recording that the Sentry made earlier. Although the Sentry was forgetting who he was and what his connection to Reed Richards was, he left a warning for the man he thinks is his best friend.[4] He talks about these cycles where he forgets everything about his second life as a superhero and how everyone all around him forgets as well. Every now and again, these memories come back and people remember but then things go bad because of the Void. He warns Richards that he is also the Void, the dark side of his soul that seeks to punish him for some wrong that he does not remember. However, for the first time he wonders if someone — one of his enemies — may have done this to him and begs for Richards to find out. He also has a message for himself: Trust Reed and everyone who has come to help him.[5]
By this time, the other heroes are still struggling to contain the Void, who has now changed forms to hideous fleshy monster with a ring of jagged teeth for a mouth. Bob decides to follow the Sentry’s advice and gives Emma Frost permission to enter his mind. Reynold’s mindscape appears as a white void where a band of memories appear arranged like the panels of a comic book.[6] She tells him that while she can understand Bob’s mind shutting down all parts that remember the Sentry, she still doesn’t understand how he was able to make everyone else forget.
They begin going through Bob’s memories and when they pull up the origin of the Sentry, it is presented like an old comic book. When Emma asks why that is, Bob evades the question.[7] When trying to figure out why comic books play such a prominent role in Bob’s fragmented memories she pulls up his encounter with writer Paul Jenkins that happened earlier that day. Jenkins had been writing about the Sentry for years, but nobody knows why.[8]
Emma probes deeper and finds a panel in Bob’s wall of memory that is pitch black. There is something about the memory that suggests to her that it doesn’t belong there. She then uses her mental powers to pierce the darkness and see the memory on the other side. From the Sentry’s point of view, he is restrained and looking up at some lights in some dingy room. Two men are talking about them. One turns out to be the mutant known as Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), of whom Emma Frost remembers very well.[9] The other person is a man in some kind of uniform but the lighting obscures his face in shadow. They are discussing some kind of process that Mastermind will do to make everyone forget who the Sentry is, including his benefactor. That nobody will remember the Sentry will be the ultimate defeat. When Emma asks Reynolds who this other man is, Bob begins to freak out and runs away from her.[10]
Emma is pulled out the psychic rapport because — in the real world — the Void has transformed once more. Now an creature of Lovecraftian horror it has defeated most of the heroes on the scene and is trying to pound its way through the force field that keep it separated from Bob. The remaining heroes are all trying in vein to keep the protective field in place.
Recurring Characters
New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, “Spider-Woman”, Wolverine), Sentry/The Void, Sub-Mariner, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), X-Men (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Colossus, Shadowcat), Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak), (in flashback) Illuminati (Professor X), Mastermind, The General
Continuity Notes
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 has forced everyone to forget him in order to keep the Void — his dark half — in check. See Sentry #1-5 and Sentry/The Void #1.
Murdock went to visit the Sentry at the Raft in New Avengers #1-2.
The 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.
Per Sentry/Fantastic Four #1, Bob and Reed have been friends dating back to the early days of the Modern Age.
The Sentry hints that there is some unknown part of his past that the Void is punishing him for. This dark secret will be revealed in Sentry (vol. 2) #1-8. In that limited series it is revealed that before ingesting the formula that turned him into the Sentry, Bob was a troubled teen with a heavy drug addiction. He often resorted to petty crimes to feed his habit. The Void is actually his drug addicted persona, who tries to undo all the good that the Sentry does.
The majority of the the panels on display here are taken from virtually all of the Sentry’s appearances to date including the original Sentry limited series as well as Sentry/Fantastic Four, Sentry/Spider-Man, Sentry/Hulk, Sentry/X-Men, Sentry/The Void and lastly New Avengers #1-2 and 7-8.
This was the fictionalized account of the Sentry’s origins that were first told in Sentry #1. This is the narrative that Bob created for himself to hide the truth about his origin, as seen in Sentry (vol. 2) #8.
Typically, real people appearing in a Marvel Comic would be considered topical. The only exception being Marvel Comics creators. As such, Paul Jenkins appearance in this story would be a factual reference. Since Fantastic Four #10, Marvel creators all exist in the Prime Marvel Universe in the relative prime of their lives, even appearing after their real world counterpart has passed away.
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.
Next issue the mystery man is revealed to be the General, one of the Sentry’s kind of pathetic rogues gallery. He first appeared in Sentry/X-Men #1.