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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Follow Up to Volume 1: "Breakout", and a Great Introduction to a New Avenger!, February 3, 2006
First off, the Sentry was actually created as a Gag, back in the summer of 2000-2001. Marvel Comics had Wizard Magazine publish a story and an interview with Stan Lee - he actually did it! - where Stan claimed that he had created a character known as the Sentry back before the Fantastic Four, SpiderMan, or any of the other silver age additions to the Mighty Marvel Masterwork Milieu. The reality is, Paul Jenkins and Joe Quesada dreamed up the Sentry, and decided to play a prank/publicity stunt on the comic's community. Long story short? It worked. This hardcover collects issues 7-10 of New Avengers, written by Brian Michael Bendis and pencilled by Steve McNiven. Inside, you will find - along with the story - plenty of goodies. The covers will be shown on the inside, as well as the hard to find alternates by classic Avengers Artists like Neal Adams, Sal Buscema, and John Romita, Sr. I strongly suggest picking this book up, it's a great read, and McNiven's art is a treat. Enjoy.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Sentry's Backstory and the Introduction of the Illuminati, April 22, 2006
I found the first volume of Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers to be above average, but not great. In my opinion, it was no Runaways or Astonishing X-Men, but it had its merits and from what I've heard about the series, I decided to continue. Fortunately, I found these next four issues to be vastly superior to the initial arc.
The first arc was the origin story of the New Avengers, and while I've read some killer origin stories, I found this one to be a little slower than I'd prefer. However, now that the second arc has begun, Bendis can immediately throw the Avengers into action and he has mysteries from Breakout to wrap up. After over 40 supervillains escaped from a maximum security prison, the Avengers are still trying to clean up the mess, and we see them deal with the Wrecker, one of the escaped villains (and a Runaways reference is thrown in, which always makes me happy). Meanwhile, Iron Man/Tony Stark brings up the possible problem of the Sentry to the Illuminati, which is a group of some of the most powerful, intelligent, and influential men in the Marvel universe. Sentry was in the prison as well, but he was there because he requested to be there. He is extremely powerful and claims to be a hero, but after the supposed death of his wife, he turned himself in.
The New Avengers, along with the Fantastic Four, the Astonishing X-Men, the Inhumans, and Dr. Strange, have to find out the root of Sentry's problems involving his problems and the source of his perceived insanity, especially when they learn his wife is alive. When the heroes learn that a comic book writer (who is a real-life comic book writer) chronicled the adventures of Sentry, a whole new set of questions are raised.
Overall, I really liked the Sentry arc. It did focus a little too much on Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew and Iron Man while ignoring most of the other New Avengers (Emma Frost was more integral to the plot than most of the rest of the Avengers team). The only other problem is that there are only four issues in this hardcover (plus a set of files detailing the 46 escaped criminals), but that that obviously isn't story-related. Still, this is a good read.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tale To Astonish!, November 28, 2009
This review is from: New Avengers Vol. 2: Sentry (Paperback)
The New Avengers: Sentry is seriously the most ambitious retcon I've ever seen. And I've seen a few attempted over the years that ended badly. Spider-Man clone, anyone? But this is also one of the best retcons I've ever seen. Perhaps the best.
In the first volume of The New Avengers, readers got introduced to Robert Reynolds, the Sentry, and evidently the most forgotten about hero since...well, ever! He was sitting in prison for murdering his wife. Only, as it turns out, his wife isn't dead at all and she's been wondering what's happened to him.
I like the way Bendis set up the character. Robert Reynolds instantly garners sympathy from the readers. The idea of someone wrongly incarcerated is a good one, even more so because Reynolds requested that he be kept locked away. Then when Emma Frost of the X-Men arrives and declares that Reynolds' s mind has been tampered with, the real puzzle sets in. I was hooked by the mystery as well as how they were going to extricate Sentry from the predicament he was in. The most powerful man on the planet was also the man who held the keys to his own prison cell.
Bendis does a lot to develop the back story of Sentry. Watching how all the other Marvel Comics intellectuals gather to try to figure out the enigma represented by Robert Reynolds's existence was terrific. I could actually see these guys coming together to brainstorm about what they knew and how best to handle the situation.
The art in this four issue arc is really good. Steve McNiven does an excellent job of laying out panels and illustrating the action. Mark Morales's inks make everything pop. One of the most enjoyable aspects about the art is the retro-style Marvel covers included in this graphic novel. Somehow that touch made the story all the more believable.
Although this graphic novel is shorter than the first one in the series, it has a very intense, very compelling story to tell. And it continues shaking out the threads of the other stories Bendis has to tell about his new cast of characters. The additional pages of this volume are filled with information about known super-villains. True Marvel Comics may already know most of the information and may not be inclined to read over the material, but I'd really encourage you to at least look at the notes Bendis has written in the voices of the various Avengers. Bendis is talented enough to even make filler material interesting.
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