Credits

• Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
• Pencils: Steve McNiven
• Inks: Danny Miki and Mark Morales
• Colors: Frank D'Armata
• Letters: Comicraft
• Editor: Axel Alonso

Quick Summary

In a flashback to the previous day, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Namor, Reed Richards, Professor X, and Black Bolt continue their discussion concerning the Sentry. It becomes clear that Reed Richards did not send Matt Murdock to the Raft to investigate the Sentry’s presence there; in fact, Richards adamantly states he has no recollection of the Sentry whatsoever. Professor X believes that someone has been tampering with Richard’s mind.

In the present, the gathered heroes—the New Avengers, Namor, the Fantastic Four, some of the X-Men, most of the Inhuman royal family, and Dr. Strange—are attacked by the Void as Robert Reynolds stands helplessly by. The Invisible Woman places a protective force field around Reed Richards, Emma Frost, and Reynolds, and, by various means, the three attempt to come to terms with what is really occurring and its cause.

Reynolds, frightened and overwhelmed, agrees to allow Frost to enter his psyche. There, Frost and Reynolds find themselves faced with an endless wall of repressed memories, each of which is represented by an image that Frost can activate. Frost states that she found the same kind of repressed images in Reed Richard’s mind earlier in the morning.

Scanning the numberless images, Frost finds what she believes she has been searching for: a blacked-out portion of the wall that may be the key to the truth. Activating the panel, they witness Mastermind, and another figure who has employed him, discussing the successful manipulation of the Sentry’s mind; Mastermind has also responsible for planting the idea of the Void in Reynold’s psyche. Mastermind states that when his work is completed, no one, not even his shadowy employer, will remember the Sentry’s existence. Unable to accept what he is witnessing, Reynolds bolts.

At the scene of the battle, the Void, having grown in ferocity, attacks the force field protecting Frost, Richards, and Reynolds. Wolverine, the Human Torch, and Spider Woman lie unconscious on the ground as the remaining heroes rally.

Commentary

This issue proves that less is definitely more where Bendis’ Avenger writing is concerned. This second New Avengers arc, ‘The Sentry,’ has been far more focused and fluid than the sprawling, overlong, and cluttered initial arc, ‘Breakout.’ The historical Avengers series has long needed complexity in its storytelling, and this arc delivers it. Readers may find themselves wishing that, with ‘Chaos,’ Bendis had shown the Scarlett Witch the same kind of attention and consideration he allows the Sentry here.

Bendis’ characterization of non-New Avengers members Reed Richards and Emma Frost is excellent: he seems to take each seriously as a character in a manner in which he has not treated half of his New Avengers cast thus far. Bendis’ Emma Frost is especially appealing: disciplined, confident, and intelligent, she reads as a far more substantial character than his Spider Woman.

Oddly, one of the strengths of this issue is the relative absence of Luke Cage and Spider Man: like well behaved children, they are seen, but not heard. Nor are they missed. Happily, there is also a complete absence of the kind of smug humor with which Bendis has padded previous issues. Such ‘humor’ should not be taken lightly, since Bendis has actively used it to define his interpretations of Spider Man and Luke Cage. This issue is enough to make readers wish that Frost and Richards replace Spider Man and Cage on the team permanently, since Bendis writes them better, and portrays each as an adult rather than a crass simpleton.

With ‘The Sentry,’ it’s become very clear that Bendis’ New Avengers takes place in a near Bendis-exclusive version of the Marvel Universe. His writing demands to be taken at face value, with no questions asked or desired, as major discrepancies in both ‘Chaos’ and ‘Breakout’ proved. If readers can accept this, or simply look past it, then Bendis’ Avengers and New Avengers writing becomes fairly enjoyable.

At this date, for example, few readers of the title will expect even slight attempts at characterization of the diverse heroes gathered here. As with ninety-five percent of the assembled Avengers during ‘Chaos’ and the escapees in ‘Breakout,’ the heroes are ‘present’ in fact, but not present in any real dramatic sense. Hell would probably freeze over before Karnak of the Inhuman royal family speaks or plays any kind of significant role. Readers may confidently gamble that Cyclops, Medusa, Kitty Pryde, the Human Torch, the Thing, and Gorgon are simply pretty window dressing too.

Other queries: how does Black Bolt communicate with the other members of the cabal? Does Professor X read his mind and express his thoughts for him? Why is Black Bolt a member of this group, but not, for instance, the Black Panther? If Namor has long been a member of this group, why has he shown so much hostility to the Avengers in recent MU history? Where is Crystal? Is she absent only because her presence would carry a sizable load of Human Torch-Quicksilver baggage and the question of her marital status? But all of these are questions best not asked.

However, interestingly, with ‘The Sentry,’ Bendis succeeds at tying together various strands of his Marvel Universe within a compelling story. The interactions of his ‘cabal,’ and, later, of Reed Richards and Emma Frost, are excellently done. Bendis makes it believable that Richards would submit to Frost’s mental probing and allow her to take the dominant role in solving the problem and puzzle that the Sentry represents.

The sudden manifestation of Mastermind is genuinely exciting: not only is he a Silver Age Avengers foe with ties to the Scarlett Witch, Quicksilver, and Magneto, but he was, of course, literally the mastermind behind the manipulation of the Dark Phoenix in a story that remains a classic within Marvel’s history.

Even more interesting is the hinted identity of Mastermind’s employer: the figure wears the kind of visored cap that the Red Skull has worn occasionally in the past, though the figure’s speech patterns are not particularly Skull-like. As Captain America’s major foe and a sometime enemy of the Avengers, the inclusion of the Red Skull into the Sentry saga could be engaging indeed.

McNiven’s art lacks the formal beauty of David Finch’s, but McNiven is the better storyteller. As an arc, ‘The Sentry’ has moved along with ease, and this is partially because McNiven’s art flows smoothly from panel to panel. While each of Finch’s panels is more beautiful on an individual basis, his panels move sluggishly when placed together, and Finch has an unfortunate tendency to anchor each with an often inappropriate leaden gravity. It’s fairly easy to imagine how much better both ‘Chaos’ and ‘Breakout’ might have read with McNiven at the helm.

Overall, this issue is Bendis’ best New Avengers issue to date.