Thanks. Well Bendis is a polarizing writer, either people loved his work, or they hated it. He's not for everyone.

New Avengers #7

July 2005

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Morry Hollowell
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Albert Dechesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort, Stephanie Moore, Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada

"The Sentry: Part 1"

Previously... The newly formed New Avengers (Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage and Spider-Woman) tracked down Electro to find out who hired him to carry out the greatest super-hero breakout in history. Their informants led them to The Savage Land and the name Karl Lycos/Sauron. After meeting Wolverine, they are captured by Sauron’s associates, the Savage Land mutants. After escaping Sauron’s lair, the New Avengers discover an illegal vibranium mining operation run by a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, headed by Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier then arrived and bombed the entire site. The New Avengers barely escaped with their lives. Back in New York, escaped villains remained at large and the New Avengers have to face the dark underbelly of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Synopsis: Iron Man met with Doctor Strange, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Black Bolt (Monarch of the Inhumans), and Prince Namor to discuss the New Avengers and a bigger problem, The Sentry. Over in Long Island, Dirk Garthwaite (aka The Wrecker, leader of The Wrecking Crew) interrupted a girl sunbathing. Demanding his “stuff” back, the terrified girl led him inside to her father’s collection of super-villain costumes. The Wrecker put his stuff on, grabbed his crowbar and forced the girl to drive him somewhere. They didn't get very far as the driveway was blocked by Wolverine, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. They all attacked but were unsuccessful in taking down The Wrecker. The Wrecker managed to throw Cage into a car, catapult Spider-Man miles away with his webbing, and hurled Wolverine away from the scen,e leaving him staring down Spider-Woman who was now completely on her own. Meanwhile, in the Nevada Desert, Iron Man and Captain America approached the cave in which The Sentry huddled. The Sentry feared The Void, who killed his wife. But Iron Man brought The Sentry’s wife forward (very much alive) and Paul Jenkins, the man who created The Sentry, a comic book character.

Highlight: The double cliffhanger at the end, and obviously... Steve McNiven's phenomenal art!

Comments: Anyone confused by the last couple of pages has fallen under Bendis's trap. When Paul Jenkins showed up I was surprised. I thought there was no explaining this “crossover” (for want of a better word) into the real, comic book writing world in which Paul Jenkins (beloved Spectacular Spider-Man writer) really did create the Sentry character. It was this, and not the fact that his dead wife is back and that we don’t know who The Sentry actually is, and that surprised me. That was the designed effect and Bendis does pull it off with extreme style and form, literally, from no-where! But thinking about it logically, Paul Jenkins is just a character here. His name and his creation of The Sentry character is identical to his real counterpart meant nothing. What is important is that this character, that Bendis has created, called Paul Jenkins, is not real and is bound to the physical rules of the comic book world. Bendis’ Paul Jenkins could be a secret agent, an actor, an evil genius who has created The Sentry using his creative imagination. We just don’t know, but the edge is rounded off when you get over the similarities between fact and fiction.

This explanation is not designed to take anything away from the issue. In fact, this is one of the best issues Bendis has produced. The dialogue is sharp, there is not a panel or a page wasted and the continuation of The Raft breakout gives a nice sense of tying the last arc to this one. And at last The New Avengers have some real action for us to sink our teeth into! The Wrecker is someone I am not too familiar with, but Bendis filled us in quickly with the shouting about Thor, the power he gained when he put his costume back on and the way he goes about his business. I found myself sadly laughing at the way Bendis wrote him as a traditional villain in a new world. The comments from Spider-Man, and the fact that the bikini girl has no idea who The Wrecker was, showed this beautifully. In fact, this scene (and a very fast, well-crafted scene it is) is one of the best action sequences I have read/seen in a while.

This is partly due to the fact that Steve McNiven produced some of the most detailed, crisp and stunningly lively pencils I have ever seen! I continue to be blown away by the visuals within this issue every time I look at it. From the way he chucked the heroes around to the looming pose of The Wrecker over the stunning Spider-Woman and the simple-yet-perfect depiction of Iron Man to the gorgeous bikini girl and her expressions, everything makes me just felt awed.

The cover is the only thing that lets this issue down. At the time, no-one knew who Ronin was, Cage is not there and the blue background is very garish. However, Spider-Woman, so poorly drawn by Finch on the cover of #4, is definitely "banging"!

This issue kicks it all off and Bendis has hit his stride. The New Avengers are formed and now fighting! I simply can’t wait for the next one!

New Avengers #9

September 2005

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Morry Hollowell
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Albert Dechesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort, Aubrey Sitterson, Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada

"The Sentry: Part 3"

Previously: While half of the New Avengers apprehended The Wrecker in Long Island, Captain America and Iron Man attempted to solve the problem of The Sentry. It was obvious this man existed, but the only proof of his existence lie in comic books. When they tried to understand his powers, he transformed into his alter ego, Robert Reynolds and disappeared. Once the Avengers were assembled once again, they joined forces with S.H.I.E.L.D., The Fantastic Four, The Astonishing X-Men and The Inhumans in order to approach The Sentry once again. As they did, the Void arrived.

Synopsis: Yesterday: At the meeting with Iron Man, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier and others (in issue #7), Reed had no idea about sending Matt Murdock to see The Sentry at The Raft (in issue #1). Someone had been tampering with his mind.

Now: As The Void attacked, Reed Richards and Emma Frost tried to calm Bob Reynolds down. They isolated him from the attack and told him to stop the attack. Bob does not see how he can do this. In his mind he was just an ordinary guy. Reed played him a message. With Bob Reynolds listening to a message from himself, we started to understand that The Sentry was an identity that is kept hidden from himself and others. The truth about The Sentry and his powers, only came to Bob during flashes of clarity. He knew he was The Void as well as The Sentry, and the only explanation he came up with was that the power the Sentry had was so uncontrollable that he punished himself with the construction of The Void. Once the message ended, Bob told Emma to do whatever she must do. They both entered his mind and uncovered something they weren’t supposed to see. It was a repressed memory. It showed Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind) standing over Bob with another mystery man. Wyngarde made Bob unable to remember who The Sentry was and believed that if he used his powers, the world will be attacked by the Devil. The mystery man announced that he had finally defeated The Sentry. Bob (knowing who the other man was) saw this and freaked out, leaving his own mind to become one with The Void…

Comments: Even with the amount of information and answers given in this issue, I still have a feeling that this issue could have been so much more. This feeling doesn’t boil down to one thing, it arose from the minor roles the New Avengers actually played. And Emma Frost was one of the central characters. Also, the fact that the majority of the issue took part in Bob's mind and felt incredibly claustrophobic and the confusion surrounding the “comic book” premise that The Sentry continued to be tied to. These are things that can be ignored but somehow they take away from the explanation of the whole thing.

And what an explanation it was! Over the last two issues I have been incredibly impressed with the way Bendis had planted clue after clue and teaser after teaser. I might have been confused but I was enjoying waiting to see how these things would unravel. After reading this issue, I am confused as to how Bendis has managed to get away with producing very little conviction, convincing, and emotion at any point. As an explanation it was not as inspired as I first hoped it would. it did contain yet another mystery person/voice that held the final key to the plot (see issue #3 and issue #6 for other examples!) but the bit that is salvageable, and by this I mean the message, Bendis didn't do the explanation any justice. As a turning point in the story arc, the speech was good, but it could have been so much better, more desperate, and more confused.

The emotion in this issue came from Steve McNiven. It was he who did a fantastic job on showing Bob go deeper and deeper into despair and internal torment as well as bringing the talking head panels (of which this issue was almost too full of) to an interesting life. In terms of detail and composition, McNiven is brilliant (check out his fantastic Captain America run with Ed Brubaker). However, I didn’t feel he made the most of the closing page though. The image of The Void/The Devil was too light in shadows. I know it was not in McNiven’s style to use more ink than necessary, but here I felt it was necessary and took the visual edge off the threat.

Overall it was an okay issue. I think the full potential of the plot had not been reached yet, and that mainly had to do with Bendis’ writing style which came across as somewhat flat and less inspiring than the previous issues.

New Avengers #10

October 2005

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Mark Morales, John Dell
Colorist: Morry Hollowell, Laura Martin
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Albert Dechesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort, Aubrey Sitterson, Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada

The Sentry Part 4 (of 4)

Previously: After Emma Frost entered Robert Reynolds’ mind in order to solve the complex problem of the existence of The Sentry, she found out that a mystery man and Jason Wyngarde (aka Mastermind) have tampered with Robert’s mind in order for him to make himself and everyone around him forget who he truly was. As Emma tried to unlock this process, Bob retreated further into his own consciousness and became The Void who attacked the group of assembled heroes.

Synopsis: In the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Paul Jenkins and Lindy Reynolds discussed the events in Nevada. Suddenly Lindy slumped over and her subconscious was transported into her husband's. This was courtesy of Emma Frost, who needed to use a loving memory from Lindy in order to tempt Bob back to his own mind. She found a memory of the night the two of them fell in love and drew Bob back to her. At the same time, the creature that the heroes were fighting, The Void, became still. Emma questioned Bob about the unknown man from his repressed memory, he was the Crazed General. Emma told Bob that, because of her history with the Hellfire Club and Mastermind, that she was able to undo his work. The comic books, written through Paul Jenkins, were a diary of The Sentry’s battle to undo Mastermind’s psychic virus, but they were not enough. Emma took Bob to the real world and he was invited to become an Avenger, once the unlocking took place. He accepted, Emma focused on him and he transformed into The Sentry. The group travelled back to Stark Tower, which had a new extension, The Sentry Tower where Bob entered to rediscover the life that he had lost. Later, Tony Stark had another meeting with Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Black Bolt, Namor, and Doctor Strange. He told them that the New Avengers took full responsibility for the Sentry and that there was nothing to discuss about S.H.I.E.L.D.

Comments: Steve McNiven's art is the definite highlight of this issue. After a somewhat disappointing previous issue, there was no real change. It was nice to know who was responsible for The Sentry’s condition, but the fact that it was given away in an un-built-up panel of a cheesy man in a costume was just plain deplorable. The only thing of note that happened was that The Sentry joined the team, as if no one knew that was coming!

Bendis tried to make Bob’s transformation glorified and emotional, but again kind of failed most accounts. The explanation was so unclear and the words so sparse towards the end that I don’t know where he had gone, what he was doing there or what difference it would make to his quite interesting paranoid schizophrenic character when he came out. Where Bendis over complicated things was in the main bulk of Emma’s talking, he missed out on the simplest concept of making sense in order to conclude with a quick (because the panels are so small) see-you-in-a-bit-I-am-going-to-be-a-changed-man-and-then-help-you-save-the-world ending.

Steve McNiven, whose art does not suffer in having multiple inkers working on it, as many artists work does, was again the saving grace, as I said was the highlight of this issue. The little details like Sue Storm’s bleeding nose, the expressions on the faces of young Lindy and Bob and the little busy shots of heroes picking themselves up were brilliant. The whole page shot of The Sentry reborn, not so, but I think this was because of (again Mr. McNiven) the lack of a lot bold black shadows. A lot can be achieved with black (see any Frank Miller work) and this pose missed out somehow because it was so clean.

With Finch back on art duties next issue, hopefully Ronin will be a far less complicated character for Bendis and ourselves to sink our teeth into. The Sentry could have been great. As it stood, the men writing the man in yellow and blue have a lot of work ahead of them to make him last and count.

Thanks for the info Earl. I'll look it up. 

What drover her mad ?