I wanted to make a few comments on two of Marvel's biggest releases this week. Maybe this will get me inspired to write some more.
"Siege: Epilogue: The Sentry: Fallen Sun" - First, stupid title. Though not as bad as last week's book "X-Men: Second Coming: Revelations: Hellbound." What the hell does that even mean? I really wish the would spend a little more time on working out more succinct or meaningful titles for these books. This book is a one-shot deal by Sentry creator Paul Jenkins and artist Tom Raney. I'm a fan of Jenkins' old Marvel work, notably "Inhumans," his "Sentry" books, and a few from his Spider-Man runs. Raney I can take or leave. This book I can leave. Sure it's a relatively quiet book of nothing but talking around a grave yard, but it still looks rough and rushed.
But, ok, here are these heroes standing around reminiscing about a guy they can barely rememeber, purposely due to past storylines where they all wiped their memories of him, twice. Not to mention they are talking about relationships with this guy that were retconned in as part of the meta-storyline surrounding the creation of the character. There's no personal connection on the part of the readers, and the connections with the other characters seem forced. We have Iron Man talking way too much about his alcoholism and how Sentry helped him through it. Uh, when? And why do you remember something that you weren't supposed to remember? So Tony brings out a cooler of beer for everyone because Sentry apparently liked beer. Classy.
Then the Thing talks about how he almost killed one of the Wrecking Crew members and Sentry stopped him. Again, how does he remember? This is out of character for Thing anyway, and his speech makes no sense as he describes hating Sentry for stopping him. Oh, and Spider-Man couldn't make it, that was a throw away line. He can appear in a hundred other books, so I guess he's busy.
There was one scene I found sweet. Thor dancing with the Sentry's mother was a nice moment.
And that's it, didn't like it at all. What's dumber, like all of Marvel's usual scheduling strategies, they put this on the same stand as Siege #4 which happened to have the "surprise" ending of him dying in it. So, hey, spoiler alert.
"Siege #4" - Which giant explosion at the end is the climactic one? There was, like, four, and Captain America slung his shield through Sentry/Void's face which coulda been one, too. So Sentry/Void wasn't boarded by the Carnage symbiote from way back in "New Avengers #2." A lot of reviewers and fans, including myself, speculated that was the case. It would have been much cooler and comic bookey had it been. Instead we find out he's the "Angel of Death" and he can't be "stopped." Only talking with him and sympathizing with him can halt his rage, or something. So the heroes stop him anyway with lightning and big ships and shields through faces. That's how you do that, thank you very much.
It was a pretty book with lots of boom and closure, so I dug that, BUT......
Two or three really big moments just sort of happen, off page, too. Osborn and his crew are arrested, and the Superhuman Registration Act is repealed. Fans have been waiting for resolutions to these things for literally YEARS now and it just sort of happens. I think we got dicked on that, personally. We got eighty million and seven "Secret Invasion" books, but merely a few panels to wrap up the last near decade of story. Ptttthhhhhpttttt. That's how I felt on it.
