Reading Irredeemable makes me cry at how bad they misused The Sentry

[Milkshake Dave]

Does anyone else agree?

Since The Plutonian pretty much was the "golden guardian of good", pure of heart, had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and everything. Also especially had a ridiculous power set he needed to keep in check too.

Virtually all the archetypes about Plutonian are there for The Sentry.

I loved how Sentry had a terrible background, as did Tony. But Sentry became a drug addict and ever since tried his best to be a hero. This reminds me of Tony of trying to constantly be the best hero in the world for fear of the world losing faith in him..


Anyway. The similarities (in a good way) are amazing, and it's almost criminal how bad they used The Sentry.


And seeing as how Blue Marvel is a black character, I doubt we're going to see any major appearances (let alone any) development for him. :frown:

Seriously, are Latinos going to get any love either? Arana SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tendrin]

I'm sure the Sentry haters will be out in force soon enough. :)

But, yes. I agree. It's pretty terrible how they misused the character. The background of the Sentry wasn't terrible.. it was just misused. It was better when only the SENTRY remembered and said these things as well, because it tied into the narcicistic aspects of his mental illness more clearly.

Mind you, I think making him a drug addict from the get go was a mistake. Schizophrenia generally (though not always) sets in later and often afflicts those who are more mentally gifted. Mind you, these aren't hard and fast rules. The downward spiral depicted in the original mini doesn't match with what we heard later.. .though given that we heard it all from the Void, Bob's nihilistic demon, I'm not sure exactly why we're supposed to believe any of it in the first place.

Sentry was a great character. Could still be, eventually, if they can let him cool his heels in purgatory for a while and let a writer with a clue about 1) how to use a character like that and 2) understands mental illness have a crack at him.

It's all pretty criminal, though, in how badly they messed up with him. One of the best *concepts* out of the 00s gone to waste in its executon.

[Jason Abbadon]

Well, let me say this- i'm in the super minoriy as someone that read all the old Sentry stuff and thought that JrJr's art was amazing and the story sucked on ice.
Retconned heroes that continuity has to somehow bend around are idiotic- major events that would have taken place when Sentry was supposeldy active would have been radically different- stuff like the Kree/Skrull war or Korvac. Or Thanos' first couple of attacks.

I really dislikefor the obvious Superman gag- and so I loved what Bendis with the character in Dark Avengers- this was a unique character all of a sudden (yeah, there are Marvelman nods but still) with serious mental problems- just not the usual silly meglomania that most Supervillians display.

I liked Sentry, but I LOVED the Void- I was blown away in Seige when he killed Ares in the most distrubingly graphic moment of any Marvel comic.
The junkie backgroun was very nicely handled as well- it's silly to think that

In a perfect world, Bendis would have brought the Blue Marvel into the Seige storyline and he and Void would have both died fighting each other.

[Beast]

Yeah, don't agree with the whole misused angle either. I loved what Bendis did to the Sentry.

Especially in Dark Avengers. And then Siege. Seeing him tear Ares in half was awesomely horrific.

It was nice to see someone with phenominal cosmic powers like Sentry, be such a complete mess of a person.

I don't even see the whole Irredeemable/Sentry comparison you're going for. Sentry was fine as he was. And let's keep it "was".

Also, meh on Blue Marvel. The mini was tedious and the character is uninteresting. Don't see the big deal with him.

[Plawsky]

My only gripe with the Sentry was that his origin is so messed up and undefined. I loved his original miniseries. And I think Bendis bringing him fully into the MU was pretty cool; New Avengers with him was great. But by the time Dark Avengers rolled around, I still didn't feel like he had been developed enough. Also, this was when I still believed solicitations and got upset each issue when we didn't "Find out the true origin of the Sentry!". I just think that a lot more could have been done with the Sentry, but no one really knew what it was. Bendis gave it a good go though, and I enjoyed him while he lasted. Plus, his death is pretty open ended, so I think we'll see him again when a writer is ready for him.

[Chase_Stein]

Irredeemable is only tolerable because of great characters like Kaidan. But honestly, I'm not fond of the concept of writers correcting Superman. It's just a terrible cheap gimmick.

[Beast]

Irredeemable is only tolerable because of great characters like Kaidan. But honestly, I'm not fond of the concept of writers correcting Superman. It's just a terrible cheap gimmick.
Why not? Since Superman is such a terrible uninteresting boy scout character. There's tons of room for improvement.

[Expletive Deleted]

Irredeemable works because it's a whole comic book universe in one or two books, with the Plutonian's fall from grace as its narrative core.

It's not really operating on the same scale.

[Chase_Stein]

Why not? Since Superman is such a terrible uninteresting boy scout character. There's tons of room for improvement.

It's too much like fanboiis trying hard to write characters in their "perfect" way.

[Kunoichi]

Irredeemable does not make me think of Sentry. Which is good.

[Milkshake Dave]

Irredeemable works because it's a whole comic book universe in one or two books, with the Plutonian's fall from grace as its narrative core.

It's not really operating on the same scale.
The same could have worked PERFECTLY for the Sentry. Remember the scale that Sentry operated at with CLOC? Constantly having to work?

Let's say that whole him being the Void bullshit never happened (but he was still so schizophrenic he had multiple personalities ala Moon Knight), a drug addict could feel immeasurable guilt over the death of a baby he failed to save in a city on the other side of the country.

Irredeemable is about the fall from grace for superheroes. But at the core you have Plutonian's REASONS behind his downfall being so interesting.


Sentry had a wretched childhood just like Dan Anderson.... PERFECT!

Sentry, during his run in the main universe, never got his proper due as the "Golden Guardian Of Good". His second solo was great with him stopping every tragedy, but it was absolutely stinking roadkill when it came to emotion.

[Pixie_Solanas]

Irredeemable makes me cry too, but for vastly different reasons.

[StoneGold]

Other than having Superman type powers, not alike in the slightest.

[mwiggins]

Why not? Since Superman is such a terrible uninteresting boy scout character. There's tons of room for improvement.

Irredeemable isn't trying to "improve" on Superman. Waid's a HUGE Superman fan. Waid's said his take on the Superman archetype in Irredeemable is based on the idea that what makes Superman so great isn't his power set, but rather his morality and the choices he makes. Similar to what he did with Kingdom Come.

[nightwing45]

Waid isn't writing to 'make' Superman perfect. If you have read Waid's comments. The theme is about a superhero like Superman who doesn't have the same morality and is pushed over the edge because he can't relate to people.

[dreyga2000]

Why not? Since Superman is such a terrible uninteresting boy scout character. There's tons of room for improvement.

0.0...Wait What?!

[Hegelund]

Waid isn't writing to 'make' Superman perfect. If you have read Waid's comments. The theme is about a superhero like Superman who doesn't have the same morality and is pushed over the edge because he can't relate to people.

I have to disagree with one thing in this, otherwise lovely, post.
Tony is potrayed as having the same morality as Superman, that of the boyscout, the problem is deeper - his people do not trust him, in the same Metropolis and the DCU trusts Kal-el. At some point he was bound to snap.