The
Sentry/X-Men
The
Sentry/X-Men
Title: “The Sentry
& Angel of the X-Men
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Penciller: Mark Texeira
Inker: Mark Texeira
Colors: Joe Villarrubia
Editor: Mike Marts
Archangel floats above
Liberty Island as the other heroes wait along with him for the Void to attack.
Warren thinks to himself that he is going to have to fly faster, higher, and
better than he ever has before. He thinks how all the heroes there are going to
have to overcome the impossible collectively. They are going to have to
outperform themselves because the Void has come to devour the souls of man and
mutant alike. When the Void gets there he is going to blow them all away, and
there is only one hope for the universe now.
An
almost-god who glows with inner light. The Sentry. Archangel looks up at Sentry
like a beacon. He tries not to think about it, but he can’t help feeling that
Sentry is a representation of everything that he has lost. All the potential he
had before things got so convoluted and hard to comprehend. Before the blue skin
and attitude adjustment. The life filled with fame, fortune, and unfeasible
adventures. A long time ago, when he was innocent… and beautiful.
Xavier is running exercises with his young students. Angel and Cyclops are to team up and free two ‘hostages’ from the clutches of his teammates and return them to safety on the far side of the room. Cyclops eye blasts through the ice. Angel flies through the hole and says that he will take care of the hostages. Cyclops is teamed up on by Iceman and Beast. He tells Warren that he is going to need help, but Warren says that he is only a few seconds from the hostages. Suddenly Jean Grey pops out and asks Angel if he remembers her. She lets off a few blasts his way and knocks him to the ground. Xavier halts the session. He tells Angel that his mistake could have easily been avoided. He says that he should have helped Cyclops eliminate the first obstacle and the second would have been overcome quickly. Xavier says that his partner would have been overpowered and the hostages killed. He says that’s three lives for the sake of bravado. Xavier quotes Alexander, “Only a fearful man rushes blindly toward death…” Angel freaks. He says that Xavier thinks he is so special cause he has the “zen-master-of-the-mind speech” rehearsed. He asks Xavier if he ever pulled a barrel roll under heavy fire. He says that he didn’t think so and storms off telling Xavier to look him up when he masters the art of flight.
Archangel thinks to himself what a stupid punk kid he was. He says that Xavier was right. He was scared and he knew it. He had pulled out of the dive early and left himself vulnerable. He thinks about the fact that he was just learning his wings then. He wasn’t a hero yet like the Sentry.
The next day, Angel was sent into the city to meet with the Sentry… though he didn’t tell him why. Angel had a pretty shrewd idea though. Angel remembers flying into Manhattan and seeing Watchtower for the first time up close. His heart began to pound as he approached. He was a novice about to get chewed out by a god. Cloc had Angel state his name and business. Angel introduces himself as Warren Worthington III and that he is there to meet with Sentry. The door opens and Cloc says that Sentry has been expecting him. Angel walks in. Sentry says that he knows what he is afraid of. Angel says that he isn’t afraid. Sentry says that Angel would be a fool not to be. Sentry says that Xavier sent him tapes from the session where he pulled out of that dive too early. Sentry says that he pulled out early because he was afraid of hitting the platform if he got too close. Angel says that he isn’t a coward. Sentry says that no one is saying that. He says that it was self-preservation. Sentry says that he knows about being afraid. Angel says that he is the Sentry and asks when the last time he was afraid. Sentry says that he is scared all the time, but that he has learned that over the years that it hurts more to fail than to fall. Angel says that if you fall you fail anyway. Sentry says that bruises go away, but that its harder to shake the memories of the mistake you made in the first place. Sentry says that in their line of work that can be hurt or killed, but that there is too much riding on what they do. He says that your own well being has to be secondary. Sentry says that once Angel sees that he will see things from a different perspective. He might even find a way to enjoy himself. Cloc apologizes but interrupts with reports from the Whitlow Missile Silo in Massachusetts. He says that they have been attacked and subdued by miniaturized soldiers and assorted aircraft. Sentry knows that it is the General.
Archangel thinks about the last time he heard about the General hiding out in Europe somewhere. He was an old arch enemy of the Sentry that would surface now and then trying to take over the world. He would pop up bent on eliminating “enemies of the state”… which meant everyone. He had gadgets and miniature armies that he created for the military before he went mad. For some reason he had a thing for the French.
Angel rode Sentry’s updraft and met up with the other X-Men at the base. Dead bodies lie everywhere. Angel was afraid. He had never encountered anything like this. Sentry went in first and encountered a barrage of laser blasts. The X-Men were surrounded by the General’s robotic army, but then Sentry appeared out of nowhere to destroy them. As they rush on, Cyclops says that this place is deserted. Sentry explains that is the General’s MO, and that the soldiers didn’t stand a chance against him army of drones. Suddenly they come upon the General. General says that it is the Sentry and a bunch of neophytes to stop him. He says that he hopes the kids like fireworks since he is going to blow up France. Cyclops says that General is crazy. General says that he is crazy like a fox. He says that he will finally blow up the “commie pinko frog-munchers”. Sentry says that he will never let General set off all his weapons. General says that he is too late and that he did it five minutes ago. General laughs. Sentry says that he has to get to the missiles and asks Angel if he can count on him. Angel says that he can. Sentry flies out. General’s tiny helicopters blast Cyclops’ eyes. Beast is hit in the back by tiny tanks. Jean Grey is incapacitated by screeching noise from the tiny tanks. Iceman’s icy skin is melted away by heat. Angel’s wings are caught up in some kind of carbon filament. He drops on a grate above General. General laughs and says, “Thirty-five seconds! A new company record!” General says that you never send a child to do a soldier’s work. He says that the Sentry should have known better. Bobby Drake says that even so his master plan has had it. General looks at the board and sees that Sentry has disabled almost all the warheads. Sentry is approaching the last missile, but General blows it up as he reaches it. Warren shouts, “Sentry! Noooo!” Just then Angel felt the old fear coming up. General tells the “cadets” that the first rule of battle is never showing your hand until you’re sure you’ve won. He says that Sentry is dead, and that now is a good time to release the other half of the nuclear warheads he has at his disposal. General says, “Zut alors!” and laughs. Angel stands above General forty feet on the grate. He stands on the end remembering Sentry’s words. He leaps off the catwalk and lands on the General knocking him out. The other X-Men help Angel up. As they help Warren out he says that he can’t believe that Sentry is dead. He says to Scott, “Y’y’know what he told me, Scotty… before he… before he…” Suddenly, Sentry is there banged up from the explosion, but alive and says, “before I what?” He says that he knows that he looks like he just went ten rounds with a nuclear device, but that they should see the other guy. Sentry looks at Angel and asks him if he is having fun yet.
Archangel thinks again how he is going to have to fly better than he ever has. He is going to have to look into the eyes of a creature that not only means the end of him, but the end of everything. The Void is coming and Archangel is very likely flying into death, but he takes some comfort in knowing that it’s a lesson he learned a long time ago from a very wise man, “The only way you’ll ever truly fly… is to learn how to fall.”
Forgotten… but not Gone rating: 9 out of 10
Inside I’m grumbling about the mutant involvement in this book, but really my main problem with the X-Men was when Claremont turned it into the big headache persecution angle. This is kinda fun to hang out with the original X-Men, and the personalized story of Archangel/Angel strikes home just how important the Sentry is in the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe. This series makes me wish that there really had been a Sentry when I was growing up reading Marvel books, but you never know. My first love in Marvel was the Hulk, but who knows if I still would have taken to him if he were the Hulk that hangs with the Sentry. I like the fact that we finally get to see the General that they talk about in action. I was hoping to catch more of the Sentry-based villains in the course of the books… even if the Blue Buffoon was going to be one of them. Texeira does a nice job with the art. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen more of his flashback style art.
RETURN TO FORGOTTEN... BUT NOT GONE