sentry

Sentry
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Fantastic Four vol. 1, #64 (July 1967)
Characters	Sentry 459 Curtis Elkins Robert Reynolds "Senator Ward" Val
Sentry
	Sentry"" vol. 1, #1 (Sept, 2000). Featuring the Robert Reynolds version of the character. Art by Jae Lee.
Series publication information
Publisher	(vol 1) Marvel Knights (Marvel Comics imprint) (vol 2) Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	(vol 1) September 2000 – January 2001 (vol 2) November 2005 – June 2006
Number of issues	(vol 1) 5 (vol 2) 8
Main character(s)	Robert Reynolds

Sentry is the codename of several unrelated fictional characters of the Marvel Universe. Currently, the most prominent Sentry is Robert Reynolds, appearing in Marvel's New Avengers and Mighty Avengers titles, and the subject of two limited series.

Sentry 459

The first Marvel Comics character to use the name was Sentry 459, a large android placed on Earth by the alien race The Kree, later discovered by the Fantastic Four. Other models of the Sentry robot later appeared in issues of various comics series.

Sentry (Curtis Elkins)

Fictional character history

Curtis Elkins was a Guardsman at the Vault, a prison for super powered criminals. While there Curtis befriended Hugh Taylor, a new Guardsman fresh out of the Army. Curtis left the Vault sometime after Hugh was murdered by Venom during an escape.

After that, Curtis and a few of his fellow Guardsmen joined The Jury, an agency organized by General Orwell Taylor. Their purpose was to track down and destroy Venom. To that end many of them were armed with sonic and fire generating weapons to which the alien symbiote was vulnerable. After the death of Orwell, the firm was reformed by his older son Maxwell to fit the principles of civil rights and the legal court system. It was in fact a change done in accordance with Curtis' personal ideology of law and order. At a final fight with Hybrid, he was seriously injured, not only by physical damage, but also by mental contact with the symbiotes.

Almost all of his later team members were his colleagues from the Vault, either those involved in the riot, or those involved in the Guardsmen at other times. They include Screech (Maxwell Taylor), Ramshot (Samuel Caulkin), Bomblast (first name unknown, last name Parmenter), Firearm (unknown) and Wysper (Jennifer Stewart).

His former enemy Scott Washington aka Hybrid was also a Guardsman in the Vault.

Powers and abilities

Although their suits of powered armor were made by altering Guardsmen suits, they are neither identical nor equal, and let the wearer possess different abilities. Sentry's strength is the greatest of them all. He was strong enough to hold down Spider-Man in one of their fights. He has flight technology made differently from the others, with a ramjet propulsion mini engine installed into his boots. His whole costume is a green-brown color while his partners' are "standard" Guardsmen colors. He has a powerful energy gun. There's a lock-pick tool kit inside his right glove.

Sentry (Robert Reynolds)

The Sentry known as Robert Reynolds first appeared in his own Marvel Knights limited series, in which he was marketed as a forgotten creation of Stan Lee, a falsehood that was eventually revealed to be a marketing ploy. Robert Reynolds has been retconned into having existed inside the Marvel Universe since its creation, but the public forgot about him when it was revealed his subconscious creates a deadly counterpart, the Void. His popularity not diminished, he became a member of the Avengers and has been the subject of a several other limited series.

Robert "Bob" Reynolds is said to have the power of 10 million exploding suns. And his power is not limited to any one capability, nor to only his concious mind. His powers are also said to be virtually limitless as seen in the Dark Avengers when he is killed by Morgan le Fay and then somehow rematerializes in front of the Avengers team back at their HQ. It is also mentioned in the Dark Avengers issues that the Sentry no longer requires most human necessities. He can super-heat his entire body, sterilizing it so he doesn't need to shower, and his digestive system also produces enough nutrients that he doesn't require food or drink.

Sentry (Stewart Ward)

Steward Ward appears as a Senator in Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2 #4, with frequent appearances in the this and the concurrent Amazing Spider-Man title throughout Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #24. Mysterious and seemingly up to no good, Ward lurked behind the scenes of the title until he ran afoul of Dr. Octopus and the Sinister Six. Ward reappeared a few issues later, and his backstory and connections to Spider-Man ally Arthur Stacy and the mysterious Ranger were revealed in a storyline running Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2. A former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent operating as Sentry, Ward was as a double agent for Z'Nox aliens, who used Ward to aid in an invasion of Earth. Years later, as Z'Nox aliens found themselves on Earth during a brief period when it was designated an intergalatic prison, Ward was infected by Z'Nox lifeform, mutating him into a half-human/half-alien being. Ranger subsequently sacrificed himself to destroy Ward.

Sentry (Val, the Galadorian)

Interior artwork from Spaceknights #1 (Oct, 2000). Art by Chris Batista and Chip Wallace.

Val, first appeared in Spaceknights #1 (October, 2000) and was created by Jim Starlin and Chris Batista. He is a defender Spaceknight and is a warrant officer of the flagship of the Galadorian army. He was wounded during an assault by the Trionians, who killed the Prime Director, the first man of the Galadorian nation and its fleet sent on a mission to stop ethnic cleansing in their Universe.

Other versions

Ultimate Sentry

In the Ultimate Universe, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s private version of the Hubble Space Telescope is called Sentry. It is used for detailed imaging within the Solar System and was the first to detect Gah Lak Tus when it appeared over the Great Red Spot of Jupiter.

During the second Sentry mini-series, when the Sentry begins to tell his origin, a false comic-book cover appears that reads Ultimate Sentry, which shows the Robert Reynolds version of the Sentry. This false cover also states that it was created by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Mark Bagley, a reference to their Ultimate Spider-Man series.

Marvel Zombies

A zombie Sentry appears in the "Crossover" story arc of Ultimate Fantastic Four. This Sentry is the source of the infection in Marvel Zombies. He is never called by name, and is only identifiable by his costume. Other aspects of his appearance are more reminiscent of Superman including short, spitcurled hair rather than the Earth 616 Sentry's long hair. The zombie Sentry is also missing a patch of his uniform roughly in the shape and location of Superman's "S" shield due to Ash shooting him in the first issue of the prequel miniseries Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness. Originally, the source of the infection was intended to be a zombie version of Superman, hence the similarities. However, due to copyright issues, tradmarked names and images such as Superman's logo had to be omitted.

Some reprints of "Marvel Zombies" have altered artwork to remove these similarities.

The zombie Sentry isn't seen again after infecting the Avengers shortly after his arrival. His current whereabouts are unknown.

In Marvel Zombies Return, it is revealed that Sentry from Earth-Z is the original host seen in Ultimate Fantastic Four 21. After being bitten by a contamined Hulk, the Earth-Z Sentry is trapped by Giant-Man in order to power up the Multidimensional Device owned by Uatu (The Watcher) in the Blue Area of the Moon. After Spider-Man releases Sand-Man with nanobots that destroy all zombies present (except for the Sentry himself), Uatu appears, and sends Sentry into the universe that was primarily infected, thus beginning the infection.

References

• Jury Profile

External links

• Sentry (disambiguation) at the Marvel Universe
• Sentry at the Marvel Database Project