The Age of The Sentry # 1 - The Secret Origin of The Sentry

When I first saw a preview for this, I didn't have a strong desire to actually read it.  I don't mind the Sentry.  I know there are some that really despise him (much like they despise Superman too).  The problem with the Sentry is he's too powerful and it's just hard to write the character without him finishing the fight within seconds (like he did with Carnage). 

What we have here is a miniseries that goes back to the golden age.  I have to say it was a fun comic.  Jeff Parker and Paul Tobin manage to capture that old timey feel when comics were more innocent.  It was a different time.  Sentry's dog, Watchdog, seems to be a super powered Corgi.  One of the villains he fights is named "Cranio the man with the tri-level mind."  In the second story, Sentry goes up against the Mad Thinker and Tinkerer.  There's also a couple references to other Marvel characters.  I thought that was a nice touch to include others in the 'universe.'  The comic even contains an old-fashioned Bullpoint Bulletins.  I would love to see these more often.  I like getting a little bit of info on other things that are going on.  Including little summaries and comics coming out the next week is a smart marketing move too.

The writing was good and so was the art.  The question is, is this comic really necessary?  As I mentioned, it's a fun comic.  It doesn't look like it really intends to be more than that.  I don't think there's going to be any major ramifications in the Sentry's character coming out of this.  I think that could be the downfall of this comic.  Why should people pay for something that may be soon forgotten? 
 
I'm giving this a 3.5 out of 5.  It's a solid comic but there's just so much out on the shelves each week that are competing for your money.  It could be a tough sell.  I will read the entire series.  Hopefully others will too.

What a waste of Nick Dragotta's talent.  This story is garbage, a blatant xeroxing of 60s Superman comics, and for what?  Marvel is constantly claiming that Sentry is NOT the Marvel Superman, and yet they go and put this out.  It's not fun, funny, clever, or cute, but tired, cliche, boring, and rehashed.  Nick Dragotta's style has morphed somewhat from his cartoony Mike Allred-esque style, and it's fantastic.  A shame, though, that he's doing such good work on a book who's destiny is to fester in the long boxes of the 50 cent aisle.