WW PHILLY: MARK PANICCIA ON THE AGE OF THE SENTRY

[MattBrady]

Despite the original miniseries, specials and occasional flashback or two which have focused on the character’s past, the history of Marvel’s Sentry is still largely unknown.

The broader strokes of the “Golden Guardian of Good” who possesses the “power of a million exploding suns” are known – he has existed since the earliest days of the modern heroic age of the Marvel Universe, but the memory of the hero and his interactions with the other heroes was removed from the collective consciousness of the entire world until only recently.

So what was his past like? As mentioned, we’ve seen only glimpses, really.

But that changes in September with The Age of the Sentry, a limited series launching in September which will delve into the history of the character in a unique fashion.

We spoke with Editor Mark Paniccia about it.

Newsarama: Mark, tell us about the origin of this project. Who first suggested it, and what's it setting out to do?

Mark Paniccia: My assistant editor, Jordan White, and I had been reminiscing about Silver Age books. He thought it might be cool to do a faux Essential Sentry and I had been recently inspired by a re-reading of Alan Moore's Supreme run. We decided it might be worth pitching a series with the character set in the early days of Marvel, something that could show a different and not often seen side of the character.

NRAMA: Tell us about the format - it's been describes as "Silver Age style" - what does that entail, and who are the creators working on it?

MP: We're going to get our Silver Age on! That means we’re going to do covers with text bursts, two stories per issue (of equal length with the exception of issue #6) and old-style editorials and letters pages. Jeff Parker and Nick Dragotta are doing the opening stories and the entire last issue—which will tie certain elements of the previous issues. Paul Tobin is doing stories drawn by several guest artists. Both Jeff and Paul are guys who get the sense of wonder and inspiration of stories of that time—the uninhibited imagination that allowed for tales you'd only find in comics. This series is really more of a celebration of what many of us readers—whether in the industry or as fans—feel make the medium so incredibly special.

NRAMA: With the specific creative approach, will it be set in the "Silver Age" of the Marvel Universe?

MP: Yes, and to some extent, it covers all super hero books of the time, an amalgamation of characters and tone if you will.

NRAMA: If you could, and to go slightly off topic for a second - with the flexible time scale, what does the "Silver Age" of the Marvel Universe mean anymore when you're looking at the tapestry in continuity terms? Is it just shorthand for an earlier time, shortly after the bulk of the heroes appeared, when there was a touch more innocence in the air, perhaps? I mean, obviously, you're not going to have The Sentry rescuing President Kennedy...or are you?

MP: Well, one story will include an homage to the Beatles, but I guess the safest way to play it is to just try to be timeless, sort of like a David Lynch or Wes Anderson movie. There will definitely be visuals that cue a specific period, but there might be things in there that make it harder to pin an absolute year to—except of course, Jeff's story wherein the Silver Age Sentry meets the Golden Age Sentry from another dimension. That might very well need to visually take place in the ‘30s.

NRAMA: Back to the miniseries itself, will the two stories appearing in each issue be related?

MP: Not really anymore than a double feature in World's Finest would. Jeff and Paul are friends so they're constantly discussing the book with each other, but it's up to them as to how much they want to connect the dots.

NRAMA: In the larger lifespan of the Sentry that we've seen, where is this miniseries set? Is this filling in the history that was mentioned obliquely in the one-shots seen previously?

MP: It's set in the earlier years of the Sentry. There will be connections to what we've seen but this is a chance to check out a side we've not been able to give as much screen time to.

NRAMA: So what will we see Jeff and Paul tackling with the Sentry? Will they be hitting any of the bigger storylines and elements that have come to be a hallmark of his present day incarnation - the mental instability, etc?

MP: Parker, Dragotta, Tobin and the others will be showing the heroic side of Rob Reynolds, the noble man who uses his great power to save the world at any cost—but they may sneak a few hints of things to come, some major clues to our universe to be. All the more reason to jump on!

NRAMA: Personally - as editor, what's your guiding principle for The Sentry? How do you see him, who is he, and why does he do what he does?

MP: There's the Silver Age part of me that sees his mission in the simplest of forms. Here's a guy with extraordinary power and might and a desire to make things right against overwhelmingly devious opposition—something most of us thought was pure magic when we first started reading comics. I hope to capture some of that magic and more with this book. We know it's a love letter to the Silver Age, but tell me that love letters don't sometimes come with an unexpected revelation and consequence.

[Sluggo]

If anyone can give me any interest in The Sentry (and I'm not convinced it's even possible), Jeff Parker can. God help me, I may have to check this out.

[Porcelain]

I'll probably pick this up. The last mini was pretty good.

[Nas-Vell]

While I loathe The Sentry and hate how he's constantly forced on us by certain writers, the way this mini-series will be told sounds intriguing. I may have to give it a read, but I think I'll actually pick it up based on what's on the cover, just like I would've way back when.

[jlm1955]

I'll only buy it if it has a silver age price tag on the cover.

[aceatkins]

The Sentry is a reason for me to avoid comics, not to pick them up. Over the past few years the character has gone from a clever novelty to one of the most irritating, one-note characters in comics. ("I can do anything! I'm like a god! Except I'm crrrrrrrrraaaaazzzzzzyyyyy!!!") Perhaps Marvel should spend more effort on making the character palatable in the present before telling more redundant stories about his "past."

[kamikazi]

I seem to be one of the few who enjoy Sentry, so I'll look into this.

[Bevbos]

Sounds great! I'd like to see more of the superheroic side of the Sentry, personally. That when, when the sh-t does hit the fan, it's much more threatening (rather than just having him be CONSTANTLY scziophrenic)

[mimic_616]

I've been a huge Sentry fan since the first mini so I will definatley be picking this up. Can't wait.

[Winteriscoming]

The Sentry is great, but I doubt I'll be picking this up. Too many comics for me already.

[Agent Wax]

see, I like the Sentry, but I think they need to finally put all the crazy stuff to rest, and give us a tough Marvel hero for a while. Sure you can bring it back later, but jeeeeeeeeeezus, we get it, he's got a problem, the Void, blah blah blah.
It just wears thin after years and years.

[skl183]

Blah blah blah...ram this character down the readers throats...blah blah blah

[POWRSURG]

Glad to hear about this. The Sentry needs more meat behind him. We've been told that he has been around since the early days of FF, but we only know so much about him. Since his debut, he has only had the initial mini series and one shots, the recent JRJR mini series, his battle with the Hulk in WWH, his reappearance in the pages of New Avengers, and the recent arc with him, Doom, and Iron Man in Mighty Avengers... besides that, he has effectively done nothing in the entire time frame.

[AnthonyL]

I remember the first Sentry project and thought it was pretty cool, even with the trick of Stan Lee's "forgotten character!"

I didn't pick up the second book, and won't pick this one up. I just don't see the point, really. But there is obviously a market for "past stories" as I see Year one and first class books from Marvel and DC all the time, so I guess I'm just not the type of reader they are targeting with these projects.

Anthony L

[cernunnos]

I might have to try this out.

[iwarrior]

I remember being really bored with the original Jenkins/Lee miniseries. However, I did like the Millar/Romita Jr. series. I think they redeemed the character and made him more interesting and original.

When the character first appeared, and I bought the hoax for like five minutes, I remember thinking that it was understandable that Lee shelved the character considering that he came off as a rather uninspired Superman rip-off.

I agree that he's way overpushed. I also didn't like how they retrofitted him.

[bangbangbang]

There's a reason why he hasn't taken off in popularity. They should just let him go. Keep that Silver Age masturbation at DC.

[NYC_AVENG3R]

Originally Posted by kamikazi

I seem to be one of the few who enjoy Sentry, so I'll look into this.

i agree with him

[Kahn]

The Sentry pisses me off as much as he entertains me, maybe more, but Jeff Parker and Nick Dragotta are a winning team.

[LuisMa316]

Originally Posted by Agent Wax

see, I like the Sentry, but I think they need to finally put all the crazy stuff to rest, and give us a tough Marvel hero for a while. Sure you can bring it back later, but jeeeeeeeeeezus, we get it, he's got a problem, the Void, blah blah blah.
It just wears thin after years and years.

Except, Mental illness never really goes away.

[beta-ray]

Originally Posted by skl183

Blah blah blah...ram this character down the readers throats...blah blah blah

Says the guy with the Joker avatar? Since I am not forced to buy this, I am not sure yet. I do like Parker. If they could find a way to get the Golden Age Agetns of Atlas in there, I would definitely buy it.

[Semicyon]

I liked the gimmick of the first Sentry series but the character seemed stalled after that. However, I really liked Parker's Agents of Atlas and most of X-Men: First Class stories. While not totally in the style of the 50s and 60s comics, both have some of the storytelling sensibility not often on display in current mainstream comics. I guess I don't really care to read about the crazy current Sentry but I would like the chance to read more Silver Age type stories (Moore's flashback stories in Supreme are some of my favorite Superman stories never published).

[President Kang]

Originally Posted by jlm1955

I'll only buy it if it has a silver age price tag on the cover.

Me too.

[BBlueMusiq]

Originally Posted by iwarrior

I remember being really bored with the original Jenkins/Lee miniseries. However, I did like the Millar/Romita Jr. series. I think they redeemed the character and made him more interesting and original.

Fact: Jenkins wrote the second mini with JR.Jr.

[Jeremy Williams]

Originally Posted by iwarrior

I remember being really bored with the original Jenkins/Lee miniseries. However, I did like the Millar/Romita Jr. series. I think they redeemed the character and made him more interesting and original.

When the character first appeared, and I bought the hoax for like five minutes, I remember thinking that it was understandable that Lee shelved the character considering that he came off as a rather uninspired Superman rip-off.

I agree that he's way overpushed. I also didn't like how they retrofitted him.

I actualy felt the opposite as I loved the original series better and I felt the Jr series had too much psychobabble.

See I loved everything about the original series so much, it was fresh and original. The writing and art was sublime and even the oax was a hoot! Everything just clicked and I never knew what was going to happen.

And then I read the Romita Jr series. While the artwork was great, the time spent over-analysing the character and trying to come up with an origin and it being such a letdown threw me off. The thing is as much as i liked the crazyness of the first series, I hoped that the second one would have forgot all that and just have The Sentry be the kickass super-hero the others always claimed he was. How about the first issue with these sublime Romita Jr pages where he took Terrax down and said:"get off of my planet!". It's the kind of thing Superman would have said(if he had been a Marvel character). I wish it would been like this from top to bottom and just be a kickass super-hero book. Show us why Sentry was so great! Sadly, the pyschobabble mixed with Romita's art sort of prevented the book to shine as a super-hero book and without Jae Lee's art prevented it to be something really special and instead felt awckward and felt pretentious by trying too hard.