Top 10 Comic Book Deaths
Jeff Hull is the original founder of ComiConverse. He can usually be found behind a computer or the rugby field. He is also the world's biggest Darkwing Duck fan!
Top Comic Deaths: #10 The Sentry
Has ever the death of a comic character elicited such widespread approval as the death of Robert Reynolds - The Sentry. Having endured an uncertain and often confusing character roll-out, readers eventually came to know The Sentry as the supposed answer to Superman in the Marvel Universe, but with significantly weaker writing.
Battling a stew of psychological illnesses, The Sentry eventually joined The Avengers, more so they could keep an eye on him than for anything else. At times, as with the World War Hulk storyline, the Marvel writers themselves seemed to be poking fun at the idea of a character so cosmically powerful and yet so completely useless. Somehow, Marvel had managed to create a character so formidable that the only plausible solution was to find trumped-up ways of removing him from crucial story arcs like Civil War and Secret Invasion.
As with any heroic character who suffers from such a dearth of story ideas, there was little doubt that The Sentry was eventually destined to see his evil alter ego - The Void - win out, and this occurred when the character joined Norman Osborne's version of the Avengers in Marvel's Siege storyline. As was obvious to all at the time, however, an epic showdown pitting the Avengers against The Void was a card that Marvel was only going to be able to play once. Mercifully, Thor put an end to the character's sufferings at the end of that battle... or did he?
Recently, there have been hints about the Sentry's survival and possible reintegration into the Marvel Universe.
Fans can only hope that the wide-ranging catharsis felt at the time of The Sentry's death acts as a stern warning to any who would be so bold as to try and permanently resurrect such a fundamentally flawed character... and that the Sentry stays dead.