Title: Under the Eye of the Clock
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Pencils: John Romita Jr.
Inks: Mark Morales
Colors: Dean White
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy
Cover artists: John Romita Jr. (regular cover) and John Romita Sr. (variant cover)
Editor: Tom Brevoort
I love Kurt Busiek.
The man understands the way a comic book works. He understands the mythos and power behind a superhero, especially one like Superman. A man who can do anything is only bound by his morals and obligations. Kurt Busiek explained that in Astro City with Samaritan, and it is quite apparent that Paul Jenkin’s read that story too.
I’m not claiming that he pirated the story, but I am taking note that if you read Astro City, you read this book.
The line there is very thin.
STORY!
The Sentry is fairly certain that he is, pardon the terminology, batsh!+ insane. There is a part of him that, when his powers are activated, calls itself THE VOID and tries to destroy everything. That is not ok. He has, assumedly with the help of Emma Frost and other Marvel psychics, taken this portion of his mind and given it a separate place to dwell so that he can speak with it, argue with it, but put it away when the time for work arrives.
What is work for a schitzo with unbelievable powers? Why saving the world on an hourly basis, of course. With CLOC (A machine that tells him what is going on in the world, and how quick it will take for him to get there), Sentry goes and does what he needs to do. This system is best put in the book as ‘disaster triage’.
The other highlight of the book is when Sentry shows up to have a meeting with his headshrinker. They discuss for a few moments why Sentry does what he does, and how he is supposed to deal with the powers that he’s been given. It is the interactions with his shrink and the Void that make this book different from the aforementioned Astro City story, but the rest feels so similar as to give you deja vu.
After reading the book, I wasn’t dismayed at how similar it was, because I understand that when you are dealing with uber-powerful characters, something like this seems and feels natural. It does make me happy that this book is only a miniseries, because you really don’t feel as if they are starting any kind of distinct story with this first issue. It’s an introduction to the character and little else.
ART!
John Romita, Jr. is a classy guy who does a classy book. His style is one of the most obvious out there nowadays, and he is seemingly on a never ending journey of bettering himself. From what I read of an interview with him, he wanted to go back to Amazing Spiderman when this book reared its head. He had never done a story of its kind, so he wanted it. It gives him a chance to flex his big superpowerful drawing muscle.
He does so in typical Romita fashion. Everything is grand and epic in this book, as it should be. Unlike a book like Spider-Man, which takes place on the streets of New York, or Black Panther, which takes place in a country and kingdom, the Sentry is a worldly story and needs a more epic feel. Romita deals it out in spades, and makes you really feel that no matter how huge the villain is that stands before him, the Sentry is bigger in at least status.
OVERALL!
I didn’t mind this title at all. I know I give it a bit of a razzing because of it’s similarity to Busiek, but that doesn’t make it a bad story – just not an original one. There is a wealth of story to tell about the Sentry, and I think that the pump has been primed for Marvel to have a superhero of that caliber. Paul Jenkins is an excellent writer as well, and this is his baby so we are going to have to trust him.
I give this book a recommendation to check out, but don’t be surprised if you get deja vu.
I give this book a recommendation to check out, but don’t be surprised if you get deja vu.
