WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Jeff Lemire and Kim Jacinto's The Sentry #2, on sale now.
Jeff Lemire and Kim Jacinto's The Sentry #1 left off on a cliffhanger. The issue introduced readers to a decidedly more grounded Bob Reynolds (formerly the superhero Sentry) before taking everything away from him in short order. Bob had managed to cobble together a simple life as a short order cook at a diner, working alongside Billy Turner (formerly his sidekick, Scout). He used a device called the Confluctor to keep his superhero powers at bay and escape into a pocket dimension, Sentry World, to relive the good ol’ heroing days. The final moments of the issue revealed that someone had stolen the Confluctor, slipped into the pocket dimension and killed off a version of Scout and Watchdog. The culprit was never named.
The Sentry #2 reveals who is really behind the attack, and that revelation is quite a ride. The issue kicks off by revealing who broke into the pocket dimension -- a villain named Cranio. Information on Cranio is sparse, though he can definitely fill a hero’s face full of lethal energy, as he does to Sentress, a superhero companion Bob created in Sentry World from memories of a waitress he works with. He's also the "King of Craniums," if you're keeping score. Beyond that, though, it would appear as though Cranio is a former foe of Sentry. It would make sense that we haven’t seen Cranio before, given Sentry’s own history as a retconned Silver Age hero.
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Regardless, Cranio makes it clear he and Sentry have history -- or at least he thinks he does. The villain goes to town, wrecking everything in Sentry World, just waiting for the hero to make his return. Meanwhile, Bob is doing his best to keep everything together in the real world. He tries contacting Doctor Strange and Tony Stark, only to find that neither are available. Finally, he visits Billy at the diner to vent his frustrations.
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The former sidekick isn’t having any of it, though, and dresses Bob down for thinking he can just show up and expect Billy to feel sorry for him. In fact, Billy straight up lays a thick, pungent guilt trip right on Bob, and the hero is forced to go it alone while he watches his only friend in the world turn his back on him.
Bob doesn’t stay alone for long, though.
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Misty Knight and her Aberrant Crimes Division show up just as Bob is leaving. Some time later, Bob awakens with what must be a splitting headache and the memory of being punched, hard. The room he’s in is miles underground and occupied only by himself, Misty and Tony Stark. Bob and Tony do the usual dance -- Tony says Bob is too powerful and unpredictable to be on the streets, so they’re going to have to rethink their arrangement. Bob doesn’t see it quite like that, though. He thinks he should be out there, looking for the Confluctor and setting things right -- like a superhero. On cue, Bob triggers his Sentry transformation and… things don’t go quite right.
It seems as though during the transformation process, Bob’s mind was separated from Sentry’s body. The former is plunged into Sentry World with Cranio and a dying Sentress, while the latter is left in the real world beside a befuddled Tony. Bob watches Sentress perish at the hands of Cranio, who then turns to Bob. No matter how you slice it, that’s not a fight that’s going to go well for Bob. The issue could end there, with Cranio having the upper hand and Bob completely defenseless, but it turns out Sentry #2 has been playing us all along. The real villain here isn’t Cranio at all. In fact, the villain may very well be a victim, because the next time we get a glimpse at the real world, we also see this story’s true monster.
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The final few panels show Billy walking home from his job at the diner, a song in his step. When he reaches his apartment, the true nature of his deception is revealed. Billy has someone ensnared in the Confluctor’s grip. This person’s identity remains to be revealed. Given how the Confluctor works, this man could be the real Cranio or simply someone who has always wanted to be a supervillain and given carte blanche to act out their twisted fantasies. Who knows. Whoever they are, they’re acting as Cranio in Sentry World, and that’s enough to put Bob in some serious and very real danger.
Billy makes his end goal clear, though; he’s done all of this, orchestrated all of this, for the purpose of becoming the new Sentry. How he’ll accomplish that is anyone’s guess, but we've got a theory...
Both Sentry and his nemesis, the Void, are aspects of Bob Reynolds. Since Bob is in terrible danger in Sentry World, Sentry #3 might see him call upon a completely different force, the chaotic Void, to vanquish Cranio. If the Void is able to break out into the real world, then it would be the job of Sentry to take down his old rival. Sentry and Bob have been separated, though, which means it might be possible for Billy to assume the role of Sentry if the two are able to fuse in some way. That would be bad. However it works out, it can’t be good for anyone, least of all the deluded former sidekick.