In this feature we examine comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.

Today, we look at the bizarre retconned relationship between Sentry and...Rogue?! Huh?

Okay, to start, it is fair to note that the whole POINT of Sentry is that he is a walking, talking retcon. That was the entire conceit about his introduction back in 2001. In their sequel to their excellent Inhumans maxi-series, Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee introduced a new superhero known as the Sentry who was actually an already existing Silver Age era Marvel hero that everyone just forgot about.

So the shtick is that Robert Reynolds, the hero known as the Sentry, had an evil split personality known as the Void, and the only way to rid the world of the Void was to erase the memories of the world (including Robert) that the Sentry ever existed. However, Robert's memories have begun to return, and as they return, everyone else begins to remember him and, ultimately, the Void returns, as well.

Here is a bit from Sentry #1, as Robert slowly recalls earlier team-ups with the Avengers...



There were then a series of one-shots by Jenkins and other artists that showed spotlights of retconned interactions between the Sentry and various Silver Age Marvel heroes, like the Fantastic Four (art by Phil Winslade)...



the Hulk (art by Bill Sienkiewicz)...



Spider-Man (art by Rick Leonardi)...



and the original X-Men (art by Mark Texeira)...



At the end of the original Sentry story, the Sentry is forgotten again. The whole initial story works really well, but part of the reason it works is because it is clearly intended to be just a one-off thing. A hero everyone forgot and the story ends with everyone forgetting him. You never have to really think about how this stuff fits in or how it affected anyone, really, because it was never meant to STICK.

This changed when Brian Michael Bendis decided that he wanted to have the Sentry as part of the New Avengers, so he brought the Sentry back.

Ultimately, the Sentry lost control of the Void and Thor had to kill the Sentry during the Siege storyline....



So Jenkins was given a one-shot to say goodbye to the Sentry, and that's where some weird stuff happened...

First off, at the funeral for the Sentry, we learned that Sentry helped Tony Stark get over his alcoholism, which just seems weird.

But then we got this...



Now I wouldn't dream of suggesting that Rogue is some chaste character. She clearly is not. The issue is not that she had sex with the Sentry, the issue is that it was revealed after the fact as a throwaway retcon. The issue is that there was never a moment in Rogue's comic book history that her having sex with the Sentry wouldn't be a HUGE deal, and yet it was just announced offhand in a one-shot that no one was ever going to follow up on, especially since the Sentry was, you know, dead. And it wasn't even really Rogue who got to confirm it, but just some gossipy sidetalking between Cyclops and the Human Torch.

What a weird, weird retcon to toss in there.

That's it for this installment!

Send any suggestions for future notable comic book retcons to brian@cbr.com!