Sentry Writer Jason Loo Talks Introducing a New Golden Guardian (Exclusive)
ComicBook.com spoke to Sentry writer Jason Loo about the new Marvel series.
Jason Loo is setting up an all-new era for The Sentry. Bob Reynolds and Sentry were one of the biggest comic book mysteries of the 2000s, with the hero having several monumental moments as part of The Avengers and as one of their adversaries. The next saga in the Golden Guardian's legacy begins in December in a new Sentry miniseries from Jason Loo (X-Men Unlimited) and Luigi Zagaria (Midnight Suns). The saga features ordinary people discovering they have the powers and memories of the Sentry, which leads to some explosive results. Two of the Marvel Universe's greatest investigators are on the case, but by the time the series ends, one of these new individuals will take up the role of Sentry.
ComicBook.com spoke to writer Jason Loo about Sentry to find out what went behind the creation of these new characters, how the series sticks to the Marvel mantra of "the world outside your window," what makes Jessica Jones and Misty Knight the perfect characters to hunt the trail of these new Sentry avatars, mixing his talents as a writer and an artist, and much more. We also have the exclusive first look at December's Sentry #1, along with the cover of the third issue by Ben Harvey.
New Characters
ComicBook.com: Marvel is known for telling stories about the "world outside your window," and your new Sentry series is a perfect example of that. What was your thought process when it came to creating the backstories for these new characters that could potentially become Sentry?
Jason Loo: It was exactly that! When I had the opportunity to introduce new characters into the Marvel Universe, I looked at what Stan and Jack did back in the day and imagined what stories they would tell of today's everyday people. Characters with their own struggles that are just trying to get by. Some of the inspiration comes from the people I interact with at my day job in a public library to even people on my work commute on the transit. One of our characters has cerebral palsy, so there was a lot of research that went into that. We also have disability rights activist Cara Liebowitz as our sensitivity reader to make sure Mallory, our character with CP, comes off as authentic as possible. I just want to give this opportunity to other people who normally don't see themselves in this genre to finally feel excited to be represented.
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Jessica Jones and Misty Knight
Aside from being investigators, what made Jessica Jones and Misty Knight the right characters to be involved in the Sentry's tale?
Misty Knight was in Jeff Lemire's run of The Sentry. So in this new series, she continues her role as an Aberrant Crimes Division agent who's trying to minimize the new catastrophic Sentry-level events around the globe. Editor Alanna Smith suggested Jessica Jones as another possible character to use, which I think is perfect since her and Misty butted heads in Kelly Thompson's Jessica Jones run. So we have a good cop/bad cop dynamic between the two as I conjure up a good crime mystery from binge-watching Law & Order.
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Character Designs
Earlier this week we got to see some of the character designs for the new characters you'll be introducing alongside Luigi Zagaria. Did he come up with the designs, and did you have any input into each character's everyday look?
Thanks to my background as a comic writer AND artist, while I was writing the series outline and character profiles, I also prepared some rough concept sketches as a guide to help convey the grounded tone of the characters. It's just easier for me to draw out the characters than writing a description of their facial features, hairstyles, fashion choices, etc. When Luigi Zagaria came on board, who by the way is a FAR BETTER artist than me, he brought in a ton of detail to these characters, making them feel fully-realized.
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Surprise Appearances
Is there anything else you want to leave with readers as a tease for what's to come in The Sentry?
When I'm dealing with characters that can level buildings with ease, you can expect some major players making an appearance in this series.
