#Juston Seyfert

[halcyonstarfish]

Juston Seyfert returns in Sentinels #4.

[storygirl000]

at the rate we're going at here i think red raven's gonna be found alive and well in the infinite torment nexus

[comicwaren]

From Sentinels #004, “We Assembled Him in the Kitchen”

Art by Justin Mason and Federico Blee

Written by Alex Paknadel

[wandaxpietro]

[Avengers Academy #33]

[idontknowenglishandimustshare]

Since Marvel resurrecting children from Avengers arena, maybe they can bring Nara back...

She literally had a bloodgem which capable of healing serious damage in her hands, and she managed to die awkward ass death

[rei-ismyname]

Uncanny X-Men #10 review

Well, ten issues in and we finally hear something substantive from Nightcrawler. The Outliers are still being attacked by the Wolfpack sentinels after Ground Bear and Jubilee bailed, the Graymalkin Podcaster clown show continues, and Moonbeam and Gambit go on a date mostly off panel. It looks pretty good but it's unfocused and shallow. The Outliers are the stars and the absence of Rogue/Gambit was refreshing. There's fart jokes?

Nightcrawler thinks to himself that he doesn't want to go back to being an X-Man, except he is an X-Man, isn't he? Realistically, he's having the same doubts everyone else has had. They were left unresolved and brushed aside so I'm not going to spend much time on this. Fool me thrice.

Anyway, he's painting a roof with Chelsea, who ends up being a mutant. Great, just what this book needs more of 🙄. She's probably the wisest person here who knows the mall is a bad idea. Kurt is really enjoying this place as a 'home' that's 'healing him.' How? Doesn't matter. He's just saying words and I wonder why he's even in the book. The lady whose kid he rescued rocks up with homemade German pastries for him which is a nice moment but it's not a substitute for character development. Things happen to him, mostly.

Meanwhile, Deathdream is bleeding out at the mall and The Outliers are rallying. The adult X-Men are feeling like a bit of a distraction tbh. The kids are being developed the most, learning, growing, making choices. It's great for them, but it's an awkward situation if you want more than the barest development of The X-Men. I look back on the first arc and how much time was spent flashing back to Xavier and Sarah Gaunt. No idea what degree of editorial meddling there is, but I find it hard to believe Gail Simone would intentionally take focus off the main characters to that degree.

Jitter uses her powers to become a master combat medic for sixty seconds and takes charge. For some reason the Wolfpack just aren't attacking them right now, despite having a taste for blood and no master.

Calico has her heroic moment and aims to distract the Wolfpack. Ransom is hunting for a needle to save Deathdream and stops to cheer her on despite the ticking clock. Said clock ticks down and he's just a little bit too late, so Jitter is relying on memory. Sure. The 'if X happens, run and leave me' moment is the 5th time this beat has been played this run, and it gets the same response each time. There's value in repetition but I'm not seeing any formalism or thematic purpose here, so it just feels repetitive. Don't get me wrong, the kids are the best part of the book, but I don't get these choices. It's the kind of thing even a parody of action cliché should be embarrassed doing - and it loses power each time.

Time's up! We check in with Graymalkin, where the same dynamic as last time is escalating after the incident hits the news. Trask wouldn't kill kids because of his family history, apparently. Maybe he's referring to his sister, but that's a stretch. He had no problem with basically enslaving Juston Seyfert for his sentinel program. Whatever, maybe it's some new shit. The podcaster isn't happy, and keeps telling him to shut them down, something he's established he can't do. Not sure what was gained by including this.

Okay, Nightcrawler sees the Wolfpack situation on the news (TF are Logan and Jubilee?) He is obviously going to teleport there to meet them, but he stops for thoughts and prayers in a life or death scenario. DEEEEEP BREATH. Fucking really? Yeah, Kurt is Catholic, though he has spent the last few years having a major crisis of faith. He's also an experienced hero and pointedly not an idiot. Stopping to pray when kids you're responsible for are probably being torn to shreds is not something he would do, ever. It's embarrassing and frankly highlights why he shouldn't be in this book. Kurt Wagner is a complex, well-rounded individual. In this book he's been portrayed with 'is religious' as his defining character trait. I hate to go there but I'm dubious that Simone knows a damn thing about him - besides 'religious guy.' All that aside, if you only have room for a single flat character trait, take them out of the book. Kill him if you need to because this is painful. That would free up space for other characters to have beliefs, motivations etc.

Jitter is going off memory and Calico is regulating. The memory is fading and Ember is down though. After encouragement from Ransom Jitter does the Pulp Fiction thing anyway - Calico lapses into despair, repeating her mother's abusive nonsense.

Nevermind, Ember is fine and so is Deathdream. More than fine even. Right as rain. Ransom is reinventing the fastball special except with Ember kicking him in the heart.

Logan and Jubilee finally show up to protect the kids they're responsible for. They're held up by a barricade and a cop. Okay this must be a shape shifter or something because I don't see Logan even asking for permission, let alone wasting time arguing with this bozo. He'd leap the barrier, or slice it. Famously he does not give a fuck and is very willing to use violence. If you thought that was bad, Jubilee convinces the cop and then wastes time flirting with him. Flirting with a cop while their charges are fighting sentinels. I guess now that she's abandoned her baby in Otherworld she's got time to date. This is unserious shit.

I wish I had the gall to follow up that waste of time with 'we're not gonna make it.' This run isn't going to make it. Kurt beats them there and has his second most substantial conversation of the run. With a killer robot dog. He teleports it into the sky and kicks it without hurting himself. Maybe Calico softened them up since last issue.

Jitter and Deathdream seem fucked with two Wolfpack sentinels racing towards them. Ransom and Calico check in, while informing us that Ransom is who they look up to. I mean, she's been doing all the fighting and Ransom was going to leave last issue but sure. Why not? He does throw a robot dog at Logan for him to slice, that's leader shit. If I was being generous I'd say it's a callback to Fall of the House of X #1, where Colossus did the same thing with an ORCHIS soldier. It doesn't matter because Deathdream suddenly figures out he can kill them all. Easily. It's loosely explained and I don't care enough to quibble. His powers are established and they apparently include a healing factor too.

With that, the threat is over. They got them all, together. Right. Logan compliments Ransom who asks not to be called 'kid.' I guess he's the man now, dawg. The mutants are hailed as heroes by local news and The Podcaster is not happy. They've finally tracked down the idiot responsible for this debacle, and she sends him to be tortured. The private sector is rough. I still don't know what the Podcaster's actual deal is, she's all over the place and I can't fathom why anyone obeys or fears her. What does she want aside from a mutant prison?

This book lacks consequences. The adults keep making huge mistakes that other people suffer for yet they get bailed out. It's narrative 101 - if your characters make a mistake they should have to deal with the fallout. They learn and grow. Rogue hasn't made a good decision yet and her team are complimenting her - directly after a prison break with no plan where she spent her time punching Scott. They sent the kids to school and Calico was kidnapped in an hour. Logan and Jubilee fucked up so badly here the kids nearly died. One actually did, but luckily it didn't stick. Kurt is praying and Jubilee is flirting while they're fighting for their lives. These actions aren't being used as mistakes to learn from, they're just things that happen. There's no tension because nothing really matters. No matter what they do things work out and they're hailed as heroes. Personally, I want more out of the flagship X-Men book.

When the wisest person in the book is 6 years old, it hangs a lampshade on how cartoonishly everyone is behaving. I'm thinking that's the point. The ragtag misfits have goofy adventures that seem like the end of the world at the time, but it's just Tuesday. It's the fun book where you don't have to think hard. Moonbeam, Ground Bear, and the Podcaster. PTSD, let's never talk about it again. Diction lessons, sugah. Let's pray.

A look at the letters page tells us everyone is loving the book, and they're definitely real people that aren't cherry picked. Good for them and good for you if you're enjoying it. I'm not loving it, but I'm not hating it. It exhausts me a little but I do enjoy reviewing it. Thanks for reading, Ground Bears.

[racefortheironthrone]

Have views changed on sentinels at all? That is to say, when they first come out in universe vs now is there a larger group of humans thatre rallying and protesting against sentinels both in useage and imagery , or is there unfortunately a widespread tolerance for sentinels and shoulder shrug at best whenever a new model comes out. I imagine the stark branding this time around helps the. ~ evil marketing ~

Great question!

So in-universe, Sentinels are traditionally rather controversial, both because of the issues they raise about prejudice and equal rights, but also because of their tendency to revolt against their human masters that led to the deaths of Bolivar and Larry Trask. On the other hand, humans frequently blamed mutants for the violence caused by Sentinels, so the Sentinels were a potent symbol of anti-mutant prejudice used by anti-mutant groups.

This changed somewhat in the wake of M-Day, when President Bush established by executive order the Office of National Emergency (ONE) and created the Sentinel Squad O.N.E as part of the U.S Government's national security infrastructure. Built by Tony Stark and led by James Rhodes under oversight from (the bitch) Val Cooper, these Mark VIII Sentinels were designed as mecha as opposed to robots as a way to avoid the whole Skynet scenario that had happened repeatedly in the past. (Notably, Tony would go on to build Stark Sentinels again during AXIS, because he would rather die than learn from his past mistakes.)

This use of Sentinels continued under SHIELD Director Tony Stark and HAMMER Director Norman Osborn, as well as through O.N.E and the Commission on Superhuman Activities. In addition to the Sentinel Squad, we have Juston Seyfert as part of Avengers Academy, etc. So for a period of about seven years' publication time, Sentinels were periodically accepted and used by the U.S national security state and promoted as a symbol of national protection and defense.

Shortly prior to Fall of X, Tony's tech would be used by Feilong when he took over Stark Unlimited to build ORCHIS a fleet of fully robotic Stark Sentinels. (And it should be noted that ORCHIS was founded by ex-AIM, SHIELD, STRIKE, SWORD, ARMOR, HAMMER, and other national security agencies as well as HYDRA.) And yes, ORCHIS used Stark's branding as part of the Culture/Narrative petal's project of justification and legitimation.

[night-gay]

Into the Anthill pt 50 - 50 Years And Counting

I wasn’t sure I’d have enough material to cover to make it to a 50th post in this journey considering Hank’s reputation as a “Forgotten Avenger” these days, but we're 50 years into his legacy and not out of comics just yet (we’re about 3 years away from Rage of Ultron though, so the timer’s ticking). 

Avengers vs X-Men popped off here as the Phoenix Force returned to Earth to possess Hope Summers. Hank’s really just a set piece in the fight scenes of all these comics, basically having no lines and no impact on the greater narrative despite appearing in more than a dozen issues of it. His biggest appearances outside of Avengers Academy in these comics were kicking Wolverine out of a plane and running diagnostics on Tony’s Phoenix-Killer gun. After that he was injured and sent to search and rescue work.

At least we got some cool group shots of Giant-Man out of this.

🐜🐜🐜

Secret Avengers vol 1 #22-23, 25

Captain America stepped down as the leader of the Secret Avengers, leaving Hawkeye to lead it just as Captain Britain joined the team. Brian was very impressed by The Lighthouse, their miniature satellite base in Earth’s orbit that used Hank’s Pymportal tech to both transport and shrink those who enter. Cap had put Hank and Beast on the project to keep them both out of trouble. Hawkeye’s first mission escalated quickly, pitting the team against an entire society of A.I. called The Descendants. Most of the team escaped safely thanks to Agent Venom’s late arrival, but Eric O’Grady was killed and Jim Hammond’s body was badly damaged. Hank promised to do what he could to restore Jim to full health after this. 

Avengers Academy vol 1 #29, 32-33

Cap and Wolverine worked with Hank to bring the young Utopian mutants to Avengers Academy to keep them safe from the Avengers vs X-Men conflict. Hank left Hercules and Tigra in charge while he, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye were in the field. The young mutants didn’t stick around long before Sebastian Shaw, X-23, and Tigra came to an agreement and allowed them to leave rather than hold them against their will. They staged a mock battle so that the camera footage couldn't implicate the Avengers in their escape if Cap decided to investigate. Despite her status as a mutant, Laura chose to remain a student rather than leave with her peers even after Hank had the chance to discuss it with her.

As the Phoenix Five had begun their efforts to guarantee world peace by force Emma Frost arrived at Avengers Academy to destroy Juston Seyfert’s Sentinel, an older model he’d befriended and reprogrammed to prevent it from harming mutants. His fail-safes were not entirely effective, as it attacked Emma immediately upon detecting her. Hank tried to reason with her that it could be managed, but her only compromise was to scrub it of it’s current programming entirely, which would erase it’s personality and memories in the process. Their combined efforts meant nothing against Emma’s new power; she easily destroyed the Sentinel and would have inadvertently killed Juston as well had it not protected him. She melted it’s CPU before leaving to ensure it would never rise again, but Quicksilver swapped in a fake one without her noticing. With Emma gone, Hank, Pietro, and Juston were able to rebuild his friend. The issue ends with Hank and Tigra telling the students they’re not certain the school will survive this war against the X-Men and that they need to go back home if they can.

Minor/Cameo appearances from this period:

Venom vol 2 #17, 22

Avengers Assemble vol 1 #6, 8

Avengers vs. X-Men vol 1 #1-5, 7, 9, 11-12

New Avengers vol 2 #24

Wolverine and the X-Men vol 1 #10-12

Avengers vol 4 #29

[vo-kopen]

That said, Juston Seyfert is great and deserves a hug.

Because you showed up in a SENTINEL. Mutants tend to be a tad touchy about those. X Men Unlimited Infinity 80

[requiem-bells]

Random question…

Give us five story arches, or one shots, or on going run of comics you think everyone should read.

I’m a little bummed you’re making me stick to just American comics but I’m going to try and do some deep cuts from the Big 3 publishers. Gonna do a mix of one-shots, limited runs and finished on-goings.

Marvel:

The year is 2003 and Marvel starts a manga-inspired imprint named Tsunami (this is also where Runaways got their start) to appeal to manga readers. Sentinel tells the story of a Battle-Bot building high schooler that stumbles upon some broken robotics parts in his family’s junkyard that, unbeknownst to him, belong to a mutant exterminating Sentinel. He eventually is able to rebuild it full-size with other scrap parts and Iron Giant shenanigans ensue. Ended/canceled after 12 issues but then brought back with the same creative team for a 5 issue miniseries in 2005.

Avengers Academy was one of the first ongoings to benefit from the groundwork laid by Wiccan and Hulkling for Marvel to include out, queer teens in their stories. A very fun read about superpowered teens in a school setting after being used by Norman Osborn as genuine pigs. With mentors such as Henry Pym, Tigra and Quicksilver - what could go wrong? Ran for 40 issues plus some crossovers with other teen groups at the time like Runaways.

DC:

Martian Manhunter #24 (1998)

A one-shot issue where Booster Gold and Blue Beetle II (Ted Kord) play a prank on the Oreo-obsessed Martian Manhunter by stealing his entire stash and buying out all others in the Tri-state area. This goes about as well as you would assume for the pranksters. Just a fun, non-canon read for any Justice League fan.

Justin League: Generation Lost tells the story of a newly reincarnated Maxwell Lord that has somehow wiped his known existence from the entire world besides for Booster Gold, Blue Beetle III (Jamie Reyes), Fire, Ice and Captain Atom. It’s a fascinating “What If” of sorts where now everything Max has ever had a hand in has been conveniently changed in the publics’ general consciousness and now dealing the ramifications that this has, such as Bruce Wayne being the one to reform the League instead of Max, as one example. One of my favorite lesser known recommendations for anyone that’s a fan of the Justice League International series from the late 80s. This ran for its intended length at 24 issues.

Image:

Without a doubt the most popular series on this list. Sex Criminals chronicles the story of two individuals that learn during puberty that they can freeze time after they orgasm. The stars align and the two meet and begin a budding relationship. They then begin to start robbing banks, postcoital, in order to help pay the debts of the main character’s failing library. This goes about as well as one would expect. A great comedy series by the masterminds of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky. This series recently wrapped up in the last year with issue #31 (tho the final issue is aptly numbered as #69).

This was a lot of fun to think back to some deeper cuts that deserve some love!

[travisellisor]

the cover to Sentinel (2005) #1 by Joe Vriens and Gary Yeung

[marvelfaceclaims-blog]

Fabian Gamba - Juston Seyfert (Sentinel)

First Appearance: Sentinel #1 (Jun, 2003)

“If we can make all this work... who knows? Maybe we can do some good.”

[heckcareoxytwit]

A preview of Sentinels #5

SENTINELS #5

Warden Ellis and Director Trask’s plans for Graymalkin Prison come into view as the Sentinels battle to keep hold of themselves. Will the team be able to complete their final mission to free the prison’s most dangerous inmate? And what will become of them when their masters are ready to upgrade?

Written by: Alex Paknadel Art by: Justin Mason, Federico Blee Cover by: Justin Mason Page Count: 32 Pages Release Date: February 26, 2025

[comicwaren]

From Sentinels #005, “Factory Settings”

Art by Justin Mason and Federico Blee

Written by Alex Paknadel

[halcyonstarfish]

I didn’t imagine it could be possible for me to feel even worse about Avengers Arena all those years later.

[hellyeahheroes]

Team-Up I Want To See #14

So, as Marvel Legacy is, slowly and ineffectively, trying to set Marvel characters back on track it really feels to me it’s only working on few titles that actually needed this. One of them is Runaways who are slowly being put back together after the damage done to them by Dennis Hopeless. This made me think of another team that has been damaged by Hopeless that I feel, if Marvel wanted to show their willingness to fix their mess, should be brought back the way Runaways were. And I was brainstorming how I’d pull it off and I thought of another book that seems to be benefiting from Legacy and putting its protagonist back on track after seemingly character destroying story, Secret Empire. One thought leads to another and I came up with this concept I want to present to you. A concept I feel Marvel Legacy would actually benefit from had they thought of it. Avengers Academy returns...with Captain America as the new headmaster!

Currently, the Academy is pretty much in ruins. Most of the students were dropped into limbo, out of the original cast Mettle and Reptil are dead, Hazmat got derailed into oblivion, both the courtesy of possibly the worst writer in comics history, Finesse’s story ended on a sour note and Striker got forgotten. Only Veil got a seemingly happy ending and even that is debatable. Out of the characters added later, White Tiger gave her powers away, X-23 moved on and Juston has been killed by the same hack who offed Mettle and Reptil. Even their headmaster got absorbed by Ultron who then went completely bonkers and became a centrist. That they’re in dire need of some serious fixing is undeniable. But due to tremendous damage done to them, their book would have a hard time to take off. So they could use some star power that Captain America would provide. In a way, it would also be fitting somewhat with the evolution of his opinion on teen superheroes over the years. When he was once firmly opposed to the idea at some point between trying to put Runaways and Young Avengers from the streets he seems to have realized it’s because of guilt over Bucky’s fate. He slowly came to accept them on his terms, when they’re being overseen by more experienced capes and kept from massive threats. I think that the logical step now would for him to realize that he cannot just relegate that to Avengers that the main group considers bad PR, he needs to step in himself. And kids from Avengers Academy, whom Avengers, let’s be honest, fucking failed...that would be a good place to start. I’d say he’d start small, taking Hazmat, Finesse, White Tiger (if Ava is even still calling herself that) and Striker back under his wings, but I hope the story would find a way to get Mettle, Reptil, and Juston with his Sentinel back as well. It could provide the healing opportunity this team seriously needs, while the inclusion of Cap would allow for different dynamics and maybe new perspective for the characters.

- Admin