Sentinel #7 begins its second story arc, "No Hero."

Last issue, Juston used the Sentinel to stage an attack on his own school so that he could be the hero.  And the plan worked, with the only catch being that he realised too late that it was a dreadfully stupid idea. 

Well, a month has passed, and Juston's still surrounded by people who want to treat him as the town hero.  Most of this issue is given over to the continuing fall-out from that whole mess, as Juston finds himself enjoying a newfound popularity with the cheerleaders that completely bemuses him.  It's all along the lines that you'd expect, but Sean McKeever's key strength as a writer is bringing out the detail in all of these fundamentally everyday tensions, and making them work.

Over in a subplot, the Commission on Superhuman Activities (and boy, it's been years since we've heard from them) are still wandering around trying to identify the mysterious robot.  Frankly, this bit does strain credibility somewhat.  With all of the eyewitnesses at the school, you'd have thought the general idea of "large purple humanoid robot" would have filtered through, and that somebody might be at least suggesting the possibility of a Sentinel.  It's not like they're exactly obscure, if you happen to live in the Marvel Universe - even in this series, Juston was able to identify the Sentinel on Google without much difficulty.  The locals in Antigo might not recognise one on sight, but you'd think the experts from the Commission should be spotting the possibility fairly quickly.

But ultimately, that's nitpicking.  McKeever is an excellent writer when it comes to building his archetypes into believable characters, and Udon continue to strike the right balance between realism and cartooning.  It's a gentle little book, but very good at what it sets out to do.

Rating: B+

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