SENTINEL A7 versus FALCON
Legion! (Marvel)
Where: Falcon #2 When: December 1983
Why: Jim Owsley How: Mark Bright
The Story So Far...
Some would say every day is just another battle for survival on the mean streets of Harlem -- but it becomes terrifyingly true when a casual stroll past an inner city landfill turns lethal for The Falcon!
Where: Falcon #2 When: December 1983
Why: Jim Owsley How: Mark Bright
The Story So Far...
Some would say every day is just another battle for survival on the mean streets of Harlem -- but it becomes terrifyingly true when a casual stroll past an inner city landfill turns lethal for The Falcon!
A mutant-hunting Sentinel has been lying almost dormant beneath the garbage heap -- but its sensors have detected the high-flying winged avenger and deemed him a mutant.
Suddenly springing to life -- the evil machine has gigantic hands of death and a malfunctioning program that wants to put the squeeze on Falcon!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Sentinel A7 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Falcon 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Falcon 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Sentinel A7 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Falcon 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Falcon 4 (Trained)
Energy: Sentinel A7 5 (Lasers)
Total: Sentinel A7 24 (Champion)
Sentinels have long been a scourge of mutantkind, but occasionally their hateful programming has been directed at other opponents as well.
Suddenly springing to life -- the evil machine has gigantic hands of death and a malfunctioning program that wants to put the squeeze on Falcon!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Sentinel A7 5 (Super-Human)Intelligence: Falcon 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Falcon 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Sentinel A7 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Falcon 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Falcon 4 (Trained)
Energy: Sentinel A7 5 (Lasers)
Total: Sentinel A7 24 (Champion)
Sentinels have long been a scourge of mutantkind, but occasionally their hateful programming has been directed at other opponents as well.
Sentinel A7 was consigned to the scrap heap after it was blasted to oblivion by Cyclops in X-Men #98. It looks as if its been able to auto-repair the gaping cavity in its chest, but are its circuits and programming still fully functioning?
The malicious machine has identified The Falcon as a mutant target.
To this point Sam Wilson had never been considered by those terms. His wing suit was designed by the Black Panther, while his keen senses and rapport with birds came courtesy of a cosmic cube controlled by the Red Skull.
To this point Sam Wilson had never been considered by those terms. His wing suit was designed by the Black Panther, while his keen senses and rapport with birds came courtesy of a cosmic cube controlled by the Red Skull.
Is it possible the Red Skull merely unlocked latent mutant powers?
That's one explanation for the mental link he shares with Redwing and other birds. It also might support some of the daring aerial feats he's performed over the years, which would put considerable strain on his body.
He was able to torpedo Pyro and endure Avalanche's vibrational blasts when The Avengers battled Freedom Force in Avengers #312. His flying fists also caused trouble for Baron Zemo in Thunderbolts #105. He showed the indomitable will of a super-soldier whilst battling Batroc The Leaper in All-New Captain America #1.
All of this goes to show Falcon will never go down without a fight, but it also reminds us he's best equipped to take on human threats. Sentinels aren't a world away from Hydra super-weapons, but can he win alone? Let's find out...
The Tape: Sentinel A7 Ranking: Sentinel A7 (#600)
That's one explanation for the mental link he shares with Redwing and other birds. It also might support some of the daring aerial feats he's performed over the years, which would put considerable strain on his body.
He was able to torpedo Pyro and endure Avalanche's vibrational blasts when The Avengers battled Freedom Force in Avengers #312. His flying fists also caused trouble for Baron Zemo in Thunderbolts #105. He showed the indomitable will of a super-soldier whilst battling Batroc The Leaper in All-New Captain America #1.
All of this goes to show Falcon will never go down without a fight, but it also reminds us he's best equipped to take on human threats. Sentinels aren't a world away from Hydra super-weapons, but can he win alone? Let's find out...
The Tape: Sentinel A7 Ranking: Sentinel A7 (#600)
What Went Down...
An empty street erupts with violence when a damaged Sentinel suddenly springs to life from beneath the trash heap of an inner-city garbage dump!
The sleeping giant's trigger is Falcon -- who just happened to be strolling through the neighbourhood when the machine identified him as a mutant.
The earthbound hero leans away from the sudden danger exploding out of the dump, but is never the less completely caught by surprise in the ambush!
Falcon can do nothing to escape the gigantic purple fist clasping around him!
The metal hand envelopes him almost completely -- pinning his wings to the sides of his body! The machine coldly observes its prize and speaks declaratively: "Resistance is useless!".
The machine was correct. With its free hand the human-shaped robot blasts Falcon in the face with a concentrated dose of powerful knock-out gas.
Sentinel A7 transmits a report that The Falcon has been successfully neutralized and sets a course for home base. Its programming never once detects that there is no one there to receive.
The Hammer...
We came to see if Falcon could stop the scourge of an out-of-control Sentinel, but all we got was a dirty sneak attack! The winged avenger never really got a chance to fight -- caught by the spontaneous unexpected revival of Sentinel A7!
What makes this unit so special? As noted in The Tape: Sentinel A7 previously appeared in X-Men #98, where it was blasted to smithereens by Cyclops after interrupting a Yuletide dinner date. Its unexpected return in Falcon #2 is a genius bit of shared-universe storytelling early in the career of Christopher Priest.
If this doesn't seem like the whole story - you're damn right it isn't!
The malfunctioning Sentinel takes Falcon to its long abandoned headquarters and places him in a glass holding tube. It doesn't take long for the dazed & nauseated hero to pull himself together and bust out -- setting up an exciting rematch!
We'll get a better impression of what Falcon can do when we come back for Round 2. Ideally I'd like to work my way through the entire four issue mini-series, which is all around a good time. I've just been especially eager to get to this issue.
Falcon doesn't have a particularly famous rogue's gallery, mostly sharing foes with his crime-fighting partner Captain America. To keep things fresh the mini-series tackles its subject by first mining Sam Wilson's personal circumstances to explore the character, and generate a new villain. Then it finds inventive ways to send him into conflict with other well known adversaries from the Marvel canon.
Reviving Sentinel A7 almost seven years after it was seemingly destroyed was a strange and unlikely masterstroke.
The unusual match-up gives the second issue an immediate hook, with a dramatic Paul Smith cover to lure you in, and Mark Bright interior art that really sells the scale of threat Falcon is up against!
Three different artists tackle cover duties for the series. They're all pretty good, but I daresay Smith's are the most famous. That first issue almost telegraphs the coming of Sentinels with a battle-damaged Falcon up against a wall looking like he could step into the Days of Future Past scene from Uncanny X-Men #141.
Falcon's no stranger to fighting overwhelming odds, but what would a Sentinel want with him? Six years before Dwayne McDuffie gave us Damage Control the issue answered what happens when giant killer robots break down in the city, but it also asked the question that launched a couple of decades of fan speculation.
History seems to have settled that Falcon isn't really a mutant, but for a while the possibility added an interesting wrinkle to his Dolittle-esque rapport with birds.
Mutant status might've led to other unique adventures had the 1983 mini-series launched more regular solo outings. In the end, it was probably simpler for the wingman to remain organic to the world of Cap, and human concern.
Falcon #2 ultimately plays it pretty ambiguously, any way. Sentinel A7 may be cosmetically repaired, presumably from other scrap sourced from the junkyard, but is clearly experiencing malfunction. It continues to operate as if no time has passed since its previous attack in 1976, even though that iteration of Sentinels had been decommissioned, and its headquarters is in obvious disrepair.
If you'd like to see what happens when the action continues you can check out the full mini-series collected in Avengers: Falcon. By using the Amazon purchase link provided you'll not only get yourself a good deal, you'll also be my wingman by getting Amazon to support the site at no extra cost to you!
You can find follow-up articles and more by following links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number! Just scroll down to Falcon to find any future updates, or explore the many other options available!
Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 600 battles and ranked well over 1000 characters! If you like superhero smackdown and want to support this independent corner of the web you can sign up to Patreon. As a thank you you'll receive access to additional updates, polls, and custom article options!
You can also follow and subscribe on Twitter or Facebook to get daily links to fights inspired by the trending topics of the day! Be sure to like and share posts while you're there, and tell me which ones are your favourites!
Winner: Sentinel A7
#188 (+412) Sentinel A7
#996 (-11) Falcon
What makes this unit so special? As noted in The Tape: Sentinel A7 previously appeared in X-Men #98, where it was blasted to smithereens by Cyclops after interrupting a Yuletide dinner date. Its unexpected return in Falcon #2 is a genius bit of shared-universe storytelling early in the career of Christopher Priest.
If this doesn't seem like the whole story - you're damn right it isn't!
The malfunctioning Sentinel takes Falcon to its long abandoned headquarters and places him in a glass holding tube. It doesn't take long for the dazed & nauseated hero to pull himself together and bust out -- setting up an exciting rematch!
We'll get a better impression of what Falcon can do when we come back for Round 2. Ideally I'd like to work my way through the entire four issue mini-series, which is all around a good time. I've just been especially eager to get to this issue.
Falcon doesn't have a particularly famous rogue's gallery, mostly sharing foes with his crime-fighting partner Captain America. To keep things fresh the mini-series tackles its subject by first mining Sam Wilson's personal circumstances to explore the character, and generate a new villain. Then it finds inventive ways to send him into conflict with other well known adversaries from the Marvel canon.
Reviving Sentinel A7 almost seven years after it was seemingly destroyed was a strange and unlikely masterstroke.
The unusual match-up gives the second issue an immediate hook, with a dramatic Paul Smith cover to lure you in, and Mark Bright interior art that really sells the scale of threat Falcon is up against!
Three different artists tackle cover duties for the series. They're all pretty good, but I daresay Smith's are the most famous. That first issue almost telegraphs the coming of Sentinels with a battle-damaged Falcon up against a wall looking like he could step into the Days of Future Past scene from Uncanny X-Men #141.
Falcon's no stranger to fighting overwhelming odds, but what would a Sentinel want with him? Six years before Dwayne McDuffie gave us Damage Control the issue answered what happens when giant killer robots break down in the city, but it also asked the question that launched a couple of decades of fan speculation.
History seems to have settled that Falcon isn't really a mutant, but for a while the possibility added an interesting wrinkle to his Dolittle-esque rapport with birds.
Mutant status might've led to other unique adventures had the 1983 mini-series launched more regular solo outings. In the end, it was probably simpler for the wingman to remain organic to the world of Cap, and human concern.
Falcon #2 ultimately plays it pretty ambiguously, any way. Sentinel A7 may be cosmetically repaired, presumably from other scrap sourced from the junkyard, but is clearly experiencing malfunction. It continues to operate as if no time has passed since its previous attack in 1976, even though that iteration of Sentinels had been decommissioned, and its headquarters is in obvious disrepair.
If you'd like to see what happens when the action continues you can check out the full mini-series collected in Avengers: Falcon. By using the Amazon purchase link provided you'll not only get yourself a good deal, you'll also be my wingman by getting Amazon to support the site at no extra cost to you!
You can find follow-up articles and more by following links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number! Just scroll down to Falcon to find any future updates, or explore the many other options available!
Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 600 battles and ranked well over 1000 characters! If you like superhero smackdown and want to support this independent corner of the web you can sign up to Patreon. As a thank you you'll receive access to additional updates, polls, and custom article options!
You can also follow and subscribe on Twitter or Facebook to get daily links to fights inspired by the trending topics of the day! Be sure to like and share posts while you're there, and tell me which ones are your favourites!
Winner: Sentinel A7
#188 (+412) Sentinel A7
#996 (-11) Falcon
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