I really enjoyed the 2014 film ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ but was a bit disappointed with how the Sentinels were portrayed. These relentless killer robots, originally created by Dr. Bolivar Trask, were far more menacing in the comics.
While we await the up-coming FOX X-Men project: Dark Phoenix, which will once again present Jean Grey (aka the Phoenix) as the main antagonist, it’s no stretch to speculate that a rebooted Marvel X-Men movie may bring the Sentinels back.
When that happens you’ll want to have some of the following comics in your collection if, that is, you don’t have them already.
Why would Marvel re-use the Sentinels? For one thing, as regards X-Men villains, while it's highly likely that any future Marvel relaunch of the X-Men will include Magneto and Mystique, they’ve both been over-represented onscreen. The Sentinels, by contrast, have only fully appeared in the 2014 adaptation of the ‘Future Past’ story line.
Therefore, using the Sentinels would be a smart move on Marvel’s part. Furthermore, to the above we can add that: (1) the Sentinels done right are great antagonists, and (2) the story of Bolivar Trask and the Sentinels is a cornerstone of X-Men mythology.
The Sentinel story arc, in other words, has been the source of just as many and exciting X-Men story lines as anything involving either Magneto or other evil mutants.
X-Men #14 (November 1965) – First appearance of the Sentinels, First Bolivar Trask
In this comic we are introduced to the tragic figure of Dr. Bolivar Trask. Trask engineers and develops the Sentinels, his enormous robotic weapons, after acting on his misguided belief that mutants are a danger to humanity and must be kept in check any way possible. During a televised debate with Xavier he quickly discovers that his robot enforcers are a far greater danger to the world than many Mutants. This is the first issue in the original Sentinel trilogy, in subsequent issues (#s 15 and 16), we get the first appearance of 'Master Mold' as well as the death of Trask, so both of those are also worth picking up. It is issue #14, however, which I think has the most potential for growth as it features the very first appearance of the Sentinels.
X-Men #57 (June 1969) – First appearance of Sentinels Mk II
Trask’s work is later continued by his son Larry who creates an improved version of the robots. Eventually many new models of Sentinels would be introduced, distinguished by a Mark I, II, etc. suffix. This comic is the first appearance of the Sentinels Mk II. Although the new Sentinels are programmed to never harm humans, an accident involving solar radiation soon changes that. There are 658 copies of this comic represented on the CGC census. Currently best returns have been on 5.5 and 8.0 graded copies which sell for $24.00 and $130.00 respectively. There are, however, only 6 copies recorded above a 9.6 and these few 9.8 copies have a fair market value of $2, 050.00.
X-Men #98 (April 1976) – Sentinels Mk III attack new X-Men
The next significant Sentinel story arc, featuring the Sentinels Mk III and the first time they appear to threaten the new X-Men lineup, happens in X-Men #98. This is also the first X-Men comic to show Wolverine without his mask! This Sentinels key issue is still affordable, even if the data shows mixed returns that's mitigated by the fact that you can pick up a certified 9.0 of this Sentinels key for around $100.00.
This dystopian tale of the rise of the Sentinels and end of Mutant kind is a fan favorite. Prices on this comic spiked in 2014, when the movie was released, but have declined in all except 9.8 certified grade since then. In other words, now may be the perfect time to pick up this classic story arc featuring Claremont and Byrne at the top of their game. A 9.8 currently sells for around $425.00 but you can get a 9.6 for around half of that or a 9.4 for circa $140.00.
