Review: The Rocketeer- The Best of Rocketeer Adventures One Shot
“Look ,up in the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s…….another reprint book featuring stories you may have already seen.”
The Rocketeer is an old school feel character, that harkens back to the great matinee  serials of the 30’s, 40′ and 50’s. In fact, there was once such a serial. Comic book wise, the Rocketeer was created by Dave Stevens, with not just a nod to the classic King, of the Rocket Men serial, but also laid homage to Bette Paige in the heroes own girlfriend, imaginatively called Betty! Through their (mis)-adventures, Betty is more than just a helpless hostage or a clothes horse, proving to be both capable in her own strengths, bridling at the over-protectiveness of her beau.
This collections gathers some of the stories that appeared in last years hard cover collection – The Rocketeer: High Flying Adventures, coupled with a cartoon style story that I hadn’t seen. The book is a cost-effective way for fans to look at the different styles that the Rocketeer can induce. The variance is probably one of the strongest points of the character; sure some of the beats are the same; Betty gets kidnapped, needs to be saved, she somehow saves Cliff. In today’s worldview, such antics may well seem anti-chronistic and on some level I can understand that point. But the Rocketeer is not a book about social justice, its fun book, filled with the type of pulp heroes that make the girls swoon. Surely, everyone needs to swoon over someone, right?
The calibre of creators on this book reads like a proverbial who’s who of classic storytellers including, John Cassaday, Kurt Busiek, Michael WM. Kaluta, Mark Waid, Chris Weston, Lowell Francis, Gene Ha and Stan Sakai coloured in main by the incomparable Dave Stewart with Laura Martin handling the first story.
The idea of this book feels well-intentioned; it is an affordable alternative to the hard back. Still, I can’t ignore that for the most part I have read these stories previously. In closing, this book is a great way to get a snap shot of who the Rocketeer is and the types of stories you can expect. I sincerely hope that the price point helps generate enough interest for a new series to hit the printing press.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; John Cassaday, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, Lowell Francis and Stan Sakai
Art by; John Cassaday,Michael WM. Kaluta, Chris Weston, Gene Ha and Stan Sakai
Colors by; Laura Martin and Dave Stewart
Cover by Funko Pop
Published by; IDW Publishing
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
Latest entries
Comic BooksApril 19, 2024Review: Jill and the Killers #4
Comic BooksApril 11, 2024Review: Deadweights #1 (of 6)
Comic BooksApril 10, 2024Review: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth Archive Edition #1 (of 3)
Comic BooksApril 3, 2024Review: Red Sonja Empire of the Damned #1
