Comic Review - The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #1

            As a result of my self-imposed exile from all things “Big Two” in comic books, I readily acknowledge that I am missing out on some great creators.  I would love to pick up any work by Chris Bachalo, one of my favorite artists for many many years, but alas that would go against everything that I am standing for.  Luckily, writers are able to produce more comics on a monthly basis, and if we are lucky, for various companies.  I was in luck this week that I was able to pick up a comic from Mark Waid (with art by Chris Samnee).  I have heard many good things about his run on Daredevil and picked up The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom hoping that some of that magic rubbed off on this pulp hero.

            Like many people, my only real recollection of The Rocketeer is from the movie that came out in 1991.  This is a pretty good starting point though, and really all you need to know is that a guy has a jet pack and tries to help people while using it.  And he has a cool mask (seriously, that mask may be the most iconic part of the whole thing), and the story is set in the ‘40’s.  With that in mind, on to the review!

Cover:

            Samnee did the cover (the one I picked up anyway, it’s an IDW book so that means that there were way more covers than there needed to be), which is nice to see, and it is a decent cover to boot.  The coloring by the usually phenomenal Dave Stewart is a little too brown all the way through (which is fine considering the fact that The Rocketeer’s “costume” is all brown), but the option was there to make the sky a different color, and Stewart didn’t take it.  I have a feeling that putting The Rocketeer and the planes against either a light blue or even a cloudy, overcast sky would have helped them pop even more.  That being said, the linework is well done, and the planes are obviously well referenced by Samnee.  Having everything on the cover at slight angles instead of just a flat, straight on pose helps with the movement on the cover as well.  I am not a huge fan of the use of speed lines but they seem to help in this instance.

            This is a number one issue so the cover is a bit generic (The Rocketeer is never chased by planes in the comic itself) but there is no doubt in my mind that it is something that could happen, and at least it’s not some “iconic” pose of him just standing around. 

            I like the logo but it is hurt by the fact that it is basically the same color as everything else.  This is another instance where a different colored sky would have helped.  Luckily The Rocketeer himself is iconic enough of a figure that we would know the comic without seeing a title anyway.  Kind of like Batman.  No one looks at a Batman book and says “oh, this must be the new issue of My Little Pony” (though I would love to see that cross-over and it would probably cause all the “bronies” out there to mess there pants).

7/10 – The art is good but it is hurt by a simple color choice.  This would easily be an 8 or 9 for the cover if the sky was not brown.  It’s a shame.

Story:

            The story opens on Sally (the girl that has a crush on The Rocketeer’s alter ego, Cliff Secord) flying her small plane and trying to pass an inspection by a government official.  The government official has a different idea on how Sally could pass her test (one that most likely involves a lucha libre mask and maple syrup I’m sure) and Sally wants nothing of it.  Now here is the first instance of “what the fuck” for me.  This is a small plane in the 1940s, so the thought that there is an autopilot function is probably a pipe dream.  Not only that, but the way Samnee draws her, Sally might be eighteen or nineteen.  Even if she was wiling, what does this guy expect to happen?  I have never flown a plane, but I bet it is not too easy to do with a dick in your mouth, much less anything else this guy has in mind.  They are surely heading for a plane crash then.  And you know what happens when someone is faced with certain death?  They bite down.  Yup, say good bye to your prick Mr. Government Official.  Because you wanted poor adolescent Sally to go down, now the whole plane is, in a fiery crash probably with you writhing on the floor clutching the bloody stump where your pecker used to be.

            Ok, that was just the first few pages and I already do not like where this is going.  However because of Mr. McFeely, we get introduced to The Rocketeer in a heroic way (which kind of reminds me of Superman Returns a little, and really, is bringing up images of that abortion of a movie a good thing?) as he saves the plane from crashing after a stray parachute gets trapped in the propeller.  It was a decent intro to the character but a little hard to believe that mild-mannered mechanic Cliff Secord had enough time to put on his entire costume (there are a shit load of buttons on that thing) and fly up to save the plane without it plummeting to earth.  How high up was that plane? 

            Once the plane and its occupants are safe, we switch to a ship on the ocean with a crew discussing, what I can assume is the “Cargo of Doom” referenced in the title.  They are also talking about one of the crew members that was subjected to brain surgery and turned into something strange and probably quite creepy.  I don’t know, everything is cryptic and shrouded in mystery with just enough details to get you to wonder what the fuck everyone is talking about, but not enough for me to care.  And this goes on throughout the whole book!  Just a lot of foreshadowing, yet no reason why we should care about the foreshadowing itself. 

            We then go back to the plane hanger where Mr. McFeely the government official tells Secord that he cannot fly until he pays some fees that he owes (but obviously does not have the money to pay).  In response to this he cleans Mr. McFeely’s clock.  Probably not the best course of action, but ok, he is a “superhero” so maybe he is used to doing this to solve a problem (keep that in mind).  We are next introduced to Secord’s girlfriend who is named Betty, inspired by Bettie Page, and looks a bit like Betty from the Archie universe as well.  Oh and she is a royal bitch.  She was stood up by Secord at a restaurant (you know, while he was out saving lives) but isn’t mad because a whole bunch of guys hit on her while she was there ‘eating bread and water like she was in Alcatraz’.  She must be great in the sack if Secord has put up with that shit for so long, because this girl is a terrible person. 

            Then we cut back to the ship as it is docking in Los Angeles, and we only know this because someone says it, not because there is any imagery of Los Angeles itself except what looks like a nondescript clock tower.  And we get more foreshadowing.

            Now we’re back at the plane hanger and The Rocketeer, all suited up, is going out to find Sally who has disappeared after the run in with Mr. McFeely.  He finds her standing on the roof of one of the hangers and promptly tells her not to jump, which she wasn’t gong to do anyway.  It just seems like an awkward exchange and it apparently never crosses Secord’s mind that she could be up there for the quiet and solitude instead of the suicide potential.  Secord/The Rocketeer then talks to Sally about her boy troubles (a typical superhero/dual identity thing that has been done to death) and Sally opens up about the incident in the plane with McFeely.  The end of the page is a close up on The Rocketeer’s mask with him saying “what?” as if he does not believe what he is hearing, which is understandable and probably the same reaction we would all have in that scenario.  At this point I truly thought the next page would be The Rocketeer busting into McFeely’s home and knocking him out again, or grabbing him and flying him up into the sky to scare him straight.  So what happens next?  We cut back to the hanger and Secord is telling everyone how he is going to tattle on McFeely.  That’s it.  The same guy that knocked McFeely out because he was told that he owed money is going to tattle on him because he was trying to sexually assault a friend of his.  Really?  That’s it?  If this comic had not lost me before now, I was definitely off the train at this point.  We then get more bitchy Betty who drags Secord outside and proceeds to ream him out for being nice to Sally, which he puts a halt to by kissing her while someone in the shadows watches.  Who is watching?  Is it Sally, or the crazy guy from the boat?  I think the more important question is “Why do I give a shit at this point?”  The one really heroic thing that he could have done this issue, he failed to do, so why would I care what happens to this guy? 

2/10 – I thought Waid was supposed to be one of the top talents in the industry today.  Maybe he is and he just mailed this one in.  Regardless, this issue does nothing to make me want to come back and read the next one.

I know how you feel, Rocketeer, I often found myself asking the same question.

Art:

            Samnee does an admirable job on the art, especially since the script is sub-par.  My favorite part about Samnee’s work is the movement and the emotion that he puts in every panel.  Even subtle looks from the characters tell more of the story and give more of a clue than the text does in this issue.  The coloring on the interiors by Jordie Bellaire are really well done too.  Each scene is separated by a different color palette that really helps to break up the story and force the reader to acknowledge that they are entering a different setting.  Bellaire does a phenomenal job of working in conjunction with Samnee to help set the mood in each individual scene, and I like that the coloring here has less of an airbrushed feel to it than most comics nowadays do.  Everything about the art in this book works well to transport us back to 1940 and fill the reader with a sense of nostalgia.

            I didn’t even see too many glaring issues with the art so a big kudos to Samnee and Bellaire for their work here.

It took me a second to realize that this panel is designed to look like the eye-holes in The Rocketeer's helmet.  Nice touch.

Your iconic hero shot of the month!

The faces in this panel say everything.  love the acting here.

A perfect example of the colorist and the line-artist working in harmony to project a mood.  One of the best panels in the book.

Yet another great example of acting from the character.  Samnee is incredible at this, even with just a few lines like we see in McFeely and Secord in the background.

I would have made the sash in Betty's middle a different color.  It currently looks like her waist is way to small to be humanly possible.

This is the only visual clue that we are in Los Angeles (not really much of a clue).  Only real art fail in the book though.

8/10 – The art is very good and Samnee does a great job with a poor script.

Overall: 4/10 – I would love to recommend this on the strength of the art alone but the story had more holes than my socks and it was not a fun read.  If you are a fan of Samnee specifically, or just great non-superhero art in general I would suggest it, otherwise find something else that Samnee has done and enjoy his art that way.