The Rocketeer at War

It's 1942. The United States is now at war. Heck, the whole world is at war at this point. Cliff Secord has joined the war effort and in doing so, he's given the US Army access to his jet pack and schematics. Thinking he'll get to be the Rocketeer for the Allied forces, in typical Army fashion, Secord is posted as a lowly private while big wigs and egg head types attempt to create an entire fleet of flying superheroes.

However, when the latest guinea pig to test out the flying suit dies during a training run and a Nazi spy attempts to steal one of the parts to the jet pack, fate gives Cliff a chance to be the hero he was always meant to be! The Rocketeer of the United States Armed Forces!

Why I haven't been reading and collecting Rocketeer stuff is beyond me. Well, okay. Maybe I understand why. The 1991 Disney live action film was boring to a 13 year old me. Nowadays, I view the film with older eyes and I see its brilliance. But compared to the Tim Burton Batman films and even the earlier Superman films, the Rocketeer movie was definitely designed for a more sophisticated audience and one that enjoyed the Saturday morning serials of the 1940s and 50s. 

Obviously, the main reason just about anyone loves The Rocketeer is because of its amazing creator, the late Dave Stevens. His artwork was year 3000 stuff. Though Dave Stevens operated in the comics medium, he was more than just a sequential artwork hack. We have a limited amount of work from him because Dave Stevens was his own harshest critic and was meticulous over every piece he did. Plus, if the job offer just wasn't right, he'll turn it and the heaps of cash it would have provided down flat.

Taking over for Dave Stevens in this miniseries is writer Marc Guggenheim and the art team of Dave Bullock and J. Bone. The quality of both the story and art are great. But the artwork is much better. That's probably because the plot borrows heavily from other World War II franchises. There are elements of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Captain America: The First Avenger and the war books of DC Comics. It all made for a great story. Just the level of creativity was lessened in my mind. 

I did think it was odd that J. Bone's amazing artwork in the first chapter gets temporarily replaced by Dave Bullock in the next and then no more Bullock. I would have been okay if the two artists switched tasks every other issue as that would have made for an even pattern in the art. Sorry, but I like patterns and symmetry and what I just described is asymmetric as I don't know what. 

Okay. This wasn't a perfect read. But I had a lot of fun reading it and I want more. Technically, I got some more with a 4-part prose story by Liza Morton. 'The Rivet Gang'  is set towards the end of the second World War. It has Secord and his girlfriend, Jenny Blake, taking on an all-female group of criminals that are using a stolen prototype of the Rocketeer's suit. 

That backup story was really good. Very creative with some great dialogue and an awesome set of twists and turns. In some ways, it was a better story than the main feature. Just why couldn't this have been done in comic book form as well? Yes, there's some great illustrations peppered in. It's just not the same however...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Action Comics #810

The first review of 2022!

In what is now perhaps my all-time favorite Superman story, the Man of Steel attempts to celebrate 24 New Year's celebrations in 24-hours. Along for the adventure is Lois Lane; whom has been sworn to not publish this adventure in the pages of the Daily Planet.

It seems that every December 31st, Superman plays Santa. Collecting letters over the year written to him, Clark Kent does whatever he can to make the promise of a new year better for 24 lucky folks. This year will see the Man of Tomorrow assisting with a marriage proposal, alleviating tensions in the Middle East and having a cup of holiday cheer with Pa Kent. 

Let's start with the cover. It's a classic Superman cover in the style of Darwyn Cooke. Dave Bullock (Batman '66) brings a festive 1930s kinda look to this scene of Superman flying high over Metropolis. Only, I don't really understand the super high highways that seem to cavern inside of the city skyscrapers. Is that a thing anywhere in the world?

Now let's look at the writing. Joe Kelly (Deadpool) brings heart, happiness and a touch of sadness to this story. I feel like I could have read it over and over! (And I probably will over the years.) Kelly's scene where Superman answers the letter of a soldier in the Middle East who has lost his way in the work against terror. That was why Superman is my all-time favorite character. It felt so much like something Christopher Reeve might have done in the movies. I loved it so much!

Finally is the artwork. DC made the right decision to have a different artist for each time zone Superman visits. Quantum and Woody's Kano, Duncan Rouleau and several other artists put their distinctive fingerprints on this stories look. It was a thing of beauty- especially the scene with Superman in Japan!

Like with all stories, it had to come to an end. I long to have seen Superman in more time zones. But I think the final 4-5 pages that take place on New Years Day after Clark's mission is done was the definitive way to end the story. 

If you are looking for 1 New Year's Eve themed issue to add to your collection between now and December 31st, Action Comics #810 is the one you must grab!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.