Review: The Rocketeer – High Flying Adventures
There are few characters around that are as charming, as smile inducing as The Rocketeer. Dave Stevens’ character may owe part of his origins to the old black and white serial, King, of the Rocket Men to some extent, but to say that Cliff Secord and his friends have soared to new heights is an understatement.
To go through this book, giving each story a quick review would take way too long. Suffice to say, there is a range of top tier talent on show, writers and artists, each stamping their own style on Cliff and long suffering yet almost equal, Betty. Despite the talents of people like Paul Dini, Dave Stevens, Bruce Timm, Darwyn Cooke, Walt and Louise Simonson, John Byrne, Matt Wagner, Marc Guggenheim along with a raft of covers from Alex Ross.
The above is a list of some of the cleverest, must unique creators that have worked in comics. That said, there are a couple of beats that are consistent in the book; Cliff’s jealousy, Betty’s cheesecake, the latter may cause concern for some. But let’s not forget, these stories are based in a time gone by. To apply todays standards of equality would do a disservice to the work that has gone into making Betty as resilient as she is, holding her end of the relationship up, even saving Cliff at times with nary a ladder in her stockings!
I know that amongst the Crusaders, there is a soft spot for The Rocketeer; reading this volume you can see why. The ease of the flow of the story, the crisp artwork that allows for cheesecake under the influence of range of artwork. If you have a penchant for the old pulp stories of characters such as The Shadow and The Rocketeer, then this book is certainly right up your street. With the range of A-list creators on show, coupled with the high quality of the book, for The Rocketeer, the sky is the limit!
Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
John Cassaday, Michael Allred, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, Darwyn Cooke, Lowell Francis, Ryan Sook, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Ross, Dave Gibbons, Joe Pruett, John Arcudi, Marc Guggenheim, Peter David, Stan Sakai, Tom Taylor, Paul Dini, Walter Simonson, Dave Lapham, Kyle Baker, Matt Wagner, Louise Simonson, David Mandel, John Byrne (w & a) Ӣ Alex Ross (c)
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
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