Review by Frank Plowright
Created by animation and film storyboard artist Dave Stevens, the Rocketeer was designed to incorporate favourite people alongside iconic locations and products within the format of a 1930s pulp adventure strip. The likeable Cliff Secord bumbles his way through a series of adventures after acquiring an experimental jetpack and accompanying helmet. He’s often jealous of those hanging around his girlfriend Betty in her movie career, and his engineer Peevy rounds out a contrasting cast.
While fans throughout the world always hoped Stevens would add to his slim, but very nicely formed canon of Rocketeer stories, it sadly wasn’t to be before he died in 2008, and you can find all his work collected as The Rocketeer: The Complete Collection. In 2010 other creators were let loose on the feature, and as the credits show, these weren’t any old hacks, but the cream of the industry, and yet the results aren’t as strong as might be expected.
Reverence is perhaps an issue. The collection opens with seven pages by John Cassaday, and they could have been a story by Stevens himself, gorgeously drawn with a slim plot featuring gangster Boss Maroni having captured Cliff’s girlfriend Betty. It features a brave, but foolhardy plan on Cliff’s part, and Betty far from pleased and punching him out on the final page. It’s one of several inclusions where the creators supply a pastiche of what Stevens did rather than bringing their own ideas to the table. However nice the art looks, having the Rocketeer rescue Betty time and again or deal with imitators wears thin.
It’s the creators who try something different that really stand out, and heading that list are Kurt Busiek and Michael Kaluta (sample art left). Their story has Betty receiving postcards from Cliff over a period of months downplaying what he’s achieving in putting an end to World War II in 1945. It’s a very human story beautifully drawn with lush period detail by Kaluta, who includes Cliff’s actual activities in small black and white postcard illustrations on each page.
Joe R. Lansdale and Bruce Timm’s contribution differs by being an illustrated text story, and the strips are separated by pin-ups from a selection of artists matching the quality of those drawing the strips. The second page of sample art is by Ryan Sook, who draws a particularly fine flying Rocketeer.
The artistic treats throughout ensure this first volume of Rocketeer Adventures ranks above average, and the format was popular enough to prompt a Volume 2. The dust jacket features Alex Ross’ cover art without the logo.
