The Stop Button
blogging by Andrew Wickliffe
Category: Rocketeer
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And there’s a nice happy ending with no resolution to any of the lame character subplots Waid brought into the series to try and give it some semblance of a story. But apparently all Cliff needs is a Zorro mask when he’s not in flight and life’s much easier for the Rocketeer. That idea (from…
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So J. Bone takes over the art. Maybe the intention was always a different artist on each issue, but it doesn’t play particularly well. Bone does very nice homage to Eisner’s character design without being too literal. The story’s a little weak though… definitely a little weak. Waid definitely likes the Spirit and his supporting…
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Waid continues full steam ahead with two characters who probably should have never crossed over. The result is more a Spirit comic guest starring the Rocketeer cast than anything else. Loston Wallace’s heavy on the Eisner influence for the character designs–except Betty to some degree–and, as a result, Cliff feels totally out of place. Peevy…
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Does Mark Waid always write Betty so awful? Not poorly awful, but awful to Cliff awful. It’s inexplicable why Cliff would hang around such a terrible human being… makes him a weak character too. The Spirit and The Rocketeer aren’t exactly a good team-up, but Waid does find a decent connection for Peevy and Dolan–World…
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Everything ties up nicely for the finish. I’m still trying to determine how Langridge made this take on The Rocketeer. He’s turned Cliff into a young doofus, added Groucho Marx as the narrator and so on… yet it’s definitely the Rocketeer. There’s a big action scene to resolve everything. It takes most of the issue…
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Oh, Langridge is just having too much fun now. He reveals the narrator–Groucho Marx. It’s a hilarious little detail; it doesn’t make any sense yet (how he’s omniscient but he’s Groucho so who cares). There also might a slight Return of the Jedi nod as far as Betty’s outfit goes. It’s a slower issue than…
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Langridge really embraces the Thin Man tie-in. It’s without names, instead of him doing thinly veined homages. It’s a nice touch, sending Betty off on her own adventure without Cliff. Actually, Betty’s got the much bigger story. She’s the one who has figured out there’s some creepiness with the Scientologist Cthulhu fan–sorry, Cosmicist–while Cliff’s basically…
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In the past, I think I’ve referred to J. Bone as some kind of Darwyn Cooke wannabe. I take it back. I regret making those statements, though Hollywood Horror seems to be a breakthrough for him. He mixes old animation styles with comic strips to wonderful success. Even though she’s cartoony, Betty’s anger is real…
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I went into this issue hopeful, I really did. I thought maybe Waid could do something besides Cliff flying around L.A. and killing a bunch of terrified animals. He does do something else. It’s just not very good. Apparently Betty has been suspecting the sidekicks of being enemy spies–Sally and the black guy. It’s a…
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It’s a good thing Samnee’s drawing this series–but especially this issue–because without him I’d forget I was supposed to be reading a Rocketeer comic. The stuff at the hanger is all fine, but it’s the supporting cast jabbering to each other. Waid writes Peevy well, he even writes Betty well (though not enough to turn…
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While Cargo does give Cliff something he really needs–a stronger supporting cast–Waid’s approach is practically fanfic when it comes to the big reveal. Cargo of Doom is a (sly) sequel to King Kong, where the bad guys are going to loose captured dinosaurs as a terrorist act. The chief villain–dressed like a pirate no less–describes…
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In Cargo of Doom, Mark Waid does the most unexpected thing ever in a Rocketeer comic. He takes the focus–at least as far as females go–off Betty. He does it so much, I don’t even remember if Chris Samnee’s version of Betty is in the Stevens vein or his own thing. Because for once, Betty…
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John Byrne easily does the best story in this issue. Really. And he can even draw Peevy. He lays out his story well, though the details on the characters aren’t any great shakes. The Rocketeer’s funny looking, while Cliff looks like Snidely Whiplash. Still, Byrne’s clearly enthusiastic about the characters and the setting. The other…
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Did IDW run out of people to hire for Rocketeer Adventures? The Kyle Baker story, done a little like a serial episode, is great, but it’s Kyle Baker. He doesn’t just get how to do comic action, he can actually write Betty. And his Shadow cameo is rather fun too. But besides Baker, this issue’s…
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I’m having a hard time buying the Rocketeer as Captain America. The first story, from Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson, sets Cliff up as an official U.S. military superhero. It makes no sense. Especially not fighting giant robots. But the story’s good anyway. Taylor structures it well and Wilson’s art is great. Very effective work.…
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Even with some of the art, this issue’s a complete stinker. None of the writers actually exhibit any love (or respect) for the characters. Hampton does a nice mix of bright pulp and his static painting; as a result, the first story is very pretty. But Dave Gibbons’s script gives Cliff a dumb adventure, makes…
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Rocketeer Adventures really needs some editorial guidance. Or at least the stories need to make sense in relation to one another. The first story, from Ryan Sook, is pretty good. But Sook makes a big point of how Cliff gets the fame Betty so desperately wants, only he never indicates whether she’s jealous about it.…
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This issue’s loser comes courtesy Lowell Francis and Gene Ha. Well, not Ha. Ha does a fine job. Francis’s “script” consists of a boxing match radio broadcast juxtaposed with the Rocketeer fighting a flying bad guy. The gimmick quickly tires and the fight doesn’t really give Ha any interesting content. When there finally is dialogue,…
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I’m going out of order because Kurt Busiek, in eight pages, made me tear up. He does a Rocketeer during WWII story; Cliff’s in the Pacific as a flyer and as the Rocketeer. Cliff writes Betty letters, we get summaries. It’s freaking amazing work. Great art from Michael Kaluta. The Rocketeer details are inconsequential; they…
The Stop Button 