“What’s Batman got that I don’t?”
The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #2
IDW Publishing (September, 2012)
“ROCKETEER” CREATOR: Dave Stevens WRITER: Mark Waid ARTIST: Chris Samnee COLORIST: Jordie Bellaire LETTERER: Shawn Lee EDITOR: Scott DunbierThe mysterious”master” has decided to add the Rocketeer’s rocket pack to his boss’s plan, even if his boss disagrees. A new CAA official takes Cliff’s case and introduces himself by cold-cocking Cliff. (Guess nobody told him what his predecessor tried to do to Sally.) Speaking of Sally, Betty is worried she’s losing Cliff to the girl, but that doesn’t matter when “master” grabs the pack and Cliff’s attempt to retrieve it leads to him being raised above a pit of dinosaurs!
What they got right: The characters, hero and villain alike, are fun to watch. Seeing Betty being the jealous one for a change is also fun to watch, but I still kind of don’t want Sally to become a regular. Also, King Kong reference.
What they got wrong: Oooh, strapping a jetpack onto a dinosaur would be a neat attack plan..you know, except for HOW THE BLOODY HECK DOES A DINOSAUR CONTROL A ROCKETPACK? Have you seen T-Rex Trying? And he’s supposed to be human-level intelligent in those strips. This is the 1940s. I don’t even know how they had a remote-control to blow up one of the boxes. I rank this idiot right up there with the Futurians from Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah as far as being unable to think out your evil plan beyond “hey, wouldn’t it be so cool if…”. I think dinosaurs rampaging around New York should be enough without the jetpack.
Recommendation: I’m really enjoying this comic. I’ve been asking for a full-length Rocketeer adventure since the Adventures anthology came out, and it’s nice to see it was worth getting thus far.
Just because it’s a stupid plan, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t look cool.
I should note that there is a scene where “master” wrestles a dinosaur to the ground bare-handed, but you can’t see the dinosaur and I’m really starting to hate the guy so you get dinosaurs with rocket packs. (You may have to click to see the panels full-size.)
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