Rocketeer Adventures Again!

This latest quartet of Rocketeer comics was well crafted, but sadly lacked in some way the excitement of the initial four-issue offering (which alas was itself far less engaging than the Dave Stevens original). That has less to do with the professional quality of the stories and art, which were largely excellent and varied, but with the idea that suddenly a Rocketeer story is becoming somewhat commonplace. That's no one's fault, I understand the desire, even the need to exploit the character.

But the premise of the Rocketeer stories is a limited one and yet more stories parsing the fractious romance between Cliff and Betty gets a tad dull and despite some very imaginative spins, the Rocketeer as a hero seems somewhat limited in his range. The Cliff-Betty-Rocketeer dynamic must grow and expand (with some new characters for sure) if this series is going to continue. These cute "haikus" in honor of Dave Stevens can't continue to be the limit.

The Darwyn Cooke covers are wonderful by the way, capturing the art deco feel nicely. My favorite art in this latest series is by Sandy Plunkett, an artist who creates a comic book page very reminiscent of the late great Dave Stevens.

But I fear at this point we are getting Rocketeer stories more to exploit the sales potential of the character (reasonable) rather than tell a tale which must be told in the Rocketeer universe. Here is a concept which thrives from the notion of "less is more".

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