Hidden behind a rather lackluster and generic cover, the story of The Rocketeer - Cargo of Doom is actually quite an exciting fast-paced adventure with more than enough peril for our hero and his allies. Mark Waid and artist Chris Samnee tell a tale which grows out of threads from the original Dave Stevens yarn and gives us a peek at more ties to other fictional creations.
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Our villain this time is direct from the pages of Doc Savage and though his name is never uttered, John Sunlight proves to be an antagonist who demands the most from our hero Cliff. Working in alliance with some unseen crime lord, Sunlight brings a shipment of dinosaurs from Skull Island to Los Angeles. And of course, they escape to wreak havoc in the city. With a few new allies, Rocketeer takes the battle to Sunlight because the latter has also managed to get his hands on the Rocketeer's rocket.
Chris Samnee's artwork is exceedingly nice, and he does a great job of displaying the action. How the Rocketeer finally manages to subdue the prehistoric threats is more than a tad far-fetched, but then this is a story filled with dinosaurs, so far-fetched seems par for the course.
Below are the covers for this 2013 series from IDW Publishing.
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As a fan of Waid and Samnee I snapped this series up when I saw it for sale in a discounted back issue bin (£1 a copy)- I rarely see (or buy) new titles ( as this was to me) at the time. Best comic book purchase in years and as you note it's an exciting old school tale. Samnee's Toth influenced art is excellent throughout .
ReplyDeleteAgreed. He makes an exciting comic page. This was a great read, and excites me about the other Rocketeer stuff I've let go by for so many years but am catching up on now.
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