A weekend leisure reading review…because sometimes Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!
Mark Waid. The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom. San Diego, CA: IDW Publishing, March 5th 2013. 104 pp.
5 out of 5
Purchase: Amazon
Do you remember the movie the Rocketeer? As a kid I seen commercials for it and never got to watch it until recently. The Rocketeer is a story of a young man name Cliff Secord who found a rocket backpack. He goes around doing good with it. After watching the movie I wanted to read comic books about the Rocketeer so I picked up this graphic novel. As my first reading of the Rocketeer it didn’t disappoint! In fact I want to read more adventures of the Rocketeer as a result of this book.
The story is set in 1940. There’s a “pre-World War Two” feel to the art and the story in the book. I love it! Love the pulp hero story feel that the creative team did a good job cultivating.
In the story there is a ship with mysterious cargo makes a port stop in the harbor of Los Angeles. The “Master” overseeing this ship and cargo decided to deviate from his original plan from his boss and attempt to get the rocket backpack from the Rocketeer. Readers will soon enough find out what is the ship’s secret cargo as they get more out of control onboard the ship. Finally it spills out into the city of Los Angeles itself.
While the Rocketeer is fighting these secret villains he’s also having to deal with various ongoing drama. One of them is his girlfriend misunderstanding what’s going on. Secondly he has to deal with federal inspector that is not approving of his flight license. Thirdly there’s the issue of a girl infatuated with Cliff Secord. Rather than distract from the main fight against the villains I thought it was actually well woven into the narrative.
A fun read and I recommend it.
The Domain for Truth 
I have never heard of the Rocketeer, probably before my time 😃
Lol. Nothing too serious but curious what superheroes were big with the kids during your time and in Australia?
My favourite superhero has always been Zorro.
I can’t really recall any others except for the usual Batman, superman, Spider man etc… 😊
Sounds interesting. I like reading things staged in the world war 2 time period. How many volumes do they have? Also is it ongoing?
Not currently. They have it on and off over the years.
I found the 1940s fascinating when studying in my high school history class. I bet it’s cool to read a comic in that time period.
Thanks for the good review which brought back a lot of memories. I vividly remember the debut of “The Rocketeer” comic back in the mid-1980s. I was a fan. I thought writer/artist Dave Stevens was THE BEST illustrator in comics. I enjoyed the stories as well. However, I always wondered why the back of Cliff’s britches weren’t set aflame by the rocket’s exhaust? 🤔 By the way, Mark Waid wrote the LSH storylines back in the early aughts.
Amazing you heard of the Rocketeers mid 80s! I want to eventually read the original 80s version. Did you read Dave Stevens’ Rocketeers back then and/or watch the movie?
I read Steven’s original Rocketeer stories first and then saw the movie. For some reason, I was a little disappointed in the movie, but I can’t remember why 30 years later.
I saw the movie, but never saw the comic books. I always thought it would make a good comic book series.
I read on Wikipedia that the movie was based upon the comic books in the 80s. I found a few titles written in the 2000s besides this one I reviewed. I hope to read another one after ministry tomorrow night as my mental rest. I’m now a fan. You know who else I’m a fan of in terms of comics? I’m a fan of your comics! Don’t know if you know that…
Gosh, thank you so much Jim! That encourages me so much! 😀
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