Review: Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror #1

The Rocketeer is everyone’s favorite Nazi-fighting, jetpack-wearing pulp hero. He’s fun, charming, and action packed. In his latest miniseries, Hollywood Horror, things go a bit beyond Nazis, jetpacks, and the normal fare and instead get into the realm of the supernatural. Writer Roger Langrigde and artist J. Bone take Cliff Secord, a mostly average man with a jetpack, and take him on yet another above average adventure.

The story starts from the point of the narrator, a man that Cliff bumps into on the street. The man picks up Cliff’s dropped wallet as Cliff runs off to his date with his girlfriend Betty. Along the way, Cliff almost collides with an airplane and saves a window washer, making him only ten minutes late for his date. Cliff and Betty have a bit of disagreement, which causes her to storm off, leaving Cliff to head home to where some less than pleasant men are waiting for him. Betty also finds herself in less than pleasant circumstances, which she thinks she can handle. It’s in the last few pages that we see the real evil behind all the happenings, an otherworldly evil.

Langridge gives a Rocketeer adventure everything it should have: Missing scientists, plucky reporters, near misses, intrigue, and much more. Cliff and Betty come off as a genuine couple, one far from perfect but still deeply devoted to one another. Betty is shown as a strong character, much more than just Cliff’s girlfriend or another pretty face, which is great. The book and the writing feel much more at home in the Golden Age of comics, when things were simpler and much less “gritty”, which current comics could use more of.

Bone’s art helps give Hollywood Horror its fun feel. Things aren’t grainy or highly realistic, instead opting for a bit more cartoonish style. The style helps lend the air of fun and humor that Rocketeer stories often have. Cliff and Betty’s somewhat comical romance only looks all the better when drawn as Bone draws them. Jordie Bellaire deserves a definite shoutout for her coloring work as it helps to bring the art to life and give a crisp, beautiful look to the book as a whole.

This first issue of the Rocketeer’s new adventure is sure to delight fans both old and new. It has all the right ingredients and a stellar creative team, making success almost a given.

 

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