Trevor Hogg reviews the hardcover edition of The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom…
Cliff Secord and the Rocketeer take to the skies once again as Mark Waid and Chris Samnee spin a yarn in the best tradition of Dave Stevens, bringing us a tale of great adventure, suspense, and humour! A ship docks in Los Angeles harbour from a far-off and exotic locale—with a big, mysterious… and living… cargo! Danger and mayhem abound as our hero leaps into the fray! Plus, the emergence of a lovely new character who will be vying against Betty for Cliff’s affections!
An aviation inspector tries to give an unauthorized examination of a young female pilot while she is flying a plane; the aircraft spins out of control and is rescued by the Rocketeer. It is a dramatic introduction the niece of Peevy, Sally who is a good as fixing machines as her uncle but less lucky in love when it comes to winning the affections of Cliff Secord. The tables get turned as this time around Betty becomes the jealous one as she must deal with an earnest competitor for the love of her flyboy.
While this all taking place a ship is carrying a secret cargo under the instructions of a mysterious boss who speaks on the phone and gets massages by scantily dressed females while never completely showing his face; working for him is a man known as The Master who upon learning about the Rocketeer decides to steal the rocket pack and make more of them so to further a diabolical plan. Unfortunately, the hired villain who dresses like a member of the Three Musketeers oversteps the mark as Cliff Secord causes some mayhem of his own to reclaim his stolen device which results in caged dinosaurs escaping and rampaging through the streets of Los Angeles.
The Eisner Award winning duo of writer Mark Wark and artist Chris Samnee are having a lot of fun with story which integrates a couple of moments from Jurassic Park (1993) and Jaws (1976). All of the B-movie craziness suits the 1940s superhero who gets an opportunity to fly to new heights in an effort to rescue the city from the prehistoric invasion; Chris Samnee takes full advantage of the situation as he provides some dramatic large scale images. Included at the back of the hardcover edition is the Samnee Gallery which displays the layouts for all four issues of the miniseries. As an added bonus all direct market copies of Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom will have an exclusive dust jacket only available on the first printing.
Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.
Originally published March 5, 2013. Updated April 14, 2018.
