Trevor Hogg reviews the third instalment where Betty learns the meaning of “Beam me up, Scotty!”…
On the trail of two murderous madmen and the mysterious Television Terror, the Spirit takes Rocketeer to Central City, and Cliff finds it nearly impossible to navigate in such a crowded urban setting—but he’d better learn quickly because Betty’s life depends on it!
The action shifts from the sunny setting of Hollywood to the dark and cold confines of Central City where The Spirit talks about his near death experience which so frightens The Rocketeer that he runs away from his host. The two pulp heroes arrive in town as Benedict Trask transports Betty to The Park Hotel where she stays in a suite waiting to be turned into a television star; against the wishes of her patron the wannabe starlet leaves a message for Cliff Secord as to her whereabouts. Secord rushes off to meet with his girlfriend but is rebuffed at the hotel front desk which has been instructed to do so by Trask.
Meanwhile the mysterious Octopus watches Benedict Trask speak to sceptical conspirators via television monitors and do an Al Capone inspired live demonstration which gains their support. With his task complete, Trask returns to his charade of being a television producer and heads back to see Betty as a shadow in the form of The Spirit secretly breaks into the meeting place. Back at The Park Hotel, Cliff Secord decides call upon his jet pack hero persona to gain access to the suite being occupied by his sultry love interest.
Matters go from bad to worse when Betty discovers she has been tricked and before the high flying Rocketeer can do anything she is electronically transported back to the hideaway of the Octopus. The Spirit catches her but not before he is overpowered by henchmen of the criminal mastermind. Though her curvaceous body remains intact, the technology has a side effect upon actress which results in the loss of her memory. Taking the advantage of the situation, Octopus sees an opportunity to eliminate The Spirit permanently.
Along with pairing of The Rocketeer with The Spirit, another intriguing creative partnership is having writer Mark Waid collaborating with a different artist for each issue beginning with Paul Smith, followed by Loston Wallace and now with J. Bone. The different illustration styles provide a fresh perspective to each instalment. J. Bone does a great job of illustrating the final page which ends with a chilling and sexy cliff-hanger. The exposition of the origins of The Spirit is handled well in the form of a ghost story told in a spooky setting; however, having Cliff Secord running away like a frighten schoolboy seems rather out of character making the moment more silly than funny.
A cool dialogue exchange occurs between the daughter of Police Commissioner Dolan and The Spirit where she complains about never being taken to his home which results in the masked man with the fedora responding, “Ellen, I’m surprised at you! Since when does a proper young lady make unchaperoned visits to a gentleman’s tombstone?” The idea of taking over the public airwaves seemed like a nonstarter in producing suspense but the high tech twist raises the stakes to a fascinating level. I miss the antics of Peevy with his old friend from Central City as the two men are a source of a rollicking good time. Either way I’m not going to change the channel as I’m interested to see how the final issue plays out.
Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.
Originally published November 12, 2013. Updated April 15, 2018.
