Rocketeer: Jet-Pack Adventures

The Rocketeer #Short Stories

by J. Bone, Gregory Frost, Yvonne Navarro

Modern pulp fiction with a retro twist! IDW presents ten original prose adventures featuring Cliff, Betty, Peevy, and a host of new villains. From murderous treasure-hunters and marauding Asian sky-pirates, to ancient Egyptian magicians and haunted mad scientists, the Rocketeer solves crimes and fights evil in these unique and exciting tales of jet-pack action and pin-up romance. Set between 1939 and 1946, with such historical characters as Howard Hughes, Hedy Lamarr, Tarzan's Johnny Weissmuller, and acclaimed Western writer Zane Grey, to name but a few.

Genres: Science Fiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

J. BONE is an Eisner Award-nominated illustrator of several critically acclaimed comic books and graphic novels, including Spiderman: Tangled Web, Batman / The Spirit, and Paul Dini’s Mutant, Texas. J. Bone lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Rocketeer is a character created by the late great Dave Stevens. Stevens was a top flight (pun intended) illustrator who obviously loved the pulps-Steven's series even spawned a movie, though Jennifer Connelly was about the only bright spot in that. The Rocketeer: Jet-Pack adventures consists of ten stories, written by some reasonably top flight authors: Yvonne Navarro, Nancy Holder, Nancy A Collins and Lisa Morton, among others. But I never felt in reading these tales that anyone really loved the character like Stevens did, and it shows. Also most of this book seems to take place in the universe of the feature film, in which Howard Hughes invented the Jet-Pack. But Constant Readers know better: that urine swilling dipsomaniac Hughes had nothing to do with it. Doc Savage created it! Anyone who knows me knows my love for Doc knows no bounds, so I was excited by the cameo I knew had to be coming-after all Doc Monk and Ham are right there on the wrap around cover. SPOILER!! However-though Monk and Ham do appear (they are two of Doc's aides) Doc himself is absent. He is referred to as Doc once and otherwise called The Boss (an appellation Doc never used) but that is it. END SPOILER!! I do not appreciate this bit of tomfoolery on the part of publisher IDW and am heartily glad I found this book on the secondary market. IDW will not see a dime from my purchase, and that is exactly what they deserve-nothing. The odds of me buying anything else under the IDW imprint has diminished, and not just for that reason. I have zero problem with authors getting paid for their work but that was exactly what I felt I got-ten stories written solely for a paycheck. It's never said in so many words but I don't feel anyone had any love for the Rocketeer and it shows, even if it is never explicitly expressed. Plus remember what I said about Stevens being a top flight illustrator? The artist who did the cover and interior art for this book was abysmal-it is a real kick in the teeth to Stevens' legacy. The art seems to be a slavish imitation of the work of Bruce Timm, who was responsible for the stylish look of Batman: The Animated Series. Jay Bone is apparently serving as a poor man's Bruce Timm here-most bones need to be buries and this one is no exception, which is sad as Bone has won an Eisner award. The cameo mentioned earlier raises this book (barely, and it's a close thing) to the two star level. Bummer.

[Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful collection of prose stories that really capture the tone of Dave Stevens' Rocketeer comics.

[Brendan Mckillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of pulp action stories starring the Rocketeer. Some stronger than others, but the overall impression is fun and exciting entertainment.