Rocketo Volume 1: The Journey To The Hidden Sea

Rocketo #1

by Frank Espinosa

The adventures of Rocketo Garrison take place in a mythical future 2,000 years after the world has been destroyed. This compilation of the first six issues of The Journey to the Hidden Sea tells the story of Rocketo's idyllic childhood and his early training as an explorer and Mapper. After returning from the deadly Solarium War a broken man, Rocketo Garrison is swept away on a journey to the Hidden Sea, a fabled, dangerous land that may hold the key to undreamed of treasure as well as the truth about an ancient mystery.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Graphic Novels Comics

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

Reviews

[Tom Ackerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Doc Savage meets LotR, and presented by Hanna-Barbera. Not perfect, rather slow to get started, but there's nothing else that looks and feels like Rocketo.

[Douglas Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it feels like I'm not a comic book fan anymore, really. I feel jaded about the new continuity, the new costume, or the newly not so dead for long hero and long for just good storytelling instead of status quo changes as plot.

There's a few things on my comics shelf that I pull down just to flip through sometimes when I want to relax and slip away. One of those things is Rocketo. Frank Espinosa's a master illustrator, maybe using the least strokes possible. I love everything about this book and I despise the industry that doesn't shower Espinosa with accolades and the money and time enough to finish his story. I've actually bought this twice and plan to keep going after I wear this new one out again. I've even bought the digital editions of Volume 1 & 2 and I don't do that. The only other books I have ever done that for is Alan Moore's Supreme and Warren Ellis on Planetary.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say what the book was about.

Elevator pitch: Imagine a Disney dystopian future ala Waterworld complete with talking animals, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs or Jules Verne with equal dashes of Jason and the Argonauts, Indiana Jones, and Mad Max. It's a crime I'm the only person I know that's read this. This is a must buy.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't completely buy into the story because the characters need a little more work. But that art is amazing. So many places in this where a pen would have given the artist just the right line and he resists and just uses a brush instead. Every panel is a work of art. The story is so ambitious and creative. It can only be saved by more. So much more.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mythology, good script, beautiful, unique art (which is sometimes hard to follow). Good series.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun action, but some of the stylistic choices make it harder to parse. You can barely tell who's talking most of the time. But it's a fun ride.

[Mike Aragona · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first flipped through this book, I thought it was from Dean Haspiel as it had that same kind of "Bruiser" art. Although it wasn't, the character of Rocketo could definitely fall under that category :) Reading through this book gave me the same kind of magical excitement / feelings as I had watching those old Sinbad movies when I was younger, or Forbidden Planet. In comics, I would compare it to the Flash Gordon strips or even - in some cases, strange as it may seem - Herge's Tintin! A great Fantasy Adventure that doesn't let up.

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very excited to read this, but I ultimately didn't enjoy it very much, and it took an unreasonably long time to finish. One of the defining characteristics of the books is the art, which often is absolutely glorious. However, it's also often entirely inscrutable, so that I'm regularly spending too much time figuring out what's happening in the panel. Also, while I think I enjoyed the world that was built up, I never got invested enough in any of the characters to keep me engaged in the book. I can see people loving this (and it's ratings tend to confirm this), but I did not.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a pretty fun read. lots of big ideas in the story but i felt like the writing could have been tightened up a bit. beautifully illustrated, however the art is so stylised that occasionally it's a little unclear what's going on, especially in the super kinetic action sequences. it's nice to see some decently done pulpy/retro sci-fi though, and i will most likely pick up the next volume.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a far flung destroyed earth, where the magnetic poles no longer exist, the Mappers chart the new seas. After returning from a war a broken man, Rocketo Garrison is swept away on a journey to the Hidden Sea, a fabled land that may hold the key to an ancient mystery. This is truly a different story, filled with tons of imagination and flair, and a unique illustrative style.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story and the art. Although it attempted to confuse me at times and I would have to re-read pages in order to figure out who said what. Just a plain good adventure story here, so don't expect anything else.

[Mary Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book 2 is a 2007 Cybils Graphic Novel nominee, but you know me and series...gotta read them in order.

Very comic book-y. Plot seems random.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an amazing book...transporting me back to a time when well-envisioned fantastic worlds captured my imagination. Lyrically illustrated and written, I could read this over and over again.

[Armando · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the story about Rocketto a mapper and its adventures. The journey into the hidden sea is a very dangerous adventure in which he fights monsters and a storm.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

outstanding original brush style