The Rocketeer gets his own comic of collected short stories, as IDW publishes The Rocketeer, Best of Rocketeer Adventures, Funko Edition.
This comic consists of 5 short stories featuring The Rocketeer, who was created by the late Dave Stevens. I mention this straight off, for two reasons; to give credit to the creator, and to wish that he was still around, penning charming Rocketeer stories.
The Rocketeer is a fun, but uncomplicated character; a young guy in the 1940’s with a strap-on rocket pack, a helmet, and a leather jacket. Oh, and a girlfriend, a few pals, and a dog. Cute stuff.
The stories here are simple, which is fine, but sometimes they’re just too simple. They range from a ‘bad guys kidnapped the girlfriend’ tale written and drawn by John Cassaday, to a patriotic ‘will Johnny come marching home?’ story written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by M.W. Kaluta.
My favorite was “TKO”, written by Lowell Francis and illustrated by Gene Ha. Francis went beyond the simple and created a nicely crafted, meaningful story.
Good art throughout.
If you are a true Rocketeer fan, this one may appeal to you.
IDW, Best of Rocketeer Adventures, Funko Edition. $4.99 one shot, 42 pages of content, unrated