I Reads You Review: THE ROCKETEER: Cargo of Doom #4

THE ROCKETEER: CARGO OF DOOM #4
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

WRITER: Mark Waid
ARTIST: Chris Samnee
COLORS: Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: Shawn Lee
EDITOR: Scott Dunbier
COVERS: Chris Samnee with Jordie Bellaire – regular cover
Dave Stevens – Cover RI
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom comes to an end. This four-issue miniseries is the first new story arc featuring Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer, probably since 1995. The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom is produced by the Eisner Award-winning team of writer Mark Waid and artist Chris Samnee (Daredevil).

For those who don’t know: The Rocketeer is a comic book character created by the late artist and illustrator, Dave Stevens. The Rocketeer is Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a mysterious rocket backpack that allows him to fly. Donning the backpack and a metal helmet, Secord becomes the adventurer and masked crime-fighter, The Rocketeer. His adventures begin in 1938 and continue into the 1940s (for the time being). Most of his activities occur mainly in and around Los Angeles.

The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom is set in 1940 and finds Cliff with troubles on his hands. The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) may take away his pilot’s license. Sally, the young niece of Cliff’s best pal, Peevy, is now working as a mechanic at Peevy’s. Sally has a mad crush on Cliff, and Cliff’s girlfriend, the bombshell actress Betty, is fuming about the crush and about Sally being around Cliff so much. If domestic drama weren’t enough, The Rocketeer falls into a conspiracy involving The Master, a mysterious figure, and an invasion of dinosaurs.

As The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #4 begins, The Rocketeer battles the dinosaurs that have escaped into Los Angeles and are terrorizing the citizens. Luckily, our hero has a ray gun that takes care of the problem, but how long will this miraculous weapon hold? Still fuming, Betty spurs Peevy into action to help Cliff. Meanwhile, Sally and CAA Inspector Earl Garland also plot to help Cliff, or is there more to their actions?

For some reason, I thought that The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom was supposed to be a five-issue miniseries. Regardless, the wrap-up in this last issue seems rushed. The action that focused on The Rocketeer lacks the impact that a man with a rocket backpack fighting prehistoric monsters should have. That sequence is actually overly compressed when it should be open and run several pages. The Peevy/Betty bit is funny, while the Sally-Earl Garland segments offer intrigue, but may be a little too oblique at this point.

Still, The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom was and still is fun to read. I wouldn’t mind seeing Waid-Samnee give The Rocketeer another whirl.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Albert Avilla Reviews: Captain America #1 (Marvel NOW)

Captain America # 1
Marvel Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Rick Remender
Pencils: John Romita
Inks: Klaus Janson
Colors: Dean White

Castaway in Dimension Z (Spoilers!)
When I first saw the promos for the new Captain America title, I wasn't looking forward to the Dimension Z storyline. That's my P.C. way of saying they are about to filty-farn up my favorite character. Don't be like me; don't judge the story before you read it. Once I start reading, I do so with an open mind.

This seems to be the beginning of a good story arc. The story begins with a flashback to Steve Rogers' boyhood, where his father is abusing his mother. We learn that Cap gets his courage from his mother. Remender makes a contribution to the legacy of Captain America in the first issue. We quickly get into some action as Cap battles an eco-terrorist, the Green Skull; he should know better to call Cap out like that. Cap saves Manhattan from destruction, just another day at the office.

Shocker, Sharon Carter proposes to Cap. Cap should have made Sharon a respectable woman years ago. People got married back in Steve's day. Cap is a proponent of old fashioned values; well, it’s time to step up to the plate. He should have started his family years ago. Who would be a better father and husband than Captain America? Sharon knows a good man is hard to find, and she is not letting this one get away.

Then, Cap is going on a mission without any intel, the perfect formula for surprise. No sooner than Cap gets on the secret subway, he's captured and drugged. Cap wakes up in a lab to find himself in the hands of Arnim Zola. Zola wants the super-soldier serum, and he's taking it the hard way. Zola wants the serum for his daughter and his well-designed son. Of course, Cap escapes in the most thrilling way possible and saves or kidnaps the baby, depending on your point of view. Cap finds himself trapped in Dimension Z with an infant to care for; that's what you get for doing what's right before you think it through. Cap gets a proposal and now, he has a baby to care for. Where is Mr. Remender leading Cap? I know it's the first issue, but this new direction has me hyped. Change is not always a bad thing, when it's done right.

Marvel is going top shelf with Romita Jr. doing the art. The visual aspect of the comic is astounding. Romita Jr. delivers quality no matter the setting; he rises to the challenge.

I rate Captain America # 1 Buy Your Own Copy. #2 (of 5) on the Al-O-Meter Ranking

Slam Dunk: Greatest Challenge

I read Slam Dunk, Vol. 25

I posted a review at ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

Albert Avilla Reviews: Wolverine and the X-Men #19

Wolverine and the X-Men #19
Marvel Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Steve Sanders
Cover: Nick Bradshaw & Guru EFx

The Search for Something New (Spoilers)
The X-Men are searching for new mutants again. Angel is making contact with Iara Dos Santos, who has the ability to change into a humanoid shark. Before Angel can finish giving his pitch, Iara refuses to go to the Jean Grey School – because it is a weirdo mutie commune. She formed that opinion based on what? That is what you get when you send a weirdo mutie like the Angel alone to recruit mutants. Angel tells Iara that she is a wereshark. Really? Someone needs to pull out his superpowers handbook and find a better explanation.

Mystique and the Silver Samurai show up and attack Angel. Who are they working for? While Angel and the Silver Samurai are fighting, Mystique makes her pitch. Iara refuses to go with Mystique . Mystique decides to kidnap her. The action picks up as Mystique and Iara begin to fight; Angel grabs Iara and flies off with her at supersonic speed. The next thing we know, Angel is in a hospital bed; the reason why is not made known. Iara is the newest student at the Jean Grey School, because she wants to learn to control her powers. Everything is neatly put in place.

Then we get to visit a stereotypical Southern family who has a mutant son, Mudbug, who is being recruited by another mutant group. Good riddance, a school of higher learning would be a waste of time on Mudbug.

If this book is meant to be the comic relief of the X-books, then, it hits the mark. That would explain Worthington Industries developing intergalactic amusement parks and the Beast looking like he has the same hairstylist that Katt Williams uses. My intelligence would not be insulted by Mudbug and his family. I could understand why some of the off-color remarks were made throughout the story. Please, let’s find a better codename for Iara; Sharkgirl has been used before and not with great success.

If the story is comic relief then the art fits the story; otherwise, it was too cartoonish for my taste.

I rate Wolverine and the X-Men #19 Read a Friend's Copy.

Bleach: The Deathberry Returns 2

I read Bleach, Vol. 53

I posted a review at ComicBookBin.

Review: DEMON LOVE SPELL, Volume 1

DEMON LOVE SPELL, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Mayu Shinjo
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Tetsuchiro Miyaki
LETTERS: Inori Fukuda Trant
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4945-3; paperback, Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S. $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Mayu Shinjo, the creator of the manga series, Ai Ore!, has another series being published in North America. It is a shojo manga entitled Demon Love Spell. This supernatural romantic comedy focuses on Miko Tsubaki, a young shrine maiden who is trying to follow in her father’s footsteps. Gyotoku Tsubaki is the head priest of the Otsubaki Shrine and is a master at banishing demons and other assorted spirits. Miko is not good at seeing or banishing spirits.

As Demon Love Spell, Vol. 1 opens, Miko learns that her friend, Shino, has been spurned by Kagura, a teen lothario. Miko believes that any boy who loves and then rejects so many young women must be possessed. One spell later and Miko learns that Kagura is not possessed by a demon, he is a demon – specifically an incubus who needs female contact to gain power. Now, the size of mouse, Kagura is demanding that Miko, who forgot the spell she used on him, return him to normal size. Plus, he’s in love with her.

Girls in love with otherworldly boys seem to be a staple of shojo manga. The Demon Love Spell manga is a mixture of paranormal romance and supernatural comedy, and creator Mayu Shinjo does both quite well. There is much sexual tension between Miko and Kagura. She desires him, but fights her desire to the point of confusing herself. He wants her, but is he in love? Who can ever trust the motivations of a demon whose very life depends on the sexual/amorous energy he gets from the teen girls he woos?

Shinjo mines everything for comedy. There are scaredy-cat friends, exasperated demons, ill-timed bickering, goofy parents, and young lust. Because of Fawn Lau’s excellent design work on the book, Demon Love Spell Volume 1 looks like it is going to deliver a lot of good stuff. It does, and I hope the series will remain a good one.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Book Review: WAYNE OF GOTHAM

WAYNE OF GOTHAM
IT BOOKS/HarperCollins – @ItBooks

AUTHOR: Tracy Hickman
COVER: Ryan Sook
ISBN: 978-0-06-221986-2; paperback (December 4, 2012)
304pp, B&W, $15.99 U.S.

Tracy Hickman is a fantasy author and game designer, noted for his work on Dragonlance, including writing Dragonlance novels with Margaret Weis. Wayne of Gotham is a Batman prose novel written by Hickman and originally published in hardcover (June 2012). It Books recently released the novel in paperback.

Wayne of Gotham, which does not follow the Batman continuity currently used by DC Comics, finds Batman/Bruce Wayne embroiled in a case that ties into the murder of his parents and that also reveals a terrible secret from his father’s past. Wayne of Gotham is as good (if not better) than the Batman comic books being published today. As far as I’m concerned, it’s certainly more entertaining than the recent film, The Dark Knight Rises.

It begins when Batman finds himself confronted by a rash of vigilante attacks in which ordinary citizens take on criminals. The Dark Knight discovers that these citizens are not exactly in their right minds, and this includes Commissioner James “Jim” Gordon. Then, the clues and hints come, and Batman discovers that someone is leaving a breadcrumb trail of tantalizing hints about Wayne Empire.

This new mystery returns Bruce to the brutal murder of his father, Dr. Thomas Alan Wayne, and, his mother, Martha Kane Wayne. Now, Bruce is forced to learn things about his father’s life he never would have expected. There are ties to the Moxon crime family, including a friendship with, Lewis Moxon, the son of boss Julius Moxon. There is also a relationship with Ernst Richter, a controversial doctor at Gotham University.

While he tries to discover his true family history, Batman must face down the dark legacy of Wayne family history. He must battle old foes (like The Joker and Harley Quinn) and confront the man who is practically the only family he has left, Alfred Pennyworth. Even worse, Batman must uncover the secrets of the terrible thing born in the bowels of Arkham Asylum, a force called the Apocalypse.

Batman is usually the most interesting aspect of Batman stories and fiction, unless he is outshone by a villain, as the Joker did in two films, Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008). In Wayne of Gotham, not only does Batman the costumed hero shine, but also Bruce Wayne the man, Alfred Pennyworth the family secret keeper, and Thomas Wayne the father. This is essentially an ensemble piece in which Batman may save the day, but when it comes to being intriguing, he doesn’t get “most” in front of his name. Hickman works the father-son conflict dynamic so well that Wayne of Gotham really is as much about the Wayne men as it is about Batman.

Hickman re-imagines Batman and Bruce Wayne’s history in a way that allows him to connect Thomas Wayne’s activities to the birth of Batman. Hickman doesn’t change much; he simply gives reason, motivation, and rationale to everything Batman and to everyone related to the Dark Knight.

This novel is brilliant, witty, and mad. This is a story that grabs the reader by the collar and drags him on an adventure across two time periods, the present and 1958. Along the way, readers get to see a version of Harley Quinn that is creepy and unsettling and a Joker that is as witty as he is murderous (sort of a mixture of Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the character with the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series).

There are so many twists, turns, and surprises that Wayne of Gotham is like a paperback thrill machine. In Tracy Hickman’s hands, the Dark Knight does indeed rise.

A

http://youritlist.com/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux