New Comic Day (Late): Rocketeer/Spirit

Howdy folks and welcome to the second edition of New Comic Day! That’s right, number 2.  And we are already a day late on the delivery schedule!  Go, Team NitNC!  Actually, if you swung by last week, then you know we are actually 8 days late, since we didn’t even have an edition last week.  That’s right, your old buddy Nerd Is the New Cool is on top of his game this month (year? Decade? Century? Oh, bother!).

Anyway, here in Nerdland, we had a killer storm – well a storm anyway – Tuesday night that kept me up, as well as the wife and our pride and joy the Nerd-Hound.  Mostly it was Nerd-Hound being up that cause the issues, we was scared and clingy and insisted on attention.  Regardless, I overslept on Wednesday and was playing catchup all day.  So, no trip to my Friendly Neighborhood Comic Shop for me.  But I made it today and here we go!!!

This Week’s Star Comic:

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 1

That’s right.  You read it correctly.  The Rocketeer!  The Spirit! Together in one blockbuster issue.  This is so awesome...

Such a letdown. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s good.  Bordering on decent even.  But it has all the elements of better than good – not the least of which is two of the greatest comic book characters of all time.  Beyond that, it’s written by Mark Waid, one of my favorite writers. 

So what went wrong?  Everything.  Paul Smith’s art is passable but it lacks both the crisp style of Dave Stevens and the pulp grit of Will Eisner.  It is very good art, very standard, very average.  I’ve seen worse.  But is “I’ve seen worse” enough? 

Even Waid’s writing is lackluster.  Again, I’ve read worse – in fact, I’ve read worse by Waid (I’m looking at you, Superman: Birthright) – but as a whole, Waid should be a shoe in for better than this, expecially considering this isn’t his first foray into the world of Rocketeer. 

Again I ask, is “I’ve seen worse” enough? Eisner is the legend.  Both in writing and in art.  They named an award after the man.  And Stevens is right behind him as an artist.  Literally.  When I comes to comic art it goes down like this:  Kirby, Ross, Ditko (shut up, Dad!), Steranko, Wrightson, Eisner, Stevens, Sale, Kane (shut up, Dad! – look at that same joke twice in the same sentence, I’m losing my edge already). 

As for the story itself, it is standard summer crossover fair.  Two heroes meet for the first time, naturally have a misunderstanding and fight.  The fight itself is awesome, but I won’t spoil it for you by describing it.  Needless to say, had Eisner or Stevens been sitting at the easel for this one, the fight alone would have been enough to win the book over for me, but Smith’s work left something to be desired and the fight had a less profound impact on me that someone else’s might have.   But please Hollywood, make an adaptation of this comic so I can see that scene in live action 3D! 

Aside from the issues discussed above, the comic was fun and enjoyable.  The classic characters are all here, Bettie Page…er, I mean the Rocketeer’s girlfriend Betty, The Octopus (or rather his hand), Commissioner Dolan and Ellen, Peevy…even Ebony draws and behind the scenes mention.  As I said, the fight between the heroes is classic (a bit cliché but this is a “summer blockbuster crossover” after all).  Ellen and Betty are both at their stereotypically ‘40s dame best. 

Had I had no prior knowledge of the characters, the book would have rated higher, had I bought it which would have been less likely.  As it stands:

3.5/5 stars.  Excellent jumping on point. 

Unrated but nothing too inappropriate so probably around T for Teen. 

            Other Noteworthy Titles This Week

Hunger 1 (Marvel)

Superman Unchained: The Director’s Cut 1 (DC)

Popeye Classics 12 (IDW)

Army of Darkness Hack/Slash 1 (Dynamite/Image)

Warlord of Mars 27 (Dynamite)

Until next time, Nerd Is the New Cool, signing off…