Share this
The Rocketeer: In the Den of Thieves #2 – IDW PUBLISHING
Written by Stephen Mooney with art and colors by David Messina and letters and design by Shawn Lee.
The Story:
Cliff continues to try to come to terms with no longer being the Rocketeer and live a normal life. Meanwhile, Peevy has been kidnapped by a group of Nazis looking to use his engineering knowledge to perfect a new rocket for their own sinister goals.
The Writing:
Stephen Murry does a masterful job building the tension of the issue while also keeping it lighthearted enough to keep the feeling of a Rocketeer story. Murry writes each character with their own, unique, voice and motivations. I especially enjoyed the writing for Betty, she was compassionate and caring as well as flirty and fun. These are not always qualities seen in female characters in comics and it was nice to see her as not just a love interest or sexual object but a full character and person in the few panels she was featured in.
The Art:
David Messina’s line work and colors are a real treat! This book has the distinct balance of modern artistic practices with a feeling of classic color palettes. The facial expressions and movement during action sequences were excellent. The framing and layouts give this issue a sense of scope and a cinematic style that is truly fantastic!
The Verdict: 9/10
The Rocketeer should always be, at it’s heart, a fun action story in the vein of swashbuckling adventures. This book is shaping up to be just that. While my only history with the character is the film adaptation, I never felt like I was lost or needed to go back to figure out any other comic backstory.
Issue #2 is a middle chapter and therefore it is setting up what is to come, this is the only reason it did not receive a perfect score. I have no doubt that by the time this story wraps up, it will be in my top books of 2023!
