The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom

The Rocketeer #5

by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee (Illustrator)

Everyone’s favorite adventure-prone jetpack owner, Cliff Secord, finds himself at the center of another adventure when a mysterious tanker pulls into L.A. Harbor carrying dangerous cargo.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Adventure, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Superheroes, Comic Book

104 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2013

About the author

Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chock full of fun, pulpy goodness. Somehow Waid and Samnee slipped this by me. I liked how Samnee changed his style a bit to mimic the animation style of the 40's. The plot borrows a lot from the end of The Lost World: Jurassic Park but I won't hold that against them. I did enjoy the little nod to Skull Island. The bad guy's plan was completely bonkers but that matches up with the serials of the time.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure why the Rocketeer has such a special place in my comic heart. Maybe it id the pulp era feel to the stories or maybe like all kids I make a "jetpack" and flew around the yard battling evil. Nice collected edition. Very recommended

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that IDW is handling the Rocketeer property, the publisher has not been shy in assigning A-list talent to make the character relevant again. Writer Mark Waid has always had a Midas touch with his ability to sell books and garner critical acclaim and awards that makes every book he is on a must read. Partnered with Chris Samnee, I should have checked out this miniseries earlier.

Samnee inks his pencils with a thick line that gives it a cartoony and animated look which evokes the art stylings of the era this particular story is set. It is a match made in heaven indeed. Coincidentally, they are currently teaming up on book about a (Dare)devil. Samnee's pulp sensibilities matches up with Waid's script perfectly as the writer mashes up a lot Golden Age comic book staples like mad science, dinosaurs,espionage and a hint of romance as well.

It is good to see Dave Steven's creation is in safe hands with IDW. If one enjoyed the movie, one could potentially enjoy this as well. Now I want a B. P. R. D. or Hellboy crossover with Mike Mignola on art.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom collects the 4-issue story in a colorful hardcover book. Mark Waid has taken the character created by Dave Stevens and imagined a whole new story. Artwork by Chris Samnee is true to the times and the colors by Jordie Bellaire are rich.

The story is set in 1940 and the characters are a bit stereotypical. Cliff is a young man unsure of himself, even behind the mask of the Rocketeer. This actually makes for some good humorous situations. Betty, the girlfriend (modeled after Bettie Page), has a big jealous streak. Peevy is the old man in the background that helps out by being fatherly. Sally is the teen mechanical wizard with an unrequited crush on the older Cliff.

I love the plot. The Rocketeer finds himself trying to save Los Angeles from a group of dinosaurs run amok after escaping from a freighter ship. How there happen to be dinosaurs in 1940 is never explained, but this is a comic, so just go with it.

This is a fun romp that can be enjoyed by all ages. A good clean adventure story! Recommended!

Disclaimer: I was loaned an advance copy from the publisher for consideration to review. I was not paid any money to write my review.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waid & Samnee rock!

[Benji's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good entry in the Rocketeer's pulp adventures. Much like the first story hinting at a Doc Savage connection, this too hints to another 1930s creation being in the same world.

Recommended

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outlandish, but spirited fun.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rocketeer: Carga Mortal é a história em quadrinhos de estreia da Editora Heroica, mais conhecida por seus livros sobre história dos quadrinhos e dossiês de revistas, principalmente focados na Editora Abril. Trata-se de uma revisitação às aventuras do super-herói dos anos 1940, dotado de uma mochila à jato criado pelo desenhista publicitário Dave Stevens em 1982. Em 1991 o personagem ganhou um filme pela Disney e foi assim que ficou mais conhecido do público. Neste encadernado que contém a minissérie Cargo of Doom, desenvolvida por Mark Waid e Chris Samnee, dupla ganhadora do Eisner em razão de sua incrível run no Demolidor, da Marvel. Em sua minissérie de Rocketteer os dois entregam um reorno a um passado que nenhum de nós viveu, resgatando o clima da Segunda Guerra Mundial, enquanto desenvolvem ainda mais os personagens criados por Stevens, criando uma relação mais aprofundada entre eles. Nessa edição, Rocketeer não enfrenta nazistas, mas uma carga misteriosa que se revela serem dinossauros vindos direto da Ilha da Caveira. Muita ação e aventura aguardam os leitores deste encadernado. Além disso, a Heroica produziu também uma espécie de dossiê contando aos leitures tudo que eles precisam saber sobre a criação, desenvolvimento, publicações e o filme de Rocketter, um fator que deia a edição brasileira ainda mais especial.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the film and "Cargo of Doom" is exactly what I'm looking for in something like this. Evil Villains with evil schemes, lots of flying fights, and...dinosaurs? Sure, why not!

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you remember the movie the Rocketeer? As a kid I seen commercials for it and never got to watch it until recently. The Rocketeer is a story of a young man name Cliff Secord who found a rocket backpack. He goes around doing good with it. After watching the movie I wanted to read comic books about the Rocketeer so I picked up this graphic novel. As my first reading of the Rocketeer it didn’t disappoint! In fact I want to read more adventures of the Rocketeer as a result of this book.
The story is set in 1940. There’s a “pre-World War Two” feel to the art and the story in the book. I love it! Love the pulp hero story feel that the creative team did a good job cultivating.
In the story there is a ship with mysterious cargo makes a port stop in the harbor of Los Angeles. The “Master” overseeing this ship and cargo decided to deviate from his original plan from his boss and attempt to get the rocket backpack from the Rocketeer. Readers will soon enough find out what is the ship’s secret cargo as they get more out of control onboard the ship. Finally it spills out into the city of Los Angeles itself.
While the Rocketeer is fighting these secret villains he’s also having to deal with various ongoing drama. One of them is his girlfriend misunderstanding what’s going on. Secondly he has to deal with federal inspector that is not approving of his flight license. Thirdly there’s the issue of a girl infatuated with Cliff Secord. Rather than distract from the main fight against the villains I thought it was actually well woven into the narrative.
A fun read and I recommend it.

[Brandon Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly serviceable. All the classic Rocketeer setups. Hits its marks. No complaints.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but fun with some amazing art

[curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd give this a rather higher rating were it not for the fact that, most uncharacteristically for something penned by Mark Waid, this story really assumes too much prior familiarity on the reader's part. Though this is ostensibly a self-contained story, there are too many moments where the story expects me to have known more about these characters than it gives me itself. (As a consequence the whole thing feels quite rushed and slipshod.) In fairness to Waid, however, all of that could be owing to how the publisher chose to market and design this particular collection, decisions about which he'd have had little to no input. Otherwise this was quite fun. Chris Samnee's art is wonderful and feels so tonally appropriate.

[Lucas Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, i've read Rocketeer original story by Dave Stevens in the beginning of this year, and just love it. Such a cool character, with a nice background, nice villains and all, in a way a good pulp ask for it. So, i put all of his books in ny wishlist, and this one over here was the first one i got it after. And it was a super fun read!

Our Daredevil dream team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee does a super simple action packed book, exactly what i was hoping for such a character.

Give it a try. As i said, yeah, i believe it's all too fast, they got some extras that just added some pages to make the book more expensive, but yeah, i believe it's worth it.

[Christian Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another decent Rocketeer collection. This one follows our cast as a bunch of prehistoric creatures from Skull Island make their way to America.

The overall plot is a bit vague. Why exactly are they doing this? What is the bad guy’s motivation? Who are the bad guys in general? There are some hints of character development that really should have been expanded.

The art is good, and it’s fun to see women wrestle over our main character for once. Usually, he is jealous of Betty, but this time, it was the other way around.

Fun book.

[Alex Sarll]

Waid and Samnee should have been the ideal team to deliver Saturday morning retro thrills, especially when they're fully leaning into the Rocketeer's pulp roots: remember, fun though the film was, in the comics his jetpack came from someone far cooler than Howard Hughes. But even the presence of rampaging dinosaurs (not a spoiler, they're on the back cover) can't altogether outweigh the treatment of Betty, who's always been high-maintenance but is written here as simply awful, a one-note performance of blinkered, jealous rage to the extent that you can't help wishing the T.rex had got her.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a pretty fun tale of the Rocketeer by Waid and Samnee. An Airforce official vs Cliff and then he punches him, a new replacement comes in and then the sinister villain plot who is after Cliff's rocket, meanwhile some romance going on between Cliff, Sally and Betty? And then we have dinosaurs with rocket and will Cliff be able to save the day? It was a fun read, gorgeous silver age type artwork, panel layouts were amazing, standalone story and a pretty good read overall.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Waid and team do a nice job of making a Rocketeer book that feels like the original Dan Stevens books... but with a bit more plot and a little less polish art-wise.

It's a fast, pulp-y read... that made me want to go back and watch the movie again.

[Rubin Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great old style adventure

The Rocketeer faces a mysterious foe behind the scenes,a rival in the air, and an a new love interest
plus his greatest challenge Dinosaurs and Gmen yes you read that correctly

[Becky Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

first time reading rocketeer

This was super fun. I’ve been trying to expand into characters I don’t know as well and this was non stop action. Chris Samnees art is so new yet nostalgic. Having darwyn Cooke be hands down my favorite artist at times Chris brings that feeling back.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story is a fun pulpy romp, but a bit of a mess. The art is top notch.

[Jack Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Samnee's art is a beautiful as always, but the story suffers as it feels like the first volume of a larger story.

[Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waid and Samnee can do no wrong.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and enjoyable adventure by one of my favorite comic writers.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A ton o' fun!

[Zach Rust · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably my favorite of the Rocketeer comics I’ve read so far. Samnee does an incredible job portraying the high-flying action of the Rocketeer. Plus, who doesn’t love dinosaurs?

[Peter Schott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rocketeer – Cargo of Doom follows the adventures of Cliff Secord, also known as The Rocketeer. Our story opens with Sally, the young assistant around the airport, trying to pass a plane inspection when the inspector gets a little too personal. Sally fends him off, but triggers a parachute releasing and wrapping itself around the plane as a result. Peabody sees the plane in trouble and calls for Cliff to suit up and rescue them as The Rocketeer. After helping Sally land the plane, Cliff lets them go. The inspector blusters a little but leaves before Sally tells exactly what happened. We then cut to a mysterious cargo ship on the ocean, carrying a dangerous load. All we see when someone inspects the load are two eyes, followed by the foolish person losing both hands with a terrifying scream.

The story flips back and forth between Cliff and Betty (his girl), the problems at the airport with the government inspectors, and the cargo ship with its master. We are introduced to a new inspector for the government, Earl, who seems to take a dislike to Cliff. The Rocketeer is smoked out, only to have his rocket stolen. Cliff’s identity is revealed to Earl. Cliff and Earl leave to get the rocket back and the mysterious cargo is revealed along the way.

We’re introduced to some very pulp-feeling storylines at this point, involving fabulous beasts, death rays, cliff-hangers, narrow escapes, and good against evil in a race to the finish. Of course, it’s a Rocketeer story so the ending may be somewhat predictable, but no worse because of it.

My thoughts: There are definitely some moments where suspending disbelief may be more necessary than others. The cargo that’s revealed is definitely one of them. However, when taken in the spirit of a pulp adventure, the whole story works. The battles are never a foregone conclusion with both sides being surprised by the changes in circumstances along the way. There are moments when it seems all hope is lost, but somehow the heroes are able to come back and resume the fight. The story ends with some foreshadowing of trials to come, but overall on a satisfactory note. I would definitely recommend this for fans of the Rocketeer or people who might want to read a Rocketeer story. I found the story easy to pick up without requiring a lot of background knowledge about the characters. There is only one scene that might be a little disturbing for younger readers when a person loses his hands, though even that isn’t as graphic as it could have been.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a preview copy with no expectations from the publisher. The thoughts expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced by anyone else.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following in the footsteps of a distinct, unique creator like the late Dave Stevens is difficult. Stevens' Rocketeer stories are amongst my favorite comics of all time, and it breaks my heart that, between his slow, meticulous methods and market indifference, we only have two complete stories from him. Since his passing, IDW has published two anthologies of short stories by other creators featuring the character. Cargo of Doom, by award-winning creators Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, is the first new full-length Rocketeer story in decades, and the first by creators other than Dave Stevens. Fortunately, Waid and Samnee draw on Stevens as inspiration to a large enough degree that this feels like a legitimate addition to the series, while telling the story in their own style to prevent too many comparisons to Stevens' style and inevitably coming up short.

Like Stevens' two stories, Waid pays homage to the classic pulp fiction and movies of the era without naming names. Just as the Rocketeer's rocket pack was invented by (an unnamed) Doc Savage, here we see Doc's arch-nemesis John Sunlight drawn into the story. We also have the fantastic image of the Rocketeer fighting dinosaurs from King Kong's Skull Island on the streets of Los Angeles.

More importantly, perhaps, we get to see more of Cliff Secord's relationships with his friends, particularly the complicated relationship between Cliff and girlfriend Betty. Waid gives voice to these characters completely in keeping with Stevens' work, but fleshes out and deepens them as well. He also introduces a couple of new characters. In fact, my one real concern about this series is that it ends on a note that seems to be setting things up for the future. With IDW's current format for the Rocketeer being a series of miniseries by different creators, I do hope that the stuff Waid sets up here pays off down the line.

I have absolutely no concerns about Samnee's art. On the surface, his clean, stripped down style is worlds away from Stevens' art, focusing more on the interplay between light and shadow than the meticulous detail that Stevens was known for. However, both share a similar storytelling sensibility, influenced by the great artists of the past, and that makes Samnee a logical collaborator for Waid on this story.

While in a perfect world, we would have a lot more Rocketeer stories by Dave Stevens, and he would still be with us, producing even more himself. However, that's not going to happen. If the only way we can get Rocketeer stories is if they are done by other creators, I'm okay with that, as long as they are as well-done as this.

[Dani Shuping · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cliff Secord, also known as the Rocketeer, is back once again to save the day. And boy will he need all of his tricks to survive this caper. A mysterious cargo ship is about to pull into the city and they've come for one thing...the Rocketeer himself. And the cargo they carry is the most dangerous thing the Rocketeer has ever faced before, and even he might not survive it. On top of that he's having to deal with Government Inspectors and a fight with his girl Betty! What's a guy to do? Here's hoping that The Rocketeer can find some new tricks before everything is over.

I have to admit this is the first Rocketeer story I've read. I saw the 1990's film and loved it and always meant to go back and read the classic stories, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. But when I had a chance to read this story I jumped at it and I loved 85% of it. The action and the down to earth vibe of Cliff as the Rocketeer is just what I expected, and that's probably my favorite part about the Rocketeer is that he isn't really a superhero...he's just a simple guy trying to do the best he can in the world. That 15% that I didn't like, well the story was a little bit more sci-fi than I thought it would be with the weird cargo and death rays and things that just made me think....eh. Now like I said I haven't read any of the original stories so maybe that's a part of the lore, it just threw me for a bit here.

If you're a fan of the Rocketeer or just want to find out more about him, this is a great story to jump into. I recommend this book with 3.5 out of 5 stars.

ARC provided by NetGalley

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little story, true to the spirit of Dave Stevens' Rocketeer, which leaves you with a sense of "continuence". A new (on-going?) character is introduced and one that had appeared previously grows up, and damn did she grow up ni-ice. Betty does come off as a bit too possessive and jealous. But, darn it, not a single appearance by Butch (at least I think that was his name) the Bull-Dog.
The villains are new, but fit right in... just stupid enough to want to fit rocket packs to the back of dinosaurs. Nice referencing and tie-in to King Kong.

The art is nice, though some better referencing to the dinosaurs would have been a plus. As it is, they come off a little bit too cartoony. Not to say that cartoony is bad, (after all, where else would you see dino-rocket-monsters other than in cartoons?), but a more closely "realistic" depiction of the dinos would have made them a bit more scary... oh, and mixing herbivorous and carnivorous dinos together, well, that's just wrong.

Still, all-in-all, I do think Stevens would approve.