The Precinct #1
Written by Frank J. Barberie
Art by Crizam Cristhian Zamora
Dynamite Entertainment
This was supposed to be the comic I have long dreamed of; a steampunk tale filled with scalding plumes of steam, and metal creations of fascination.
And, there are elements of that here.
But the characters are so clichéd and generally unlikeable that the fun of the steampunk storyline gets lost very quickly in a wave of ‘I don’t care’.
The detective here is Mortimer Hill, and he simply is not a character that has a single panel in the entire book where he is likeable.
I’ll grant that Sherlock Holmes, a favourite character of mine, is not without elements that make him less than completely likeable, but there are aspects you do.
With Hill, he could get ran over by a stampeding herd of steam powered bunnies, and I’d cheer on the bunnies for a job well done.
Even Hill’s mechanical arm just seems clichéd here.
Acolyte Josephine Winters joins Hill in the case as a representative of the Alchemy Academy, a quasi-religious, part university and part unknown organization. Again she is a cliché.
Writer Frank J. Barberie just rolls out a rather bland story which dashed my dream of some steampunk wonderful. I might chance a second issue, but it will need to quickly give me someone in the book to care about past maybe the steam-powered Minotaur of destruction.
As it is, The Precinct is 24-pages of missed opportunity.
The Rocketeer at War #1
Written by Marc Guggenheim
Art by Dave Bullock
IDW Publishing
Jet packs and Nazis, that is the stuff of great pulp, and I love pulp.
The Rocketeer has the feel of a much older pulp hero. You might think him from the era of The Shadow, but he is actually a more recent creation, albeit as a homage to the Saturday morning serial heroes of the 1940s and ‘50s. He was created by Dave Stevens, first appearing in 1982.
This is the latest offering starring the Rocketeer, and there is plenty to like here, and a few things which left me wanting more too.
To start the ’subscription cover’ offering by Nick Bradshaw is outstanding. It is the piece of art I’d want framed and on my man cave wall, if I were rich and had the man cave I day dream of all too often. Stunning pulp art at its best.
Which leads to where I was left wanting.
Dave Bullock’s art never lives up to what I think Bradshaw would have done had he been given the book.
That is not to say Bullock’s art is bad, but it isn’t particularly inspiring either.
Marc Guggenheim writes a solid story. There are spies, and stolen tech, and a flying Nazi, which all get The Rocketeer back in the skies, so there is lots of action ahead, or at least there should be.
And, then adding to the overall package, and it is a great addition, is the first of what will be a serialized story sans art; ‘The Rivet Gang’ by Lisa Morton.
I often think pulp works best without the art, and Morton’s story actually grabbed me more than the main illustrated work.
With two stories to follow, well that’s just a bonus isn’t it, making The Rocketeer a book well worth seeking out.
