The Rocketeer: The Island #4
“The King and I”
Writer: John Layman (after Dave Stevens)
Artist: Jacob Edgar
Colorist: K.J. Diaz
Sometimes you read a comic where nothing is different at the end than when it started. You would think that would be frustrating—and sometimes it is—but there can be times where the book in question was so fun that you don’t care.
The Rocketeer: The Island is the latter.
Missing Persons Found
Cliff Secord, the Rocketeer, has found Amelia Earhart! Actually, she found him. Good thing, too, since she has the tools needed to fix his damaged rocket pack. With that, they escape the gigantic dinosaur King Bloodscale, who rules the island.
Meanwhile, Cliff’s on-again-off-again squeeze Betty learns that the monstrous Kong isn’t so bad after all. Before long, Cliff is reunited with Betty, but Bloodscale has found them too! Kong and Bloodscale fight, but the ape is quickly overwhelmed. How can Cliff and the rest of his crew help, and who will make it off Skull Island?
Tiny Man, Big Monster
At the start of this series, after the Skull Island reveal, the question I had was, “Just how can the Rocketeer hope to defeat something like King Kong?” The answer, it turns out, was “He can’t, he just needs to survive the experience.”
I’ll never say no to a giant monster fight, so seeing Kong and Bloodscale throw down was a blast. Cliff had little to offer in that fight, but it didn’t stop him from trying. And it was good to see Peevy and Captain Popeye get to do something for a moment during the fight, since they’ve spent the series on the sidelines.
That does lead to one complaint. When the series started, there was a sizable crew of colorful characters traveling with Cliff on the mission to find Amelia Earhart. In the end, only he, Betty, and Amelia herself were of any real consequence. Everyone else barely contributed anything to the story. I’m not sure why Popeye and Tintin had to be there at all, other than the fact that they were probably something that Stevens had really wanted to use.
As I said at the beginning, really nothing changes by the end of this series. Cliff and company of course, survive (spoilers, I guess, but it is pulp, after all), you can guess whether Amelia actually leaves the island or not, and Kong gets his famous title. Oh, and Betty gives Cliff another chance. So if you’re looking for any kind of lasting change to the characters, or really any kind of consequences, you’re not going to find them here.
What you are going to find is a fun, fast-paced adventure in the pulp style with a likeable heroic lead, a damsel in distress, and some giant monsters. The series more than delivers on those fronts.
Cast and Crew
This whole series has been the product of an unfinished idea by late Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens, brought to life at last by John Layman and Jacob Edgar.
Layman keeps the pace quick and pulpy, with each set piece transitioning right to the next. Even the quieter moments still have an urgency to them, which works since Skull Island doesn’t exactly welcome visitors. His take on Cliff and Betty is right in line with the original Stevens works, while the rest of the cast are likeable enough, even if none of them get much development. Kong comes across as the lovable giant ape that he is, and King Bloodscale is suitably menacing. When they fight, you can feel the sheer scale of them.
Part of that is thanks to Edgar’s art. Everything has a cartoony sort of look, so the giant monsters aren’t too scary for the kiddos (if you’re buying your kids a Rocketeer comic, you are winning parenting). There’s still a great sense of movement and size to them, so you never forget how out of his depth Cliff is here. The jungles of Skull Island are lush and beautiful, so I can understand why someone might want to stay there.
The colors by K.J. Diaz keep everything bright and sunny, as befits the tropical setting. No heavy shadows or dark tones here, which works because it’s not that kind of story. It’s all about dashing heroes with a striking look doing what they can against giant monsters, and that’s what we get here. You never forget for a second that you’re reading a pulp tale about a man with a rocket pack on a tropical island, and that’s because the colors never darken or waver.
Who Will Rule
The Rocketeer: The Island #4 wraps the miniseries up in grand fashion, putting the titular hero in a tough spot between the monstrous dinosaur King Bloodscale and everyone’s favorite giant ape Kong. Despite the literal scale of the threats Cliff faces, the issue never forgets that it’s a pulp adventure, delivering escapes and derring-do in equal measure. Dave Stevens would be proud of how the creative team brought his “lost tale” to life here.