The Fellowship was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of THE
ROCKETEER & THE SPIRIT: PULP FRICTION #1 from IDW Publishing. Mark Waid writes
and Paul Smith draws.
A Central City politician is found murdered on the West
Coast, just hours after his last sighting. The Spirit decides to travel out
there to check into it, with Dolan and Ellen in tow. Funny thing, though – the
body was found by Betty, the lady friend of one Cliff Secord, who operates in
secret as the Rocketeer. After some hints as to who is responsible, we get to
witness the first meeting of our two heroes, mistaken identities and all. And
it is quite a battle…
Waid and Smith do an absolutely wonderful job of matching
the look and feel of the era in this first issue. The dialogue is top notch,
and the art looks like it’s straight out of the funny papers of the time. The
heroes feel genuine, too, which I see as a necessity with characters as iconic
as these guys. As I said, there is a bit of foreshadowing, but the mystery
remains intact through this issue.
Not only is this the beginning of a ripping tale of epic
heroes of yesteryear, it’s also a well-crafted tribute to those same heroes as
well as their creators. Grab this one, and the whole series as well.
THE ROCKETEER & THE SPIRIT: PULP FRICTION #1 is
available now at your LCS or online at idwpublishing.com.
~Mike ( @MikeyGeek )
