Cliff Secord is finally finished with the rocket, and off on an around-the-world aerial rally! But is he really done with helmeted heroics? Your Major Spoilers review of The Rocketeer: The Last Race #1 from IDW Publishing awaits!

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THE ROCKETEER: THE LAST RACE #1

Writer: Stephen Mooney
Artist: Stephen Mooney
Colorist: Len O’Grady
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editor: Scott Dunbier
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: April 6, 2022

Previously in The Rocketeer: The Last Race: Ace stunt pilot Cliff Secord has returned from his New York Adventure to a West Coast steeped in paranoia over the looming war in Europe. Having finally had enough of his near-death scrapes as the high-flying Rocketeer, the only thing in Cliff’s crosshairs is The Great Race: a prestigious, winner-take-all air race that runs from California to France! Maybe it’s finally time to smarten up and fly straight by taking his best girl Betty to Paris!

But other parties want to win the race for their own nefarious ends, and Cliff will need to decide which prize is truly the most valuable of all.

SHOT DOWN BY ENEMY AGENTS

As this issue opens, Cliff and his cantankerous mentor Peevy hear radio reports of German soldiers in the hills above Los Angeles. Even though he claims to be over and done with his rocket-pack days, Cliff once again puts on his helmet and takes to the skies as The Rocketeer. He confirms the presence of would-be insurgents, but takes a bullet right in his fuel tank, blowing him out of the sky. It seems like all is lost for The Rocketeer, but he manages to not die and finally give up his adventuring life. He swears to his girl Betty that he’s going straight and giving up his life-threatening thrill-seeking ways. Of course, Cliff never counted on being courted by a legendary aviation engineer to pilot his experimental craft in a round-the-world marathon race. Faced with a difficult decision, The Rocketeer has to do the grown-up thing and tell Betty the truth, only to be surprised when she tells him he has to do it, and that she’ll go with him to Paris!

Of course, if he’s done with his Rocketeering, you have to ask why Peevy has repaired the rocket and upgraded his helmet… and why Cliff has packed it for his journey.

“ALL THE SANE PILOTS TURNED ME DOWN”

I’m always a little torn when a property as personal as The Rocketeer outlives its creator, as Dave Stevens’s specific vision is what made it all work in the first place. Without him, some Rocketeer stories have felt a little mercenary, but I’m glad I picked this issue up, in spite of those worries. Mooney has a really good ear for the characters and their ’30s-inspired voices, especially Peevy, and the story here does something that some continuations don’t, opening a new horizon without going too far. The Rocketeer is, by nature, not Superman or Batman, and so the “falling backward into a new adventure while trying to turn over a new leaf” fits well with his established world. The art isn’t quite to the level of beauty that Stevens could generate, but Mooney’s work is good, giving us a suitably glamorous Betty and action sequences that feel more down-to-Earth than a pure superhero comic. The issue also has a truly engaging backup feature, relating the oral history behind the character and his creation, providing the kind of fun behind-the-scenes information that I enjoy.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT DAVE STEVENS, BUT NOT BAD AT ALL

Indeed, the issue’s biggest downside for me is the fact that the art in The Rocketeer: The Last Race #1 is merely lovely, rather than the exquisitely beautiful work of the late Dave Stevens, with a plot that fits with the tone of the character while taking him into new territory, earning a well-deserved 4 out of 5 stars overall. There are going to be readers who can’t bring themselves to read Cliff’s adventures without the original creator, but if you’re able to get past that moment of cognitive dissonance, this is a book well worth your time.

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