Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #3, 4, by Mark Waid (writer), Chris Samnee (artist), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Shawn Lee (letterer) - I don't know if Samnee intended it that way, but the covers sort of go together. Two different perspectives on the same moment. Sort of. It'd be more accurate if there was a background for #3's cover.Cliff manages to avoid being thrown to hungry dinosaurs by triggering his rocket and slamming the evil guy into the roof of the ship's hold. This also lights the guy on fire, and the fire spreads to all the crates. The goons, being stupid goons, elect to punch Cliff rather than fight the fire or help their boss. The fire triggers explosives in the crates, the dinosaurs escape, and before the evil guy dies, he asks Cliff to stop the dinosaurs using Lucy 34. Cliff is befuddled, but fortunately the captain realizes the guy meant Blue C-34. This moment of discovery is ruined as the dinos escape the ship and move into downtown L.A. Cliff finds the appropriate crate, and it's a super-awesome ray gun. Perfect for frying dinosaurs. And off Cliff goes. You know, the connection went down as I typed that last sentence. Serves me right for joking about it.
Anyway, Cliff flits about zapping dinosaurs, until it runs out, or breaks. Sally and Earl arrive, and Sally's at least able to rewire it to explode, thanks to Betty buzzing the T-Rex with Cliff's plane as a distraction. Cliff tosses the gun in its mouth, the dino explodes, problem solved. Cliff and Betty reconcile, Betty and Sally bury the hatchet, Earl helps Sally enlist, but Earl is also receiving angry phone calls from a shadowy figure with bad teeth and a severe underbite. Oh well, that's his problem.
I feel that not being familiar with pulp heroes is leaving me in the dark a lot. I know from reading it somewhere that it was Doc Savage in the comics who built the rocket, not Howard Hughes. So I assume the bad guy on the ship is one of his old foes, name of John Sunli-. But it doesn't mean anything to me. Honestly, with what the captain said about the guy telling you to do something and it getting in your head, I'd think he was a foe of the Shadow, who I do know Cliff met. I recognized him in in the Rocketeer trade I bought two years ago. I don't think all that really hurts this as a Rocketeer story, necessarily, but I have a definite sense this is supposed to be one small skirmish in a much larger struggle between a bunch of people I don't recognize. It's a frustrating feeling.I'm also not entirely happy with how Betty gets framed as the bad guy between her, Cliff, and Sally. It's mostly Peevy, and I understand why he's doing it, but she still got a raw deal. It was a change of pace to see Cliff as the calm one for once.
Chris Samnee draws dinosaurs very well. That panel of the T-Rex bursting up through the deck of the ship especially. His sailors are pretty good, too. They look how I picture sailors from that era would. Big, scruffy, kind of ugly. The guy in the red-and-black striped shirt has a sort of McCrea vibe to him, like he wouldn't be out of place at Noonan's. Maybe it's his teeth and big, punched in nose.
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