In Review: The Rocketeer: Infiltrator! #3 A Prisoner of the Nazis!

Synopsis: The Rocketeer’s MI6 handler is a prisoner of the Nazis! With Betty invited to a dinner of Nazi officers, Cliff will need to protect her without the skills of a trained secret agent to guide him. Can he summon all the talent for subterfuge he never learned as a stunt pilot? God, we hope so…

The Story

Picking up from the last issue, Ballard and Betty have barely escaped from Colonel Boetticher and his men. Meanwhile, Cliff has taken off as the Rocketeer and taken out the plane, giving them and the Maquis a better chance of escape.

Ballard tells the Maquis leader that the Germans have a laser-type weapon capable of destroying an entire village, and he believes they intend to use it. To buy the Maquis time to escape, Ballard and Betty allow themselves to be captured by Boetticher. The colonel immediately has Ballard beaten and condemns him to death, while forcing Betty to join him for dinner alongside film director Elsa Adler. He wants Elsa to film the destruction of the village, capturing the murder of the Maquis and innocent bystanders.

Can the Rocketeer save Betty, Elsa, and Ballard? Of course he can. But you’ll have to read the comic to find out how.

Artwork

Dean Kotz continues to hit it out of the park with the artwork in this book. The highlight for me is seeing Ballard strapped to the Nazi weapon, delivering a series of one-liners that convey his devil-may-care attitude. Also fun is the motorcycle chase that opens the issue, particularly how well Kotz draws the period motorcycles used by both the Maquis and the Nazis.

Overall

This was another fantastic example of pulp storytelling, with all the staples and set pieces that make the genre so enjoyable for readers and comic fans. I loved seeing Adler make a move on Cliff, only to have her advances rejected. Also fun was the diabolical image of Ballard tied to the Nazi superweapon, accompanied by Colonel Boetticher’s line about killing two birds with one stone. I look forward to seeing how they resolve this month’s cliffhanger.