In Review: The Rocketeer: The Great Race #4 (of 4)

Synopsis:  This is it: the Rocketeer versus the Iron Baron in a race to the death for the ultimate prize! Betrayal and danger abound, relationships crumble, and new allies are revealed! Who will emerge the final victor of The Great Race?

The Story

Having ditched Nkosi’s plane for his rocket pack in the last issue. Cliff is in pursuit of The Iron Baron and must do what he can to prevent the Nazi pilot from winning the competition. As he gets close the Iron Baron disrupts the flight path of an innocent passenger plane in order to create a diversion. With a little help from fellow racer, Debbie Seville. Cliff who has now revealed himself to her as Rocketeer manages to correct the plane’s flight path.

Now all cliff has to do is stop The Iron Baron from winning the race, but will he have time left to get back to Nkosi’s experimental plane and win the race?

The Artwork

Stephen Mooney continues to capture the look and spirit of the original Dave Stevens strips, which this book is celebrating. The panels where Cliff is doing his heroic thing are brilliantly done as we see him correct the flight path of a passenger plane, and then see him put an end to the Iron Baron’s chances of winning the race. We also get some great panels in which Cliff has a fist fight with Iron Baron. The way in which Mooney manages to capture Cliff’s eyes through the helmet he is wearing is brilliant.

I also loved the artwork in the book’s epilogue in which we see some American soldiers being briefed about what is to come.

Overall

This has been a great four-issue story of Rocketeer and writer and artist Stephen Mooney has done a brilliant job of capturing the pulp feel of the character and feeling of what was a much simpler time. The portrayal of the relationship between Cliff Secord and Betty and how they got caught up in this adventure was done so well. I even enjoyed the final few panels where we see Peevy trying to figure out if the Rocket pack can be fixed.

Overall. These four issues make a great addition to my collection of books and comics about this particular character.