This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 24, 2012.

The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures

By Dave Stevens – IDW Publishing – October 2009

Review by Robin Marx

Like many people, I first encountered The Rocketeer through the 1991 movie. The character seemed so pitch-perfect that I took it for granted that he dated back to the golden age of pulp, so it was surprising to find out that his first appearance was as late as 1982.

This volume collects the entirety of the all-too-brief comic series, cut short by creator Dave Stevens's death from leukemia at 52. And it's great, my only complaint it that there isn't more of it. The pace is fast, the action exciting, and the whole tone of the series is exhilarating and fun. I especially appreciated the sly references to pulp heroes like The Shadow, distinctive horror actor Rondo Hatton, and pinup queen Bettie Page. The artwork, complete with remastered color, is stunning as well.

Highly recommended to pulp adventure fans.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 24, 2012.

Rocketeer Adventures Volume 1

By Various – IDW – December 14, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

This anthology series resurrects the Rocketeer, a great character that had been largely out of action since creator Dave Stevens's fatal bout with cancer.

The talent tapped for this miniseries make a valiant effort to deliver adventure yarns in the spirit of the original. While the final product is well worth a read, living up to the creator's original work proves an impossible task. There's some great storytelling on display—particularly with one story hinting about the Rocketeer's Pacific War exploits—but the artwork is a bit weak for some stories. And while anthology stories are nice, I missed the longer plots from the first series.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 19, 2016.

The Man of Bronze (Doc Savage #1)

By Kenneth Robeson (House Name)/Lester Dent – Street & Smith – March 1, 1933

Review by Robin Marx

I had heard a bit about the titular “Man of Bronze,” but had never previously had the chance to read one of the stories. As a fan of pulp fiction I read this, the first of the Doc Savage novels, with great interest.

Both the characters and the story lived up to expectations. Doc Savage was, as expected, a paragon of mankind. He's a genius with the physique of an Olympian. His close friends—a lawyer, geologist, chemist, historian, etc.—are equally as remarkable, but I found it interesting that even in their chosen specialties, they're still second to Savage himself. Savage is basically perfect. And while this would grate in many forms of literature, it's easy to accept in pulp fiction from this time period. Savage is JUST that good.

While I had a bit of trouble keeping Savage's five friends straight (some have more of a presence in the story than others), I enjoyed their first adventure. The pace was brisk and it involved both strange assassins and the treasures of a lost Mayan civilization deep in the jungle. Just the kind of thing I was looking for when I picked up this book.

This book is a product of its time, but I was pleasantly surprised with how the Mayans were treated in this book. They weren't all ignorant savages, many of them were shown to be intelligent, civilized, and generous. They worked with the main characters and had agency, rather than being presented as inferior cannon fodder. There's only one named female character in the book, but she too is shown to be bright and resourceful, and is never reduced to a mere victim or damsel in distress.

I found the ending to be a bit abrupt, but the heroics and breakneck pace of the story appealed a great deal. I look forward to reading future installments in the series.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 6, 2012.

Secret Operative K-13

By Joel Townsley Rogers – Black Dog Books – April 17, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

Set during World War I, this pulp tale (serialized in Everybody's Magazine from late 1928 to early 1929) focuses on a British spy far behind German enemy lines and the Sopwith Camel pilot (Richard “Big Dick” Fahrnestock) sent on a suicide mission to rendezvous with the enigmatic operative.

From the earliest pages, this book has a considerable amount of cheese, with General von Schmee speaking like Colonel Klink. Monocles abound. Keeping things fair, the British and American characters are also heavily stereotyped. The British squadron commander is straight out of Blackadder Goes Forth (“Eh, what?”) and Big Dick Farhnestock is the epitome of the big, dumb-as-a-brick, tough-as-nails American hero. The espionage plot is functional but not spectacular, with enough twists (and a couple obvious ones) to provide a few surprises over the course of the book.

One of the exciting things about pulp fiction is that it often surprises you; many pulp stories are much better than you'd expect them to be. They were churned out at a brisk pace by writers who were generally more interested in paying that month's bills than creating anything of any lasting artistic value. Even so, a fraction of these stories stand the test of time, presenting a surprisingly original character or presenting a beautifully rendered action sequence. Unfortunately, this is not quite up to that level. The first 75% of it is enjoyable dumb fun, but the climax is so gripping that the story as a whole actually suffers. The last quarter of the book reveals Joel Townsley Rogers as a fairly talented writer, which makes me wonder why there was so much cheesiness in the earlier chapters. Laziness? Tight deadlines?

Released for the first time in book form by Black Dog Books, I'd only recommend this to existing pulp fans. It's a fun story, but too uneven.

★★★☆☆

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