"The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom" is a creation of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee from "way back" in 2012. It's a four issue mini-series published by IDW, and it's a fun read. It feels like a classic comic book story, but reads well from a modern reader's point of view.

This is also a great case of putting together a team of top notch talent, and getting a great comic from the work they do together. It's one of those "whole is greater than the sum of its parts" kind of things.

Waid's script keeps the story moving from page to page, with characters that are very easy to root for or against -- sometimes both. Samnee's control of the page and every panel is emphasized and clarified by ace colorist Jordie Bellaire and letterer Shawn Lee. There's no weak link here.

The Art of This Rocketeer

Samnee's storytelling in this book is pitch perfect. He shows a mastery and control of the page and the individual panel layouts that's second to none in this industry these days. Reading the panels of this comic book is like reading the storyboards for a movie, but using all the unique tricks the medium of comics can give you, as well. Your eye glides not only across the page, but also in and out of each panel.

Every page has a unique grid of panels, giving Samnee enough room to make each page unique, but setting up boundaries to force his creativity. He doesn't need any splashy images or crazy layouts to get across the story or show off his art.

Samnee's compositions are three dimensional, always paying attention to the various layers of an image, from the extreme foreground all the way out to the background. At the same time, though, the panels display a remarkable restraint in the way they only contain the information you need. Things are always focused on the moment the panel is meant to show. Everything is done with a purpose. It reminds me a bit of Darwyn Cooke's work, which the latest "Strip Naked Panel" covered so eloquently.

The art, itself, is also well done. Like with the storytelling, the art feels simple, but that's deceptive. Bold brush strokes tell most of the story, with lots of solid black areas to fill in the shadows, but there's also a lot of smaller-lined artwork in here to fill in the backgrounds or to add texture. Characters have a variety of shapes and looks, so are easily differentiated. There's enough blank space on the page to give the colorist a chance to fill in some details and make the art shine. And that, she does. (We'll get there soon, I promise.)

Putting Cliff Secord Through His Paces

Waid's story fits the pulpy origins of the character. The bad guy has a cargo ship filled with dinosaurs that The Rocketeer will eventually have to protect the city from. It's part King Kong/part Jurassic Park. But, hey, it's The Rocketeer versus dinosaurs, which you have to think is the kind of thing Dave Stevens would have eventually gotten around to, had he lived to continue to draw the series. It just fits.

There's also a fair bit of character work here in an Archie-esque love triangle between Cliff Secord, Betty, and Peevy's younger niece, Sally. Betty doesn't come off looking too good in the triangle at all, but it makes for some funny and tense moments to keep Cliff on his toes. Poor guy. It's melodrama, but it fits with the mood and tone of the series, as a whole.

And, to top it all off, Cliff Secord has been grounded from flying, which you know doesn't make his mood any better.

The story is as good as you'd expect from Waid, balancing the character moments with the action beats. The plot feels solid, like all the t's have been crossed and the i's dotted. Even if you've never read a Rocketeer book before, Waid gives you everything in the script you need to understand what's happening.

To top it all off, there's a little twist on the last page that you know will fit in with the story in the next series. I haven't read that next one yet, though, so I don't know if the thread was picked up or not.

Lighting Up Rocketeer's Life and Reading His Thoughts (Colors and Lettering)

Bellaire's colors, as always, are a perfect fit to the story. She keeps things bright, making the art easy to see. Even in the dark hold of the cargo ship, she introduces contrasts in light and color that make everything legible. Nothing gets muddy or washed out.

With the explosions and the dramatic sunrises and sunsets, she adds a bit of texture for flair that works and adds to the art, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. The textures are about as intricate as the art is, which is to say not much at all. It's just what you need, laid out in bold strokes.

Look at the subtle textures in this panel on his helmet and jacket, plus in the sky in the far background and in the flames:

You probably wouldn't see them without someone pointing them out, but you'd definitely feel them as you read the panel.

Lee's lettering is consistent and well-placed. My eye never accidentally stumbled across the wrong panel border. Technically, everything inside those panel borders is strong.

The sound effects look mostly to be hand drawn. I'm guessing Chris Samnee did them on the art, because they blend in and interact with the art in interesting ways. His layouts are printed in the back of the book, so you can go back and see where he had laid them out initially and how close they are to the final results. (Usually, very close...)

In one case, a silhouette of a creature steps in front of the sound effect of its own making, causing a break in the lettering. In another, the flames leaping out of an explosion cross in front of the bottom of the letters in the sound effect. They're not perfect letters, but that's half their charm. They're hand drawn and uneven, and they blend into the art.

It's great to see the art and lettering working so closely together, instead of one being slapped on top of the other almost as an afterthought just to get the job done.

The Collected Edition

"The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom" is available now as a hardcover edition for $25, or digitally for $8. As I mentioned before, it comes complete with all of Samnee's layouts for the series, so it serves as a pre-cursor to his later "Daredevil" Artist's Edition book.

It's a great read about a great character, using all aspects of the comics creation team to make it so. Definitely worth a read if you like this high flying pulp adventure kind of thing.