Review - Rocket Girl, Vol. 1: Times Squared TPReview by Paul Fiander
|
|
There needs to be an idea behind it. We can't just decide to do a comic without any premise. We just can't come up with a cool name...something like...I don't know....Rocket girl..without ther being a story to back it up. |
Wait. What's Rocket Girl Brandon and Amy, Circa 2012 |
Sample art from Rocket Girl #1 |
Sometimes ideas come to you and from the initial spark great things can happen. The quote above is from the opening pages of the trade and gives an insight into the creators process as well as the genesis of Rocket Girl. The trade itself comprises the first five issues which makes up the first arc. Along with the actual story you do get a further insight into the creative process in the back matter as you are given the inner workings of the creators. Its fairly brief but still a nice look at the work behind the scenes.
The story revolves around Dayoung Johansson a member of the New York Junior Police Department, the junior is an important part as our main protagonist is fifteen years of age. It seems that in the future adults are less than trustworthy and so it is up to teenagers to protect and serve. It's a novel concept and one that is partially explored within the narrative, although it would be great to find out more. Even though some of the story is told from an alternative 2013 the bulk of the narrative takes place in 1986. The time traveling element gives the story a fish out of water feel, however with Dayoung we have an interesting lead who seems more than equipped to survive on dry land. Obviously her age makes up a large portion of the angst that she finds with the New Yorkers of 1986. In between her mission of trying to save the future our futuristic cop spends some time cleaning up the streets of New York and for this gains the respect of many an everyday citizen. Dayoung’s main mission revolves around trying to stop the questionable Quintum Mechanics Megacorporation before they are able to become a dominant force in the world. It’s not a complex plot and we don’t really get too deep into the time traveling mechanics. Overall though the story is pure and simple fun it jumps from the present to the future (Dayoungs Past) at regular intervals. A lot of the appeal of this book however is the art of Amy Reeder, she is an artist I’m unfamiliar with but thanks to her amazing sense of motion I will certainly keep my eye out for her other work. The panel structure also helps to give the art a sense of movement as she is not seemingly tied to any structure. Look out for an underground scene in particular which is certainly the visual highlight for me. From a vague beginning Rocket Girl has developed into a fun time traveling romp. With a great lead in Dayoung it feels like a comic with legs and I can not wait to see how the next arc plays out. Rating; 4.5/5The Comic is available in print from Image comics. Follow this link for more details.
|
More Image Trades
Images courtesy of Image Comics
Comic - Provided by Publisher
Comic - Provided by Publisher
