Rocket Girl #5 – Review

By: Brian Montclare (story), Amy Reeder (art)

The Story: I saw the lights go out in New York City…

The Review: I don’t think every story in the world has to have a purpose beyond pure entertainment, but it sure can’t hurt for their longevity to have one. It’s kind of a game for me to gauge where in the silly-serious spectrum a story lands, but it’s also an important task for doing a proper review. As I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t weigh every story on the same scale; how I think of a story largely depends on how it wants me to think of it.

After five issues, I’ll hazard a guess that Rocket Girl wants me to think of it as an exciting thrill ride that’s also capable of dangerousness when the occasion calls for it. Vague as the causes of Dayoung’s dissatisfaction with “The Past” were, at least here we can see there are very serious consequences to what she’s doing in “The Present.” A distinct feeling of dread looms over “The Past” as darkness rises from the bottom of the city until all of NYC is in shadow, suggesting that maybe LeShawn was right and Dayoung’s meddling with Qintum’s history did “erase everything this city is built on!”

Rocket Girl #4 – Review

By: Brian Montclare (story), Amy Reeder (art)

The Story: So these two kids walk into a bar…

The Review: Here’s the thing about rockets: they’re great for a thrill ride, but they don’t really let you take in your surroundings. Appropriately enough, that’s been the core strength and weakness of Rocket Girl. Dayoung’s high-speed, chaotic adventures have been almost overwhelmingly fun, like taking one Six Flags coaster after another for five hours straight. At some point, though, you need at least short break to catch your breath for the next ride.

You don’t need much of one—you don’t go to Six Flags to sit on your hams, conversing quietly—and this issue gives us just enough calm in the scene where Gomez and LeShawn assess the situation in a bar. It’s here that, maybe for the first time in the series, you get a more nuanced idea of who these characters really are and what they stand for, which often happens when you separate the supporting players from the star.

Rocket Girl #3 – Review

By: Brandon Montclare (story), Amy Reeder (art)

The Story: If there’s one thing a teen cop can’t stand, it’s a talking-to down at the station.

The Review: In #1, I was curious whether Montclare had made a mistake referring to 2013, the ostensible future of Rocket Girl, as “The Past,” but if it was, then he has made it repeatedly and consistently across the next two issues.  Clearly, there’s meaning in it, and the most obvious one is that Dayoung’s era is destined to become a thing of the past.  But it could also mean that 2013 is only the past for right now, while the real action of the story advances in 1986.

Usually, I’d say this ambiguity doesn’t matter because the necessary outcome is for Dayoung’s 2013 to be altered out of existence anyway, if only to give purpose to her time-traveling.  But now I’m hesitant to make any guesses as to the story’s future, seeing as how this issue purposely upends a lot of your usual expectations for how a story like this is supposed to go.  That’s the way it should be, honestly, even if it does blunt all the analysis a reviewer can bring to the table.

Rocket Girl #2 – Review

By: Brandon Montclare (story), Amy Reeder (art)

The Story: Dayoung starts her mission to save the future from utter perfection.

The Review: As much as I enjoy the melodrama and ridiculousness of time-travel stories, I have to admit that whether the characters are going to the future or the past, the plot always boils down to one thing: changing history.  Sometimes it’s about correcting events that should’ve never happened; other times it’s about avoiding a later outcome too hideous to stand; in pretty much every case, success is guaranteed, since failure would be anticlimactic in the extreme.

If Rocket Girl distinguishes itself from the typical time-traveler’s tale in any way, it’s in how Dayoung’s mission to change the past isn’t premised on righting any noticeable wrongs in her time.  Yes, Quintum Mechanics has obviously been profiting from a contained, self-looping time paradox, but there’s no signs of any corrupted, dystopian society beneath the pristine world Dayoung comes from—quite the opposite actually.

Rocket Girl #1 – Review

By: Brandon Montclare (story), Amy Reeder (art)

The Story: She’s still preoccupied with 1985—I mean, ‘86.

The Review: As much as I like to stress the value of realism in a comic book, there’s a part of me that equally appreciates some good, old-fashioned escapism, too.  Heck, the fact that I read comics at all should be evidence enough of that.  So it’s sometimes disheartening to see how few genuinely fun, melodrama-free titles there are out there.  I mean, I can’t rely solely on Batman ’66 for my monthly dose of good times, can I?

That’s why I tend to think Rocket Girl is tailor-made for people thirsting for pure entertainment like me.  A story about a teenaged time-traveling cop going back to the eighties to stop an evil corporation from retroactively guaranteeing its worldwide dominance?  Montclare-Reeder might as well reach into my wallet and help themselves to some cash, because with that kind of premise, that’s how easy it is for me to sign up.