It's always refreshing when you pick up a book by a small indy publisher and it's actually quite good. That was the case with Rocket Girl #2.
Of course, being a creator for a smally indy publisher, such as Pickle Press, isn't always condusive to keeping a regular publishing schedule, unfortunately. I think it was back in 2003 that I read Rocket Girl #1. I was pleasantly surprised to see issue #2 sitting on the shelf when I walked into my local comic book shop last week.
This issue pretty much picks up right where #1 left off. Thankfully, it's not really a necessity that you remember the events of issue #1. There's just the right amount of reference to the first issue in this book that you can get the gist of what you may have missed and it doesn't take away anything from the story.
Rocket Girl, a.k.a. Polly Harris, has had the hots for the local super-hero in Silver City - The Fire Chief, ever since she can recall. In an effort to attract the attention of The Fire Chief, she decides that she'll become a super-hero as well! Hence Rocket Girl is born!
In this issue, Rocket Girl gets her new duds. Her uncle, it turns out, is quite knowledgeable in the science of rocketry. He not only hooks her up with her made mode of transportation, but also develops a lot of other cool gadgets for her to wear while fighting the local baddies, things like rocket launcher gauntlets that also increase her gripping and punching power and enable her to generate a force field.
As one might imagine, Polly is quite enthused about her new toys and is eager to try them out. The next sequence of events is akin to Peter Parker first discovering his powers in the Spider-Man movie. Polly manages to figure out the necessities, like how to steer and how to turn off the rockets, just in time to avert a disaster...usually.
In her first try out, she even stops Gravity Girl from robbing a bank, although, she didn't purposefully do so. Gravity Girl, however, demands some payback for being knocked unconscious by Rocket Girl. She goes on a wrecking spree, the sole purpose of which is to draw Rocket Girl out into the open. It works. And just as this issue is ending, Gravity Girl has the distinct upper hand (pun intended).
All-in-all, even though this is the second issue, it's a solid jumping on point. It does a great job of setting Polly's motivations and introducing the reader to the various other assorted "supers" in Silver City. The story's fun and the art is beautiful.
