Buck Rogers #1-3
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Scott Beatty
Artist: Carlos Rafael
Colors: Carlos Lopez
Letters: Simon Bowland
There are so many titles out there that deserve a little limelight. I decided that Buck Rogers from Dynamite Entertainment is a title that warrants some of this illumination.
The only exposure to Buck Rogers I had was from the cheesy 80’s TV show starring Gil Gerrard as Buck.Later on in life I found out that Buck Rogers had been around since 1928. He originally was in comic strips, novellas, and eventually radio and movies.
Still there was that TV show from the 80’s, and I was a little weary. So I was pleasantly surprised to find the comic version of Buck Rogers is almost totally cheese free! I’ve only read issues 1-3 but I am hooked, and plan on following this title as it heats up! There are multiple covers for each issue, with the busiest artist in the biz Alex Ross doing a couple covers for the series. The cover art is great and the interior art is pretty standard, don’t expect any masterpieces inside.
What makes this title truly shine is its writing. There are dual story lines going on in each issue, one following Buck in the future, and events in the past after Buck vanished. Buck’s first encounter in the future is the lovely Colonel Deering, and both of them have a deadly encounter with the Pack! In the past, government agents have tried seizing Buck’s experimental gravity drive.
The writer Scott Beatty is doing a pretty good job with reinventing this classic sci-fi icon, and so far no short stammering robots to be found anywhere! Scott did some writing for Wizard in the mid 90’s, before heading to DC. At DC Scott wrote for numerous Secret Files and Origins, and Batman titles. Lately Scott’s work includes Countdown, and Number of the Beast.
Carlos Rafael’s artwork is pretty standard fare as comics go. Carlos first worked on Rob Zombies Spookshow International, before heading to Dynamite. Carlos worked on multiple Battlestar Galactica titles. He then did a stint on Highlander, and Highlander:Way of the Sword. He did some Red Sonja and Savage Tales for Dynamite right before starting Buck Rogers.
Here is just a little bio of the TV show that ran from 1979-1981. It starred Gil Gerrard as Buck Rogers, Erin Gray as Wilma Deering, and Mel Blanc as Twiki. This show was inspired by the success of Star Wars. It recycled many of its props from the recently canceled Battlestar Galactica. The controls for the ships featured in both shows are the same. It truly was a product of the late 70’s early 80’s, and was stock full of cheese. I hate to admit it but this show is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I still love it.
If you are a science fiction fan, or just want something new that’s not your normal cup of tea, you should add this title to your pull list. I hear that issue 5 will be the perfect jumping on point for those of you who can’t find the back issues!
Scott Andrews
scott@comicattack.net
I’ve been hearing good things about this title and if the writing is as good as you say it is, i think i can tolerate halfway decent art work! lol
I gave it a whirl and I couldn’t get into it… but that’s just me.
Seeing how I am losing my beloved Fear Agent soon I wanted to jump onto a new sci-fi title. I will admit that I know nothing about Buck and prior to FA i didn’t care for these type of books. However I am so on board this book. It might not have the humor of FA but it is a good read so far. I think the pacing is a little behind. I would have liked to see a full arc on him in the future then work the past back in but it’s okay so far, just seems to slow down the adventure. Make sure to grab #0 as well it was a great intro to the end.