Monday, June 29, 2009

The Rebirth of a Classic Hero: Buck Rogers #1


In the 24th1/2 century, Duck Dodgers must track down the last element of Illudium Phosdex, the shaving cream atom, and then...oh, wait a minute. Dynamite's new comic is actually a new take on Buck Rogers. Apparently Daffy Duck isn't in it at all. Well, that's embarrassing. I'll start again.

There has been a trend lately in movies, TV, and comics to take awesome old properties and ideas and slather on a coat of 21st century gloss to bring these properties to a new audience. Some of these new takes have been excellent, like the new Star Trek film, and some have been egregiously horrible ruinations of the original property. I'm looking at you Land of the Lost and Transformers. Dynamite has decided to join in on the fun with their latest effort: Buck Rogers, by Scott Beatty and Carlos Rafael.

If you're a fan of any of the previous versions of Buck Rogers, you will recognize many of the elements of this book. Captain Anthony "Buck" Rogers is a daredevil test pilot, who has devoted his life to developing a new form of Gravity Drive that will revolutionize space flight. Something goes wrong on a test flight and Buck ends up crash-landing in the far future. He's pulled from the wreck by an "angel" in a black flight suit named Colonel Wilma Deering, and immediately forced to cope with being thrown into a world that is not his own. If you never heard of Buck Rogers until today, you still know everything you need to know to enjoy this book.

The story is fast moving, with plenty of action, but readers still get to know Buck as a full-fledged character. The art is excellent, with dynamically designed characters. Though if you still aren't sure about whether or not you should pick up this book, just let me say this: in the first issue, Buck and Wilma have to face off against an enormous, talking, cyborg grizzly bear armed with a huge blaster. Oh, and he's got an eye patch. If that doesn't seal the deal, I'm not sure what's wrong with you. Maybe you don't like comics.

So, despite the lack of Daffy Duck's dashing space hero (though Dynamite couldn't really go wrong with a Duck Dodgers comic), Buck Rogers #1 is a great book. This is your chance to be in on the rebirth of a classic hero, at no personal risk. Buck Rogers #1 is guaranteed all week as Four Color Fantasies' Book of the Week. And let me reiterate: CYBORG GRIZZLY BEAR!

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