This week I finished reading a trade that has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year, Rocketo Vol. 1 by Frank Espinosa.

(The edition that I have i a trade published by Image collecting the first six issues of the series by the same name, originally published in 2006.)

I don’t really know the reason that it has taken me so long to get around to this book, it has everything that I normally like, (highly sylized art reminisant of animation, high action adventure with a Sci/fi twist,) but I think that it is the size of the trade (approx. eleven inches long and seven wide) that made me ignore it for so long, and while it was annoying to read, it was worth it.

Rocketo is the story of a man by the same name, Rocketo Garrison, who lives two thoudsand years after dooms day on an earth that looks nothing like ours. Rockto is what is called a Mapper, one of the few people in the world who can navigate the new world with the help of the compass that he was born with in his hand. See, in this new  world, there is no magnetic force to point to north, so there can be no man made compasses.

young Rocketo and his mother

Through one of the many maps that Rocketo has made over his long career, he tells us the tale of “The Journey to the Hidden Sea.” He begins in his youth, of his life with his father and mother, through his involvement in a war, and finally to his teaming up with his old partner, the dog man Spiro, to go to the fables hidden sea.

This book does have it’s problems. At time Espinosa brings the story to a snails pace.  I found myself bored with the story here and there, wishing that we could get to the next bit of adventure, but these moments were saved by the absolutely STUNNING art work. I found that in these dull moments I could take a moment and just love the beautiful page laid out before me.

Not only is the line work here just stunning, but the color is plain mind boggling. The pallet used in this book, mostly light pastels and washes, adds a wonderful sense of other worldliness the really fleshes out the story.

One of the things here that did take some getting used to was the way that Espinosa chose to letter the book.

example of word balloon

As you can see by the picture on the left, often there were no balloons at all, only tails.  This really took some getting used to, I found it jarring for the first chapter or so, but once I became used to it, the book suddenly read a lot smoother.

In the end though, the biggest problem I had with this book was that it was only volume one. I have gotten used to trades that have self contained stories in them, and so when I got to the end of this volume, only to find one heck of a cliff hanger I was a little shocked, but it was good enough to make me order the second volume from my local comic book shop (I try to always support my local businesses,)  and I will talk more about the story once I have read volume two.

I do have to say that this is one of the more enjoyable books I have read in the last little while, and I really do recommend picking it up if you see it anywhere, and I advise you don’t do what I did and leave it on your shelf for a year, but dive right in and become immersed in the world of Rocketo.