Jupiter Jet #1 Review

Jupiter Jet #1
Written by Jason Inman & Ashley Victoria Robinson
Art by Ben Matsuya
Colors by Mara Jayne Carpenter
Letters by Taylor Esposito
Published by: Action Lab

A review by Stacy Dooks

There are certain things I look for in a genre property when I’m about to invest my hard-earned dollar. Like you, I’m a wary consumer when it comes to imbibing new entertainments and I do my best to be selective about things. For me, the primary draw of any piece of entertainment is fun. Maybe it’s a holdover from when I was a kid and the first weekend of September would roll around and my brother and I would watch the specials promoting the upcoming cartoons on Saturday morning television, but I still tend to judge my entertainment by the wow factor. Certain criteria hold a bigger draw than others, but it doesn’t take a clinically trained psychiatrist to observe that if a creator puts a jet pack on the cover or label of their product Stacy will show up. So it is with Jupiter Jet #1.

Jacky Johnson and her brother Chuck run a repair shop in the city and are struggling to make ends meet after the death of their father. This is complicated by the fact that before he died his father was in debt to some very shady characters, however they do have one advantage: a jet pack. Using it, Jacky has become the Soaring Sweetheart (she realizes the name needs work) and has been robbing from the rich to give to the poor. But when a mysterious gem falls into their possession during one of their heists it draws the attention of nefarious forces that may have a connection to what happened to her father. Will our heroine learn the truth about her father’s death? Can she and her brother determine the sinister purpose behind the gem? And will she ever figure out a decent code name?

This comic is a hoot. Jupiter Jet #1 reminds me strongly of the halcyon days of my youth watching Tailspin on the Disney afternoon or the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. It’s also an adventure that’s very much a spiritual niece of The Rocketeer, and I love the idea of the jet pack falling into the hands of kids who use it ostensibly to help themselves help others. The writing by Inman and Robinson convey that these heroic kids are just that: kids, and maybe getting in more than a little over their heads but still plucky and resolved enough to take on the challenges ahead. The art by Ben Matsuya conveys that Saturday Morning/Weekday Afternoon cartoon feeling and his work with expressions and visual gags are sure to keep readers young and old entertained. The colors by Carpenter pop and add to the larger than life feel of the work and the lettering is accessible enough to balance the demands of expository dialogue and action banter in equal measure.

Verdict:
Buy It! Jupiter Jet #1 is the kind of fun adventure series we don’t get nearly enough of these days: angst-free, bright, and full of optimism and a love of thrilling derring-do. If you’re looking for some fun to add to your comics pile, this comic delivers. Recommended.