Jupiter Jet is published by Action Lab Entertainment. It is written by Jason Inman and Ashley Victoria Robinson.
Within the first few pages, I was on board with this comic. I immediately got that 1950s-60s cartoon vibe. And even though I’m a 90s kid, I have a lot of love for those old cartoons. With their golly gee’s, out of place action sounds, and just the generally happy and light vibe they gave with their quirky characters. Jacky (Jupiter Jet, though that isn’t her name yet) literally says “ne’erdowells” on the second page and the whole comic screams 50s. That’s by no means a bad thing.
I think it really says something about a comic when all you have to do is pick it up and read it to know the time period. Jason Inman and Ashley Victoria Robinson give us plenty of language and environmental clues (clothing, cars, buildings, etc) for us to figure out what kind of world we are in right now, as opposed to GIANT BLOCK LETTERS, brightly colored, of course, to make sure we know when and where something is taking place.
Jacky is a teenage, 1950s Robin Hood. She found this amazing device (a functional jetpack) and with the help of her master tinkerer brother, Chuck, steals from the rich bad guys and gives to the poor. Though, she’s still getting the hang of it. During the thwarting of a bad guy lackey transporting lots of cash, Jacky and Chuck find they have actually stolen something unexpected.
A green, glowing gem. Neither of them know what it is or what it does, nor do they know the danger they have just inserted themselves in to. She isn’t always flying around with her jetpack, though. We see Jacky as she helps out the people around her as herself. Small but meaningful gestures, like giving someone an important car part for free or giving their elderly waitress a really big tip. We are also introduced to Jacky’s loving uncle Gabriel, as well as Mr. Bramante, a man whom their father owed a tremendous debt and is clearly someone you don’t want to be owing debts to.
We are brought up to speed on Jacky’s life, such as her father passing, with simple dialogue and conversation. We aren’t given a million flashbacks, in fact, there’s only one panel that’s an actual flashback scene. Instead, we watch as the characters go about their day while the conversation grows and so too does our understanding of Jacky and her family. I also love the slang that they use. To be honest, growing up in the south, I couldn’t help but to apply a rural accent to everyone and that made me really happy. I mean, uncle Gabriel owns a farm, so I feel like a rural accent shouldn’t be too far off the mark.
While I really liked seeing her in her everyday life, I was pretty bummed that she really wasn’t in her aviator outfit with her jetpack on for very long. I know that whole “not all heroes where capes” thing. I get it. But it’s how she looks on the cover and the jetpack is a big deal apparently and I guess I just expected to see more of it. Also, there’s a really strange wardrobe change that doesn’t add up between page 6 and 8. Jacky changes out of her aviator gear and into a pink cardigan, a white blouse, and a black skirt with white polka dots on one page, then two pages later she’s walking around town in a long, poufy pink dress and a pink jacket. So…what just happened?
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
One of the best parts of this comic is the mini comic at the end telling the origin of the jetpack. It’s only part one though, so as we learn our current tale, we will learn the past leading up to it at the same time without it interfering with the main story.
Make sure you pick up a copy of Jupiter Jet #1 from your local comic store!
Happy reading!
