Rocket Comics is an adventure comics line, which is right up my alley, but it seems to have an artistic house style based around the work of folks like Francisco Herrera and Skottie Young, which isn't. I've sampled a little bit of Rocket Comics in Dark Horse's Free Comic Book Day offering and had a sort of qualified good reaction to it, but Go Boy 7 is the first real launch book of the new line. It's no real surprise to me that it scores much bigger points in the writing than it does the art, and Peyer seems to have a concept here that is reminiscent of good Stan Lee or Jack Kirby stuff, big on imagination and with an origin that resonates on a basic level. In fact, this reads something like a lost Silver Age comic with technological references updated to 2003, and that's both good and bad.
The good is that the energy and inventive enthusiasm that defined the Silver Age, particularly Marvel's Silver Age, is to be found here. Jonny (a.k.a. Go Boy 7) loses his parents and is saved by an infusion of experimental technology by his eccentric and unfamiliar uncle, although it is interspersed with mysterious changes by his uncle's foe. This is an origin that hits all the basic questions: Why does Jonny become a hero? His parents died, which drives him to avenge them and more than likely live up to their ideals. How does he get his powers? An experimental technology, used in the direst circumstances. Why can't these powers be easily duplicated? In addition to the "direst circumstances" part, there are complications from an outside force. It is a classic origin, and Peyer gets all the important elements in there fast so he can get the story underway.
The downside of all this is that the structure is a little transparent to anyone who has read a decent amount of super-hero comics. Go Boy 7 is based on a neat idea, but it also appears to be based pretty heavily on super-hero tropes from the last forty years. Time will tell if the story can head off in new directions and show a jaded super-hero reader something new, but so far the new seems to come from the other influence on the book, the currently popular manga and anime influence.
On the face of it, this is an ideal high concept. Combine the broad appeal of the Silver Age with the more sophisticated storytelling of the modern day and the flashy and often alien style of manga and anime. Go Boy 7 has an origin not unlike a Marvel character, but it is tinged with elements from manga, including robotics and cybernetics of a particular nature, the somewhat wacky nature of Jonny's uncle (even when he's wailing at the death of his relatives, he comes off as unfortunately comical) and the whole idea of this super-secretive organization that is basically dedicated to one guy and his robots. Very Osamu Tezuka or Shirow.
The problem, at least for me, is that I'm not a big fan of the Americanized version of manga art that has become a bit of a fad in some titles recently, and while Sommariva and Dery are clearly talented and detail-oriented, the artwork just doesn't connect with me. Too many crowded panels and twisted anatomies make it hard for me to believe in the characters or to feel some of the emotions that is supposed to get the reader to relate to them. Sure, the grief of what has happened is compelling, but not-so-much when it's being felt by cartoony people with stretched necks and bulbous eyes who look like they could be excited or terrified as much as they are sad.
While Go Boy 7 doesn't quite hit for me, that certainly doesn't mean it's a failure. Those who are more interested in this style of art (those enjoying the art on books like Venom or Human Torch) may well enjoy it, and while some of the super-hero structure is familiar to me, this would be an ideal title for younger readers, who might enjoy having heroes of their own rather than 40-60 year old icons from their parents' and grandparents' eras.
