Rocket Robinson and the Pharaoh's Fortune

July 2, 2018
In the first of a comics series set in the 1930s, 12-year-old Rocket Robinson is the son of a diplomat and always on the move between far-flung world cities. He stumbles into trouble when his pet monkey, Screech, leaps onto villain Otto von Sturm during a train ride to Cairo. After von Sturm’s departure, Robinson discovers a coded letter that holds the key to finding Pharaoh Khufu’s hidden tomb. Left to his own devices while his father conducts business, Rocket makes a new friend, Nuri, an orphaned girl who steals to survive. Together, they must thwart von Sturm and his henchmen while attempting to track down the treasure before it is looted. With its boy hero and animal sidekick, international historical setting, and wild feats of adventure, this outing is strongly reminiscent of Tintin. O’Neill has a sound sense of graphic storytelling with a well-paced mixture of action, atmosphere, puzzle-solving, and dialogue, but several characters—including von Sturm, his Middle Eastern henchmen, and Nuri—lack originality and nuance, instead coming across, disappointingly, as familiar stereotypes. Ages 9–12.