Volume Two is rollicking old-fashioned adventure, with some clever (if dated) scientific ideas and a hefty dose of melodrama. If some of the concepts seem familiar, it is because Buck Rogers did them first. Those ideas and human-scale conflict are what differentiate Buck Rogers from competitors such as Flash Gordon; it was the Star Trek of its day. Buck Rogers inhabits a solar system inhabited not by bug-eyed monsters but by people like you and me. In the course of Volume Two, the newly independent America’s industrial might enables it to reestablish international trade, forge alliances with foreign nations, and begin to explore the solar system. I don’t want to go into the stories too deeply because I don’t want to spoil potential readers’ enjoyment.
Fans familiar with Buck and Company only from the 1970s television show may be in for a shock when they meet the characters as originally depicted. Perennial villain Killer Kane was originally an ace American fighter pilot who defected to the Mongols when Wilma Deering preferred Buck Rogers to him. Here, he’s a free-lance moustache-twirling baddie, inevitably turning up wherever there is loot to be had. He’s a little too prominent for my taste; surely he can’t be the only clever criminal in a solar system filled with humanoids. In a similar manner, Ardala Valmar is an American naval officer who betrays her country because of her attraction to Kane. Both Valmar and Wilma Deering are tough, capable, cunning women … until they get within spitting distance of their men. Then they descend into a level of petty jealousy that would make Betty and Veronica blush.
Dick Calkins’ black and white panels can seem cramped and cluttered particularly if one compares them the Alex Raymond’s sweeping full-page illustrations for Flash Gordon. But the art gets the job done and is no worse than the illustrations in many newspaper strips being printed today. Part of the difference is the artists’ intent. Raymond is set on providing spectacle. Calkins is attempting to plausibly portray spacecraft and the problems of creating artificial gravity.
As he did in the novel Armageddon 2419 A.D., writer Phil Nowlan tends to give more love to his gadgets than he does to his characters. However, the long story arcs enable him to develop even secondary characters much more fully than he did in the Anthony Rogers novels. My peeve is that he develops interesting situations and characters with lots of plot potential then drops them completely once a particular story arc is finished. Presumably the Mongols, the Atlantean empire, the American trading fleet, Huer’s devoted would-be fiancée, and escaped air pirates are still out there somewhere. Presumably, Buck’s international and interplanetary feats of daring-do would have long-term consequences for both America and the Earth in general. But Nowlan doesn’t explore those consequences, at least not within the scope of Volume Two. Instead we’re immediately swept off to yet another investigation or exploration.
Hermes Press provides a sturdy 9-1/2 x 11-1/2 inch hardback book. The book’s oblong size enables it to put two enlarged newspaper strips per page for easy reading. There is also a four-page introduction with color illustrations from various eras. The strips themselves are in crisp, clean black and white.
Applicability to role-playing
If you enjoy science fiction or pulp adventure role-playing, Buck Rogers is primary source material for your campaign. See Nowlan and Calkins invent the conventions of popular science fiction as they go. Even if 1930s style space opera isn’t your bag, there are plenty of ideas and characters to borrow for your game.
