Dieselpunk Manifesto Part Nine: Finally a Real Rocket Ship!

My second post today because I've been a lazy blogger lately.

This post covers Buck Rogers strips 80-89

You can view the archives here.

Killer kane has done a lot of questionable things, but never let it be said he let grass grow under his feet. Mac and Buck go scouting for a Han raiding raiding force and Mac says, "We'll take' my wee rocket ship. She's a bonny crate, the latest model!" It is the first rocket to ever appear in Buck Rogers (discounting ammunition).


'Bonny' is a small two or three man rocket. She has a forward and fixed rocket gun with iron sights and a pintle mount behind the pilot seat. I fid a little fault with Buck's description of it as a rocket. Bonny has large intakes forward and probably operates as a jet most of the time. She has three heavy duty wheels for landing gear and as we will see later she is designed to operate as a ground vehicle at least over city streets. Doubtlessly she has a lot of inertron in her construction.

She's also got similarities to the biplanes her class will replace: an open cockpit and the weapons arrangement. As Dick Calkins got more comfortable with the SF elements in the strip he moved away from airplanes and to rockets. I'd love to have heard the discussion of the transports between him and Philip Nowlan.

Phil: Dick, the artwork is great but ...

Dick: Is this about those newfangled rockets again?!

Phil: Yeah.

Dick: Biplanes aren't good enough for you? they won us the goddam War! I draw great biplanes! What's the matter with biplanes?

Phil: I had rockets ... swoops in the fucking book! I want some rockets!

Dick: I'll see what I can work up ... but they're going to be little rockets! Biplane sized!

Phil : Fair enough.

(Actually I have no idea what was said.)

The small rockets seem to be easing the readers into the world of the future. They will get more and more elaborate but slowly to keep people comfy with them. There will be a smooth transition from those cute biplanes to the huge juggernauts Part will eventually field.

After lifting ship (she's a belly lander but I won't discriminate) they quickly spot a lone Han raider and Buck advises they attack. After all it's one to one. Proving that he is as crazy as Buck Mac attempts to get on the raider's tail. As they are coming around to begin their attack run the raider opens its hood and disgorges a squadron of Han fighter craft. the Han fighters cut them off from the Outlaw Org. 

The Mongol 'fish' have similar hulls to Bonny but are held aloft with repeller beams and mount a disintegrator forward on a pintle mount that is aimed by the pilot. 

To be honest the design sucks. The pilot has a big assed disintegrator blocking his forward view which he has to aim manually. Add to this that these craft basically handle like helicopters, not airplanes despite their sleek lines. this should come as no surprise. After all who have the Mongols been fighting in the air? These fighters are more for ground attack, courier runs and parades than dogfights. 

As we see in the next strip the disintegrator's famous lack of range also plays into the fight. Mac and Buck adjust oxygen masks and dive through the squadron taking down several ships. With the squadron on their tail Mac pilots them through a series of canyons. This is the point where the Mongol pilots say screw this and return to the ship. More tho the point, if these fish are similar to the other Mongol devices we've seen they use broadcast power, whether from their mother ship or the central broadcast and those cliffs might block their power.

Kane drops paratroopers next. It seems that the Emperor gave Kane a multipurpose ship. The paratroopers are immediately set upon. by Two Gun Pete and the rest of the Outlaws who use their new jumping belts and horses to keep out of range of the dis-rays while blasting them with rocket rounds. The Outlaws use their 'air cavalry" to flank the paratroopers and hurl them back. Wilma spots Killer Kane in the rear giving frantic orders to his broken squads.

Buck swears he'll get Kane but an Outlaw sentry announces an immense air fleet is approaching. Mac proudly announces that fleet will take their orders from him. Go take another look at the picture of the bonny crate. That number one is on her tail for a reason.

It's a pivotal moment in the strip. The previous military actions against the Han were mere pin pricks. The biplanes were fun but they really didn't look like they'd have a chance against a Han ship. In fact the Buck rogers High Adventure Game had a scenario involving biplanes and a Han airship mixing it up and ... if I were a player I'd want no part of it. No, biplanes could not disrupt a tea ceremony going on aboard one of those behemoths. Gimme one of those bonny crates mon.

This is the first shot of a war. When the Han raider lands to retrieve Kane and his troops the rocket fleet circles  and reduces it to a smoking wreck.

Suddenly the Americans have gone from 'wild tribesmen' to a force to be reckoned with.

MacGregor offers to clear Rogers' name if he will join his Orgzone ("Ah know ye for a bonny fighter!"). Buck agrees and heads off with his inertron enhanced cavalry to get Kane. Wilma gleefully accompanies them.

They bring Kane back on a leash and in disgrace to MacGregor who immediately has the traitor shot.

No wait he's too good a villain to waste. Mac sends Kane back to the Mongol Emperor with a message: all the Orgzones East of St. Louis have formed a confederation and will no longer stand for Mongol raids. The Emperor agrees to a truce while plotting the destruction of the Americans. Buck and Wilma bid adieu to the cowboys. They are issued their own rocket to to proceed to Niagara, the capital of North America. On the way to Niagara, Mac throws a line and uses it to board Ruck's rocket (their radio is apparently on the blink) and tells Buck they will have to land at Detroit and proceed on the ground the rest of the way. He mentions this just before the warning shot explodes off their beam nearly knocking them out of the sky!

Next: Niagara!






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