Jupiter Jet and the Forgotten Radio - Volume 2 of the Jupiter Jet Graphic Novels

When I read the first Jupiter Jet comic book mini-series by Jason Inman and Ashley Victoria Robinson, I assumed that was it.  A lot of independent comics come out and hint at more stories to come, but they never materialize.  That first mini-series was a great read, with thoroughly enjoyable characters and beautiful art by Ben Matsuya, and so when Action Lab comics offered up a graphic novel containing a second story with 17-year old Jacky Johnson and her jet-pack, I snatched it up right away.

Jupiter Jet and the Forgotten Radio picks up about a year after the end of the first story, in which Jacky found a jet pack her father had built and used to it to become the hero, Jupiter Jet.  With the help of her younger brother, Chuck, and her uncle Gabriel (her father's brother), she defeated the Praetor that was maliciously using the people of this planet.  And, oh yeah - most of those people think they are still living on Earth, but as Jacky finds out, they are not!  They are on a moon of Jupiter (hence, the name Jupiter Jet).  So now, a  year later, Jacky (or Jupiter Jet) has advanced her suit so she can fly in space, and as the story opens, she is fending off a robot menace on the edges of the atmosphere.  But what starts as a a minor little mission is only a harbinger of the strange things to come...

Inman and Robinson give readers another fantastical tale of adventure and mystery, starting off with the totally unexpected arrival of Jacky and Chuck's mother!  Readers learn pretty much nothing about their mother in the first story, so her appearance here makes for a great surprise - but, as with any good tale, nothing is as it truly seems.  When Jacky takes off with her mother into space (without so much as a word to her brother or uncle), she is over the moon (literally and figuratively!) to be heading out into the unknown with the woman who has been absent for most of her life.  But upon arrival at the spaceship to which her mother is taking her, Jacky is shocked to find a Praetor waiting for them!  Is this one friend or foe?  Her mother tells her the other woman is a friend - but can Jacky ever really trust an alien whose race has kept her people enslaved for so long?

Something really enjoyable about this story is that not only do we get to see Jacky grow into her role as Jupiter Jet and what that means, but we also see little Chuck realize his dream to be Jupiter Jet's sidekick (in a rather humorous way) when he takes on the role of Saturn Scout!  He has the help of his friend Neil, as well as a long-forgotten radio that he and Neil find in his father's invisible lab (and which radio happens to be programmed with its own artificial intelligence and a voice that sounds remarkably like Jacky and Chuck's father), and he manages to stop a jewel thief named Squeak.  

Meanwhile, Jacky is learning more about her mother when they land on a planet named Justus, which has been the home of Jacky's mother for a number of of years (and which also happens to be over 800 million miles away from Jacky's home world of Europa).  It is here that Jacky's true strength as a hero comes to light, for she must choose between helping the enslaved people of the planet or side with her mother, who seems to have fallen in line with the Praetors.  No matter what choice she makes, someone is going to lose - and when the Praetor her mother has been helping decides to head back to Europa to gather those people for her own use, Jacky must find a way to return to her own world that is so far away!

There's plenty of action, plenty of adventure, and plenty of heart-warming moments throughout the tale, making it one heck of a great read.  Inman and Robinson definitely know how to tell a story with lots of heart, because no matter how many grand space adventures there are, this is still a story about family and exactly what that means for each of the characters.  Oh, and there are definitely some indications that there are more stories yet to be told - the fact that Earth itself is barren, yet someone with a glowing blue arm remains on Earth and knows he and Jupiter Jet will come face to face one day ... the fact that Chuck is still holding onto that radio that his father had instilled with an artificial intelligence ... the fact that the female Praetor is still out there somewhere ... and, oh yeah, the fact that the last page features four preview panels and a blurb saying "Jacky Johnson Will Return in Jupiter Jet Volume 3!"

So, what are you waiting for - get out there and get this book already!

RATING:  9 old potato pancake recipes out of 10 for keeping comic books exactly what they should be - FUN!