The Rocketeer: The Complete Collection [Hardcover]

In 2008 the comic book field lost one of its more stylish artists when Dave Stevens passed away after succumbing to leukemia (he was only 52). But the stuff he leaves behind, and especially the Rocketeer, will always garner big ups as a lasting standard bearer for art fans and specifically for those aspiring to make a career of it in independent comic books. The Rocketeer, a fleeting glance might tell you, resembles a superhero, but really, in tone and sensibilities, he belongs more in the company of those daredevil dudes from the cliffhanger serials back in the '30s and '40s. Not coincidentally, Cliff Secord's exploits take place circa 1938, Los Angeles.

In the early 1980s, THE ROCKETEER was a refreshing change from the mainstream capes and cowls flaunting superpowers. Cliff Secord's era evoked the Golden Age of comic books and also of Hollywood. You look at Dave Steven's illustrations - reminiscent of Will Eisner, Wally Wood, and Frank Frazetta - and how he renders the aesthetics of the 1930s period, and there's immediately this whiff of nostalgia and you can almost hear that rousing score from all those pulp movies. And nothing embodies this retro imagery more than Cliff Secord, dashing in his aviator outfit and brash and hot-headed as Errol Flynn or Clark Gable.

Cliff Secord is young and bold and desperately in love. He's a stunt pilot for the Bigelow Air Circus, but he's not making enough money to appease his sexy gal Betty, what with Betty of late spending time with and posing seductively for a scuzzy Hollywood photographer. When Cliff finds an experimental rocket pack (called the Cirrus X-3) in his airplane, he envisions a shortcut to raising money.

Except that German spies soon come knocking on his door, looking for the jet pack and before he knows it, Cliff Secord is in the middle of a high-flying adventure and espionage intrigue. Even more importantly, his girlfriend Betty, feeling smothered by Cliff's jealousy and overbearing attention, is gradually slipping away.

The stories are good, but the art, the art, the art. Dave Stevens can really draw, and while his heroic illustrations of the Rocketeer resonate with the daydreaming kid in us, his provocative renderings of lush-figured dames (I'm looking at you, Betty) are equally memorable. "Betty" is a homage to 1950s pin-up queen Bettie Page, and in fact THE ROCKETEER re-popularized those vintage pin-ups. Dave Stevens and Bettie Page actually became good friends all the way up to his death.

Pulp fiction buffs should recognize several well-known literary pulp figures. Although Stevens was careful not to directly reference Doc Savage and his henchmen Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks, their likenesses show up in the first story arc, and with someone eerily resembling Lamont Cranston popping up in "Cliff's New York Adventure." This Shadow-y figure ends up helping Cliff thwart a murderous carny freak out to moidah the members of his old troupe, of which Cliff used to be a member.

Sorry to say, thanks to Stevens' sporadic production, there aren't that many Rocketeer stories floating around. THE ROCKETEER - THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES collects the backup tales from Mike Grell's STARSLAYER #1-3, the featured stories from PACIFIC PRESENTS #1-2, THE ROCKETEER SPECIAL EDITION #1, and THE ROCKETEER ADVENTURE MAGAZINE #1-3 (these three issues also known as "Cliff's New York Adventure"). This trade collection also comes with a red ribbon bookmark, thereby officially upgrading it to the "hoity-toity hardcover" category. Covers to the individual issues are reproduced here, as well as the custom postcard with which Dave Stevens used to respond to his fan mail. If you're looking for even more comprehensive bonus material, then you gots to get your paws on The Rocketeer: The Complete Deluxe Edition which not only has the very same stories as in this trade but also offers up tons of conceptual designs and prelim sketches and so forth. That's gonna cost ya, though.

I also really dug that bulldog-shaped diner.

I was a late arrival to the superb artistry of Dave Stevens; the wonderful, if unsuccessful Disney production of "The Rocketeer" made me curious about the mind behind it, and I was stunned, when I had a chance to read the graphic novels, by not only how successful the screen adaptation was (it should have been, with Stevens directly involved), but how much richer his original artwork was! His line work was not only crisp and clean, but whimsical, sensual (nobody ever drew Bettie Page better), and amplified and enriched his pulp fiction storyline. As a 'baby boomer' illustrator, myself, I love the retro style of the eras of Art Deco and film noir, and Stevens (who was actually younger than me), was so dead-on in recreating the era, his artwork becomes a Valentine to that Age.

Sadly, Stevens is no longer with us, gone far too young, but his legacy of art remains, to be loved and appreciated by new generations of artists and fans. "The Rocketeer: The Complete Collection" is an absolutely wonderful volume, and if you haven't purchased it, yet, what an extraordinary adventure you have ahead...I envy you!

A great tribute to the body of comic art produced by a wonderful artist who past way too soon! This will be enjoyed by all adventure fans and art lovers of the comic book medium.

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