DAVE STEVENS' THE ROCKETEER...

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It was in Glasgow's VIRGIN MEGASTORE in 1982

that I saw PACIFIC PRESENTS #1, and probably bought

it primarily for STEVE DITKO's The MISSING MAN strip.

However, there was really only one star of the mag, and that was

The ROCKETEER by DAVE STEVENS, which had appeared

as a back-up in STARSLAYER #s 2 & 3.  (I'd only bought

#1 and therefore missed The Rocketeer's debut.)

After two issues of Pacific Presents (dated October 1982,

and April '83 respectively), The Rocketeer next showed up in

the November '83 dated Special Edition, The Rocketeer #1

(published now by ECLIPSE) - only to promptly vanish again.

The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #1 (dated April '88 and pub-

lished by COMICO), was the next venue for Stevens' high-flying

hero, with a 2d issue (dated April '89) following a full year later.

Finally, six years later, the 3rd issue, this time published by

DARK HORSE, hit the stands, dated January '95.

In 1985, Eclipse published a collected edition of the first

five chapters, and IDW followed suite in 2009, with a very

handsome, recoloured hardback volume of all eight chapters.

Sadly, Dave Stevens died in 2008, aged only 52, after suffer-

ing from leukemia for several years.  His Rocketeer series re-

mains a high benchmark in the world of graphic storytelling,

and it's certain that this very fine artist will not soon be

forgotten - if ever in fact.  Here's to you, Dave.

******

And now a word from our sponsor - namely me.  I kept

the first two issues of Pacific Presents in the drawer of the

writing bureau beside my bed, where they remained in the new

house my family moved into in 1983.  Subsequent appearances

of The Rocketeer have joined those two issues over the years,

'though I missed the 3rd issue of Adventure Magazine in 1995.

However, I managed to track one down and it arrived today,

and has now joined its companions in that drawer.

As regular readers know, I returned to my former home

after four years, so it gives me a glow of satisfaction to know

that The Rocketeer's comics journey eventually ended in the

same drawer of the same desk, in the exact same room of

the same house in which it began, 35 years before.

Now, check out Dave Steven's great art, and then

leave a comment of appreciation for the man and his

work in the you-know-where, if you'd be so kind.

Dave Stevens

Posted in: Cartoons