The Rocketeer Deluxe: The Complete Adventures by Dave Stevens (graphic novel review).
Finally, I’ve collected all the stories from Dave Stevens’ ‘The Rocketeer’. Actually, there are only two multi-parter stories. Set in the later 1930s, the story follows stunt pilot Cliff Secord as he discovers a jetpack that was concealed in his aeroplane by the Germans who had stolen it. With his pal, Peevy, fashioning a helmet for him, Secord finds himself chasing after the German spies and discovering a certain Howard Hughes was responsible for the jetpack. Don’t think of Secord as being perfect. He’s impetuous, doesn’t even read the instruction sheet to use the jetpack and makes silly mistakes. He’s human, in other words.
The second story has Secord chasing after his girlfriend, Betty, who is sailing to Europe for some professional photography shoots with celebrity photographer Marco but is really going to be taken to Germany. Well, that’s what he thinks as he goes zooming off.
Originally released in 1981, this hardcover edition was released in 2009 after its creator, Dave Stevens, died after a prolonged fight with leukaemia. The 130 extra pages show covers, designs, layouts, etc. All of which build up how Stevens worked. As he describes it, he drew a page at a time, struggled over the script but somehow got it complete. A lot of research for the time period and a lot of period actors and models, like Rondo Hatton and Bettie Page, were called on to give realism to the piece. Oh, and definitely a touch of Commander Cody. His artwork is somewhat cartoony with the characters’ expressions but with a complete charm. ‘The Rocketeer’ came at the right time and caught the imaginations of the reading public and, more remarkably, even became a film in 1991. How many independent comic book creations can have that claim?
I was surprised that sealed copies are still available some eleven years after its release. In some respects, this is actually a fast read, but the act of serialising films of the time period, they were as well. There was always a need to get to the finale of each episode and move on to the next for the solution. When you consider the likes of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ also borrowed heavily from the era and gathered their owns, it does suggest that viewers from any era like this kind of format.
GF Willmetts
May 2025
(pub: IDW, 2009. 214 page large boxcovered hardback graphic novel with extras. Price: varies but cheaper than its original $100.00 (US). ISBN: 978-1-68405-950-8)
check out website: www.idwpublishing.com
