IDW Announce A New Dave Stevens’ ‘The Rocketeer’ Anthology With Art By Adam Hughes And More
by Olly MacNamee
Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer flies again in an all-new anthology, featuring three high flying stories from a hst of talent.
This latest Rocketeer comic project began during the making of the documentary Dave Stevens: Drawn to Perfection. During the production of that documentary filmmaker Kelvin Mao discovered that Danny Bilson and the late Paul De Meo – the original screenwriters of the 1991 The Rocketeer film – had written a previously unpublished Rocketeer comic book story. Furthermore, Mao and the film’s executive producer Robert Windom, approached artist Adam Hughes to illustrate the tale, and the project evolved into a celebratory one-shot anthology edited by Scott Dunbier.
Hughes concluded:
“The Rocketeer, my favorite flying hero, has got a dish of a girlfriend, an unnecessarily cool outfit, and great hair. You’d hate someone like that in real life, but as a comic book character, he’s aces!”
As well as the aforementioned eight-page story by Bilson, De Meo, and Hughes, featuring Amelia Earhart, Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer a also includes a 12-page story of Cliff Secord’s date night with Betty leading to trouble with a vaguely familiar adventurer/archeologist, written by Mao, drawn by Craig Cermak (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), and coloured by award-winning Laura Martin. Plus, a four-page story of the Rocketeer fighting a Japanese Zero in the South Pacific, written by Robert Windom (Seven Sons), drawn by Jae Lee (Batman/Superman), and coloured by June Chung with pinups by Phil Noto (Black Widow) and Maria Laura Sanapo; and more!
“The short story that Jae and I created is intended to be a dreamy contemplation on life and love, but with some great Rocketeer action and Betty, of course! Jae’s ethereal style is a perfect fit for it,” says Windom.
“It was a huge honor contributing art for this project. Dave Stevens has been an inspiration to me since I first saw his work. He’s captured the beauty of a time period that is forever golden,” says Lee.
“As a fan of Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer since day one, I’m thrilled to see this book come to life. Bilson & De Meo, Mao, and Windom have all captured the feel of Cliff, Betty, Peevy, and the rest. And the art… To quote a famous Rocketeer page…‘WOW!’” says Dunbier.
The Rocketeer one-shot will be available in comic book stores in May with several variant covers, including Cover A by Adam Hughes, Cover B by Locke & Key artist extraordinaire Gabriel Rodríguez, and two special retailer incentive “Full Art” variants of the Hughes and Rodríguez art respectively.
