Staff Picks (October 12): The Rocketeer: Artist’s Edition 2nd Print

Combine Doc Savage pulp style adventure, Commando Cody chapter serial heroics, and some top notch good girl cheesecake art and you have Dave Steven’s The Rocketeer. Starting as a backup feature in Mike Grell’s Starslayer from Pacific Comics, and continuing with Eclipse Comics, the adventures of Cliff Secord, gal pal Betty, Peavy, and an interesting cast of characters put Dave Stevens in the upper echelon of comic book creators in the 1980s.

Even if you already have IDW’s The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures hardcover their Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition 2nd Print is well worth the addition to your library This new printing of the sold-out IDW Artist Edition presents complete stories as each page was scanned from the actual original artwork. This format gives you the rare opportunity to see the work Dave Stevens put into each page of his creation. With each page scanned in color to replicate as closely as possible the viewing of his original art with all its imperfections, paste-overs, blue pencils in the art, editorial notes, and art corrections. Since each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper stock selected is as close as possible to the original art board you need taller shelves to place in your bookcases.

This is a rarely glimpse into the creative process of a character and comic that is rarely seen in these days.

Simply – You gotta have this book, just one more reason why the 80s were another Golden Age for Comic Book Collectors.

~ Steve Leaf