RIP Dave Stevens, creator of The Rocketeer

As a geek in general, and a huge comic book geek, I had to note the passing of Dave Stevens, creator of The Rocketeer. This is from newsarama.com:

Newsarama has learned via a close friend of the artist’s that Dave Stevens died last evening of complications due to leukemia, with which he had battled for many years. He was 52 years old.

Born in Lynwood, CA on July 29th, 1955, Stevens is best known for his work on his creator-owned The Rocketeer, which was first published in as a backup in Mike Grell’s Starslayer in 1982. Stevens’ style, which was wholly his own, but owed much to pulp artists of the earlier part of the 20th century was loved by his many fans, while his story merged the pulp sensibility with a modern sensibility. Stevens’ first professional comic work was inking Russ Manning’s pencils for the daily Tarzan comic strip starting in 1975. Dave always kept at least one finger in comics while he was working on storyboards or animation, providing covers for Comico’s Jonny Quest series or other work. The Rocketeer appeared in small installments throughout 1982 to 1995, and was turned into a film in 1991 by Walt Disney Pictures. The comic book version, in its way helped usher in the re-popularization of Bettie Page.


There are no plans for a public service.