Dave Lee Stevens (July 29, 1955 – March 11, 2008) was an American illustrator and comics artist. He was most famous for creating ''

The Rocketeer The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes ...

'' comic book and film character, and for his

pin-up A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

style "glamour art" illustrations, especially of model

Bettie Page Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos.

. He was the first to win Comic-Con International's

Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award is an American award presented to a comic book artist whose first professional work appeared within the previous two years. It was named after comic book artist Russ Manning. The winner is chosen from ...

in 1982, and received both an

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...

and the

Kirby Award The Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards were a set of awards for achievement in comic books, presented from 1985-1987. Voted on by comic-book professionals, the Kirby awards were the first such awards since the Shazam Awards ceased in 1975. Sponsored ...

for Best Graphic Album in 1986.

Early life

Stevens was born July 29, 1955, in

Lynwood, California Lynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California. At the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 69,772, down from 69,845 at the 2000 census. Lynwood is located near South Gate and Compton in the central portion of the Los Angeles ...

, but grew up in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. His family relocated to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, where he attended

San Diego City College San Diego City College (City College or City) is a public community college in San Diego, California. It is part of the San Diego Community College District and the California Community College System. San Diego City College is accredited by t ...

for two years, and attended the then-new annual San Diego Comic-Con (now Comic-Con International).

Career

Early work

Stevens's first professional comic work was inking

Russ Manning Russell George Manning (January 5, 1929"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VMMT-NZN : accessed 28 Aug 2014), Russell Manning, Dec 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration ...

's pencils for the ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'' newspaper comic strip and two European ''Tarzan'' graphic novels in 1975; he later assisted Manning on the '' Star Wars'' newspaper strip. Stout, William (March 11, 2008)
"DAVE STEVENS 1955 – 2008"
"Journal". The Worlds of William Stout. He began doing occasional comic book work, including providing illustrations for

fanzines A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...

(inking drawings by comic book veteran

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

among them), as well as creating the Aurora feature for Japan's Sanrio Publishing.''Comic Book Artist Magazine'' #15 – Dave Stevens Interview – TwoMorrows Publishing
/ref> Starting in 1977, he drew storyboards for Hanna-Barbera's animated TV shows, including ''

Super Friends ''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of ...

'' and '' The Godzilla Power Hour'', where he worked with comics and animation veteran

Doug Wildey Douglas S. Wildey He recalled his professional start as freelancing for the magazine and comic book company Street & Smith in 1947. Because comic-book writer and artist credits were not routinely given during this era, the earliest confirmed Wilde ...

. For the rest of the decade, he continued to work in animation and film, joining the art studio of illustrators

William Stout William Stout (born September 18, 1949) is an American fantasy artist and illustrator with a specialization in paleontological art. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worked on over ...

and Richard Hescox in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, working on projects such as storyboards for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' and pop singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's video " Thriller".

The Rocketeer

The Rocketeer series was an adventure story set in a

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

-styled 1930s (with allusions to heroes like

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

and

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

emphasizing the pulp tradition), about a down-on-his-luck pilot named Cliff Secord who finds a mysterious rocket pack. Despite its erratic publishing history, the Rocketeer proved to be one of the first successful features to emerge from the burgeoning

independent comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

movement. Influenced by

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

artists

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

Lou Fine Louis Kenneth Fine (November 26, 1914 – July 24, 1971)Louis Fine
at the United States

Reed Crandall, Maurice Whitman,

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...

and

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as '' Weird Science'', '' Weird Fantasy'', and ''MAD Magazine'' fr ...

, Stevens was widely recognized, along with artists such as

Steve Rude Steve Rude (born December 31, 1956) is an Americans, American comics artist. He is best known as the co-creator of ''Nexus (comics), Nexus''. Early life Steve Rude was born on December 31, 1956, in Madison, Wisconsin. He attended the Milwaukee Sch ...

and

Jaime Hernandez Jaime (sometimes spelled Xaime) Hernandez (born 1959) is the co-creator of the Alternative comics, alternative comic book ''Love and Rockets (comics), Love and Rockets'' with his brothers Gilbert Hernandez, Gilbert and Mario Hernandez (comics), M ...

, as one of the finest comic book artists of his generation. Stevens was a longtime admirer of 1950s glamour and pin-up model

Bettie Page Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos.

; he modeled the look of the Rocketeer's girlfriend after her and featured her image in other illustrations too, which helped contribute to the renewed public interest in Page and her modeling career. After discovering that the retired Page was still alive and lived nearby, Stevens became friends with her, providing both personal assistance and helping to arrange financial compensation to her from various publishers for the use of her image and reprints of her many glamor and pin-up photos. Two other characters that show up in the ''Rocketeer'' stories were based on personal acquaintances of Stevens: the "Peevy" character, based on cartoonist

, and the sleazy "Marco of Hollywood" character, based on real life glamour and porn photographer Ken Marcus.

Comic book series

The first comic book featuring the

Rocketeer The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroe ...

was released in 1982. Those first stories appeared as a second feature in issues #2 and #3 of

Mike Grell Mike Grell (born September 13, 1947) is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on books such as '' Green Lantern/Green Arrow'', '' The Warlord'', and '' Jon Sable Freelance''. Early life Grell studied at the University of ...

Pacific Comics Pacific Comics (PC) was an American comic book publisher that was active from 1981 to 1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began at a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes. Alo ...

' ''

Starslayer ''Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger'' was an American comic book series created by Mike Grell. Publication history Grell originally created ''Starslayer'' for DC Comics, but plans to publish it were halted after the mass cancellation of title ...

'' series. For its next two installments, Steven's feature moved to the anthology comic title ''Pacific Presents'' #1 and #2. The fourth chapter ended in a cliffhanger that was later concluded in a lone ''Rocketeer'' comic released by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

.The Comics Reporter
/ref> The character was then continued in the ''Rocketeer Adventure Magazine'', with two issues being published in 1988 and then 1989 by Comico Comics; a third and final issue was published six years later in 1995 by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

. Stevens's extensive background research and meticulous approach to his illustrations contributed to the long delays between ''Rocketeer'' issues. The first completed story line was then collected into a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, in both trade paperback and hardcover formats, and simply titled ''The Rocketeer'' (); the second story line was collected into a glossy trade paperback graphic novel by Dark Horse called ''The Rocketeer: Cliff's New York Adventure'' (). IDW Publishing announced a hardcover edition collecting the entire Rocketeer series for the first time, due originally in October 2009. ''Dave Steven's The Rocketeer, The Complete Adventures'' would contain all-new coloring by

Laura Martin Laura DePuy (credited later in her career as Laura Martin, having married Randy Martin in 2001) is a colorist who has produced work for several of the major comics companies, including DC Comics, Marvel Comics and CrossGen. Career A sometimes com ...

who was chosen by Dave Stevens before his untimely death. The book finally appeared in December of that year in two separate states: a trade hardcover edition with full color

dust jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back boo ...

and a second, more lavish, deluxe hardcover edition () of 3000 copies. The deluxe edition sold out almost immediately upon publication, and IDW announced a second printing. In 2011 IDW launched an all-new Rocketeer comic book series, illustrated by various artists, called ''Rocketeer Adventures''; the series features four

quarterly A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

issues per year (the second series of four began appearing in May 2012). The four 2011 issues were then collected by IDW and published in hardcover as a graphic novel. All four issues in each series offers additional variant covers in shorter-run editions, some of them reprinting Stevens original Rocketeer cover art in both full color and just black and white. A second IDW four-issue comics miniseries of Rocketeer adventures, ''Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom'', began appearing in 2012. Each issue offered a regular retail cover design and one alternate Retailer Incentive cover. In addition publisher Jet Pack Comics issued several additional Retailer Incentive variants with Dave Stevens re-colored artwork reprinted on their covers. The miniseries was then collected into two variant graphic novel hardcovers, one offered with a regular dust jacket, the other without. A third IDW four-issue comic book miniseries of Rocketeer adventures, ''Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror'', began appearing in late February 2013. As with the previous series, each issue offered a regular retail cover design and one Retailer Incentive alternate cover. The miniseries was then collected into two variant graphic novel hardcovers, one with a regular dust jacket, the other without. A fourth IDW Rocketeer comics miniseries, ''Rocketeer and

The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...

: Pulp Friction'', began appearing in 2013, as another limited four-issue miniseries. As with the two previous miniseries, each issue offered a regular retail cover design and one Retailer Incentive alternate cover. A special

San Diego Comic Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is c ...

promotional variant issue #1, with a black and white wraparound cover, was offered only at the 2013 convention. The miniseries was then collected into two variant graphic novel hardcovers, one with a regular dust jacket, the other without. In September 2014, IDW changed the Rocketeer's format and published a 376-page, 6x9 trade paperback ''The Rocketeer: Jet-Pack Adventures'', an original anthology featuring ten short

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

stories by Cody Goodfellow, Don Webb,

Gregory Frost Gregory Frost (born May 13, 1951) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy, and directs a fiction writing workshop at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa. A g ...

, J Bone, Lisa Morton, Nancy A. Collins,

Nancy Holder Nancy Holder (born August 29, 1953) is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. She's also written fiction related to several other science fiction ...

, Nicholas Kaufmann, Robert Hood, Simon Kurt Unsworth, and

Yvonne Navarro Yvonne Navarro (born 1957 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American author who has published over twenty novels. Of those twenty, the titles ''AfterAge'', ''deadrush'', ''Final Impact'', ''Red Shadows'', ''DeadTimes'', ''That's Not My Name'' and ''M ...

Other work

Stevens began developing a Rocketeer theatrical film proposal in 1985 and then sold the rights to his character to the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. After the release of ''Batman'', movie studios rushed to produce similar properties that had not yet been fully greenlit. During this time, Stevens created costume illustrations for ''The Flash'' television series which built by Stan Winston Studios. That same year, principal photography commenced on ''The Rocketeer'' and released in 1991. The film was directed by

Joe Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston II (born May 13, 1950) is an American film director, producer, writer, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing effects-driven films, including ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), ''Jumanji'' (1995 ...

, and starred Billy Campbell,

Jennifer Connelly Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in the 1984 crime film ''Once Upon a Time in America''. After having worked as a model for several year ...

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...

and

Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama '' The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence a ...

. Stevens was a hands-on co-producer of the film. It received a mixture of highly positive and lukewarm reviews and disappointing domestic ticket sales, ensuring no immediate sequels would follow. Dave Stevens always felt that a majority of the problem was that the studio's movie poster and promotional graphics were over-stylized and vague and didn't convey to people what the film was all about. After the Walt Disney Company purchased the Rocketeer character for film production, comics artist

Russ Heath Russell Heath Jr. (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018), was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for ''Playboy'' magazine's "Little Annie Fanny" feature. He also prod ...

illustrated a promotional film tie-in

, ''The Rocketeer: The Official Movie Adaptation'', based on their feature film. Following ''The Rocketeer'', Stevens worked primarily as an illustrator, doing a variety of ink and painted illustrations for book and comic book covers, posters, prints, portfolios, and private commissions, including a number of covers for Comico's ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

'' title and a series of eight covers for Eclipse comics, featuring characters such as

Airboy Airboy is a fictional aviator hero of an American comic book series initially published by Hillman Periodicals during the World War II-era time period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He was created by writers Charles Bi ...

and the DNAgents. The Eclipse covers were also published in the form of large posters. Many of his illustrations were in the "

good girl art Good Girl Art (GGA) is a style of artwork depicting women primarily featured in comic books, comic strips, and pulp magazines. The term was coined by the American Comic Book Company, appearing in its mail order catalogs from the 1930s to the 1970 ...

" genre. He also returned to art school to study painting. Before his death in 2008 from

hairy cell leukemia Hairy cell leukemia is an uncommon hematological malignancy characterized by an accumulation of abnormal B lymphocytes. It is usually classified as a subtype of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Hairy cell leukemia makes up about 2% of all leu ...

, Stevens was working on a career retrospective collection of his work to be titled ''Brush with Passion – The Life and Art of Dave Stevens''. The book was published the same year as both a regular hardcover and as a deluxe

slipcase A slipcase is a five-sided box, usually made of high-quality cardboard, into which binders, books or book sets are ''slipped'' for protection, leaving the spine exposed. Special editions of books are often slipcased for a stylish appearance when ...

d hardcover edition, both from Underwood Books.

Personal life and death

In 1980 Stevens married longtime girlfriend Charlene Brinkman, later known as horror film scream queen

Brinke Stevens Brinke Stevens (born Charlene Elizabeth Brinkman, September 20, 1954) is an American actress, model, and writer. A native of San Diego, Stevens initially pursued a career as a marine biologist prior to becoming an actress, earning an undergrad ...

; their marriage ended in divorce just six months later, though she later modeled for Stevens. Following several years of struggling with uncommon

, which caused a gradual reduction in his artistic output, Stevens died on March 11, 2008, in

Turlock, California Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its estimated 2019 population of 73,631 made it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by prominent grain farmer Jo ...

Legacy

Stevens's work has had a significant influence on comic book and fantasy illustrators, among them

Adam Hughes Adam Hughes (born May 5, 1967) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known to American comic book readers for his renderings of pinup-style female characters, and his cover work on titles such as ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Catwoman''. H ...

. Artist Laura Molina, with whom Stevens had a romantic relationship in the late 1970s, used him as the subject of her controversial '' Naked Dave'' series of paintings.Naked Dave
/ref> On Nov 3, 2022 Samuel Goldwyn films announced they acquired distribution right to the feature length documentary "Dave Stevens: Drawn to Perfection"

Quotes

"Dave had more artistic integrity than anyone I've ever known. He always marched to his own drummer whether it benefited him financially or not. He turned down many lucrative job offers—including a monthly pin-up assignment for ''Playboy'' offered by Hugh Hefner as a replacement for their regular

Alberto Vargas Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous Vargas paintings have sold and continue to se ...

feature—when they didn't jibe with his own highly personal vision of what he should be doing. As a businessman, Dave often drove his close friends nuts. We'd watch in astonishment at the riches passing him by." – William Stout "Dave was truly one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life ... and was certainly among the most gifted. Our first encounter was at Jack Kirby's house around 1971 when he came to visit and show Jack some of his work. As I said, Kirby was very encouraging and he urged Dave not to try and draw like anyone else but to follow his own passions. This was advice Dave took to heart, which probably explains why he took so long with every drawing. They were rarely just jobs to Dave. Most of the time, what emerged from his drawing board or easel was a deeply personal effort. He was truly in love with every beautiful woman he drew, at least insofar as the paper versions were concerned." – Mark Evanier "Well, I do expect a lot of myself. I'm a harsh critic because I know what I'm capable of. I have hit those occasional peaks amongst the valleys, but the peaks are so few—things like genuine flashes of virtuoso brush inking, like I've never executed before or since—I can count on one hand the number of jobs where I've been able to hit that mark. The same with penciling. Sometimes it just flows, but more often than not, it's pure physical and spiritual torment just to get something decent on paper. I often get very discouraged with the whole creative process." – Dave Stevens

Selected works

* ''The Rocketeer'', Eclipse books (1990). * ''Just Teasing'', Ursus Imprints (1991). * ''The Rocketeer: Cliff's New York Adventure'', Dark Horse (1997). * ''Vamps and Vixens: The Seductive Art of Dave Stevens'', Verotik (1998). * ''Dave Stevens: Selected Sketches and Studies'', (Vols. 1–4), Bulldog Studios. No ISBN * ''Brush with Passion: The Art and Life of Dave Stevens'', Underwood Books (2008). * ''Dave Steven's The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures'', IDW Publishing (2010).

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Dave 1955 births 2008 deaths American comics artists Hanna-Barbera people Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in California Artists from Portland, Oregon People from Lynwood, California