Summertime is the best time to catch up on reading! One of the classic comic characters I have always wanted to know more about, since seeing his 1991 film was The Rocketeer. 

The pulp hero, inspired by art deco design and the creations of Howard Hughes (see The Aviator) was the titular work of Dave Stevens, a cartoonist and storyboard artist that passed away in 2008.

IDW released an accessible paperback volume of our hood ornament of a hero with The Rocketeer The Complete Adventures in association with the Stevens Estate. The publisher and Stevens before his death tapped the talented Laura Martin to remaster the colors for the hardcover edition.

This book is the best independent comics has to offer, a legendarily rare creation with extraordinary art and dogfight action.

The Rocketeer wasn’t created in the time of the pulps, but instead captures the spirit of that high-flying time in American history with Cliff Secord,  The Rocketeer and his sometime pin-up gal pal Betty.

Back in 2013, we covered Mark Waid’s Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction. The two heroes are a perfect pairing for an adventure, but this was all I knew of Cliff and Peevy the mechanic besides the film.

Reading the ‘real’ Rocketeer makes me itch for more of these kinds of tales, hopefully Waid, Langridge. Samnee and J. Bone continue to work on more tales of Cliff under the IDW imprint.

 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]