Dave Stevens, RIP

As reported by Mark Evanier, artist Dave Stevens died yesterday after an illness.

Being a Pulp and Serials fan, Dave Stevens was an artist whose work I really liked. I absolutely loved the Rocketeer (the Disneyesque Nazi Rocketmen faux-propaganda cartoon in the film adaptation alone was worth the price of the ticket) and was disappointed that fans were never able to receive much in the way of a continuing adventures of the series due to the ups and downs of the independent comic book industry of the 1980s and his glacial pace.
Most fans focus on the Good Girl art aspect of Stevens' output and I fully appreciate it myself and understand the interests (It could be argued that the resurgence in popularity of the real Bettie Page could be attributed to exposure of his Betty character from the book at Cons in the 80s). But for me it was always the homage to the adventure serials of days past that really drew me to the book. I haven't been exposed to much of his work in the last decade or so but every now and then I revisit the series and read them all over again. I always hoped that someday he would continue the adventures of Cliff Secord but someone else would have to pick up that task now. Thanks for the memories, Dave.

Dave Stevens
July 29, 1955 - March 10, 2008

The Rocketeer - Nazi Propaganda Cartoon