DAVE STEVENS
(1955 – 2008)

Well, we lost another great one.

But as I think that, write that, doesn’t seem fitting for the individuality of Dave Stevens.

Let’s face it, some people possess something the rest of us just don’t have, [or if we do have it; they have it in exponential sums] a highly rare ability within themselves, like some secret gem that merely needs polishing to unleash its magic.

When I used to work in [and later owned] a comic book shop, back in the ol’ punk rock days, we used to make sections for certain artists and writers that merited special attention. For instance, rather than just going to the Batman or Daredevil section of the store, you might want to check out the “Frank Miller” box.  In our shop, Dave Stevens garnished that kind of attention.

Inside the “Dave Stevens” box you would find mostly independent comics where Dave had just drawn the cover, but a Dave Stevens cover was always worth the price of admission—even, sadly, if you didn’t read the comic within. Sorry to say, I was guilty of that several times over. If a comic had a Stevens cover it went into my collection with the thought: Yeah, I’ll probably read that sometime later …

However, as most people reading this already know--with The Rocketeer series you were fully able to access Dave Stevens as a full-blown comic book creator, in story, art and concept.  He had a uniquely keen sense of the history that all us who love American adventure truly love.  The Rocketeer was homage to Buck Rogers, Doc Savage, and the “pulp” era as a whole.

Good stuff.

And he introduced [or reintroduced] a whole new generation to the super fun beauty of Bettie Page. Or as Harlan Ellison put it, the “high priestess of nylons, garter belts and spike heels.”  For that alone we owe Dave Stevens a debt.  It’s also important to note that when Stevens found out that Bettie Page still lived—he became a friend to her and looked out for her best interests in a world all too willing to re-exploit her image by taking advantage of copyright loopholes, et cetera.  He became someone she could trust.  According to Mark Evanier, [comic historian and friend to Dave Stevens] Stevens said without any hint of resentment: “It’s amazing.  After years of fantasizing about this woman, I’m now driving her to cash her Social Security checks.”

Dave obviously had a good heart and he put his heart and soul into every drawing he ever laid out before the public.  His drawings are truly as good as it gets.  They stand up with the best that “art” has to offer.  And you might think that someone with that much talent would have made a fortune, but when I once asked Dave to give me a definitive quote about the comic book industry he said: “You’ll never get rich.”

Unfortunately for Dave that was true, not even by selling rights to The Rocketeer to Disney and acting as a producer on that film, not even that brought him fortune.  The public didn’t know The Rocketeer.  He didn’t have the built in audience of a Batman movie or Dick Tracy.

The Rocketeer was generally our secret, the people living a good portion of their lives outside of so-called reality, in a world where anything is possible.  Dave Stevens made a significant contribution to our world, and as the saying goes: We are all richer for having known his work.

If you don’t know who Dave Stevens is and you have even a passing interest in American art or the world of graphic novels—you have to read The Rocketeer.  It is both timeless and a living time machine.  Go take the ride.  You’ll be glad you did.

Bradley Mason Hamlin

-brad@retrocrush.com

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