Rocketeer Adventures #1

This past week, IDW released the first issue of their Rocketeer Adventures anthology comic and it is FANTASTIC both in story and art! The Rocketeer was created by Dave Stevens, who sadly died last year. Anyone who has ever read and oogled at the art of Dave Steven's Rocketeer, knows that this character and ever page he wrote and drew was a labor of love for him. All of the contributors of the first issue of Rocketeer Adventures carry on Dave Stevens' legacy with equal love and admiration.

Planetary artist John Cassaday, writes and draws the first story, with colors by Laura Martin, and if you don't look at the credits page before reading Cassaday's story, you'll think it was a Dave Steven's story that never saw print. It's pretty eerie how well Cassaday apes Stevens'art style. The second story is by Madman creator Mike Allred, with colors by his wife, Laura Allred, and Allred brings his trademark fun and crisp clean lines to a wonderful story called "Home Again." The third story is my favorite, called "Dear Betty" and is written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Mike Kaluta. It's so great to see Mike Kaluta draw sequential art after a long absence (his Madame Xanadu arc for Vertigo was amazing). There's also some great pinups within this first issue and with creators like Darwyn Cooke lined up for future issues, I'm only sad that Dave Stevens isn't around to see the love being brought to his characters for new generations of fans.