“Good Girl” artist and Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens died March 10th, 2008 at the age of 52 due to complications from leukemia. Stevens first appeared on the scene as an inker for Russ Manning’s “Tarzan” newspaper strips in the 1970’s, and also as a storyboard artist for several Hanna-Barbara cartoons including the popular “Super Friends” animated TV show. In 1982, Stevens created the “Rocketeer,” a classic pulp super-hero published by various comic publishers over the years such as Comico and Eclipse. The rights to the character were eventually sold to the Walt Disney Company, and the stylish super-hero was made into a motion picture, starring Billy Campbell in the lead role.
Stevens was also known for his renditions of Bettie Page, which was featured in magazines such as Glamour International. Before his death, Stevens worked on several DC titles such as “The Spirit”, which began publishing a new series after the death of the late Will Eisner.
Stevens died at the age of 52 after a long battle with leukemia. According to Steven’s official website, www.davestevens.com, in lieu of flowers, the Steven’s family requests donations in his name be made to the Hairy Cell Leukemia Research Foundation at www.hairycellleukemia.org. *(Steve Boyd is Site Director for Comic Collector Live and is grateful that he had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Stevens once at a convention over a decade ago).