Rocket Science

When I started at IDW in 2004, one of the first things I looked to do
was put together a new collection of Dave Stevens' ROCKETEER comics. The only collection I'd ever been able to find at a con was some pricey old thing. Now, I didn't have any connections at the time, and couldn't properly reach Stevens. But here we were five years later and luckily, I'm surrounded by great people like Scott Dunbier who had those connections. So finally today--or December 16 for the rest of the world--I have that deluxe copy of Steven's ROCKETEER in my hands. In much better shape than I ever envisioned, either.

Scott had the entire book remastered, recolored, and this deluxe oversized slipcased edition further has 130 pages of sketches, fold-outs and behind-the-scenes bits beyond the story itself. It's a thing of beauty. Which just goes to show that it's less important to be good yourself than it is to surround yourself with good people. So here're some pics of what Mr. Dunbier wrought. starting with the cover and slipcase:


A page of Betty...


...and the fold-out underneath:


And another great fold-out:


Some interiors, all fully recolored by Stevens' hand-picked colorist, Laura Martin:


The book's endpapers:


And the back cover: