UPDATED: Great Pages: STARSLAYER #2

From Starslayer #2 (1982) Recolored

Dave Stevens put his passions on the page. When Stevens was given the opportunity to create a back-up story for Mike Grell’s recently launched Starslayer series, he jumped at the chance. In that backup, Stevens created a world influenced heavily by his love of movie serials and Bettie Page. He created stunt pilot Cliff Secord, who was a bundle of neuroses and bravado but who also had his heart in the right place. It was this unlikely hero who stumbled across an experimental rocket pack that lead him into becoming the Rocketeer.

The Rocketeer’s design is striking and is one of the reasons the character has remained in comics fans’ minds for thirty years. This mixture of an old-fashioned aeronautics uniform and the iconic Rocketeer helmet draws readers in and makes them want to find out more about the man behind the finned mask. It’s simply a great character design backed up by a world filled with adventure.

This page, which features the Rocketeer taking flight for the very first time, is one to remember. It would come to influence a whole set of future writers and artists. In this page we have the beginning of the Rocketeer and the legacy of Dave Stevens.

UPDATE: Thanks to user thepowerout for linking to this page as it originally appeared. The image above is the IDW recoloring done by Laura Martin. Below is the page from 1982.

From Starslayer #2 (1982)

Comments

  1. considering the amazing color quality, i’d say this is actually from the recent IDW reprint, with amazing colors by Laura Martin, right?

  2. It’s amazing to me that this page is 30 years old and does not look dated at all.

  3. He was an AMAZING artist!!

  4. There’s some neat stuff in the old coloring – but then there’s those mono-chrome panels that don’t make any sense to me – the close up of his hands? What’s going on there?

  5. It’s interesting the dialogue was changed when it was also recolored. But then, it wasn’t unusual for Stevens to go back and re-do some panels when put out in collections. New version, old version – it’s still great stuff! 🙂

    • I wonder if the dialogue was changed by Stevens, or done after his passing?

      I got the IDW Rocketeer Jetpack Treasury Edition too. It’s recolored and blown up to 10″x13″. Simply beautiful at that size. Makes my old Starslayer and Pacific Presents issues look like crap, but I still love ’em.

  6. Wow that recolor is beautiful