516 ROCKETEER, THE
In the second story, Cliff fi n d s
his way to New York. In contrast
to the relatively open spaces of
1938 California, the milieu of the
late-1930s New York club scene
presents Secord as a fi sh out of
water. Th e fi rst storyline was to
some extent a pastiche of the Doc
Savage stories. Th e second was
a pastiche of Th e Shadow. Both
grew from Stevens’s fascination
with the 1930s. Th is fascination
is also evident in the attention to
detail in the art. Ranging from the
accuracy of the Bulldog Diner to
eff ectively capturing the technical
aspects of stunt fl ying planes of the
era, the look, pacing, storyline, and
dialogue all read as a period piece
rather than pastiche. To a great
extent, the period look and feel
carried over to the fi lm.
However, the original narrative
was altered for the fi lm. In addi-
tion to the overt substitution of
Howard Hughes for Doc Savage,
off ered merely as a throwaway gag
in the original story, a matinee
idol, a Nazi dirigible and a mob boss were added. Most signifi cantly, the story was
self-contained, as there was no guarantee of a sequel. Fan opinion is widely divided
on the fi lm. Th ere was also some disappointment that Stevens was not assigned the
art chores for the fi lm’s one-sheet. Some hold the fi lm to be one of the most successful
adaptations of a comic, while others were bitterly disappointed.
However, no such division exists on the comic stories. Stevens’s work was widely
recognized for its detail, expression, composition, fl uid storytelling, and anatomies. Th e
latter proved Stevens’s forté. His rendering of a voluptuous, yet realistic and friendly
female form echoed the work of 1940s pin-up artists, especially Gil Elvgren and Vargas.
Stevens briefl y succeeded Vargas as a pinup artist at Playboy.
Some regard Betty as the most signifi cant contribution made by Th e Rocketeer to the
comics. Th is character’s look and aesthetic were consistent with the “good girl art” tradi-
tion of Matt Baker in the 1940s, and Al Williamson’s and Frank Frazetta’s renderings
of sensuous women in the 1950s. Th is art also drew substantially on, and was a catalystA poster for the 1991 film The Rocketeer, directed by Joe
Johnston. Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest