Rocketeer Relaunch?
By Philip Schweier
August 22, 2012 - 13:00
Hot
on the heels of today’s release of The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom from
IDW comes reports from Vulture.com that Disney is considering a reboot of The
Rocketeer as a film franchise.
Created by the late Dave Stevens, the Rocketeer was adapted for film by Danny
Bilson and Paul De Meo for Disney in 1991. The movie was directed Joe Johnston,
who helmed 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. Bilson and De Meo also
produced The Flash for CBS in 1990.
For fans of the genre, The Rocketeer represents a loving homage to pulp
adventures of the 1930s, much like the Indiana Jones films. In the movie,
William Campbell played the title role of Cliff Secord, who comes into
possession of a rocket pack wanted by gangsters, g-men and enemy agents.
The Rocketeer has had a turbulent publishing history. The feature
debuted in 1982 as a back-up feature in the pages of Starslayer #2 and 3,
published by the now-defunct Pacific Comics. The story continued in Pacific
Presents before the company went out of business and the storyline
was concluded by Eclipse Comics.
In the late 1980s, a sequel, entitled Cliff’s
New York Adventure, was launched by Comico and later finished by Dark Horse
Comics.
Though spawning a rabid fan base, no further adventures were
created by Stevens, who reportedly struggled too much to generate satisfying
illustrations necessary to a regular publishing schedule. Stevens died in
March, 2008, from hairy cell leukemia.
In recent years, IDW has published a handful of new stories written and drawn
by some of the comic book industry’s brightest stars, culminating in a brand
new limited series. The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom is
written by Mark Waid and drawn by Chris Samnee and is available now.
Dave Stevens
Related Articles:
The Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction #1 comics review
The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #1 Review
Rocketeer Relaunch?
Rocketeer Adventures #2