A lost Dave Stevens story takes flight in ‘The Rocketeer: The Island’

John Layman, Jacob Edgar and K.J. Diaz send the pulp hero on a rocket-fueled adventure involving Amelia Earhart.

The Rocketeer will return to comics next February in an adventure drawn directly from a “lost” story by Dave Stevens.

IDW has announced The Rocketeer: The Island by writer John Layman, artist Jacob Edgar, and colorist K.J. Díaz, adapting a never-before-published story outline written by the character’s creator. Stevens, who created The Rocketeer in 1982 as a love letter to pulp serials and Golden Age adventure strips, left behind notes, sketches and partial concepts before his passing in 2008. One such outline — unseen and unused for decades — is now becoming a full comic for the very first time.

“This Rocketeer project has been coming together for the past few months, and I can’t say enough about how much joy I’m getting every time a new page comes in,” said Layman. “Playing in Dave Stevens’ world, a retro-world of charm, humor and rocket-fueled adventure, has been an absolute blast. As an artist Stevens was an absolute virtuoso, and I feel like Rocketeer is an all-time classic comic character — he’s always been one of my favorites. IDW, a publisher I’ve already done work for on some of my very favorite comic projects, has given me another fantastic opportunity to get paid while having fun, while allowing me to honor a vision of a comic book hero of mine, and play in a world I’ve loved for decades. Plus, the art and colors by Jacob Edgar and K.J. Díaz are just phenomenal and perfect for the book.”

Continue reading “A lost Dave Stevens story takes flight in ‘The Rocketeer: The Island’”

Mariko Tamaki, Jeff Smith, Elsa Charretier, ‘Monica’ + more win at the 2024 Ringo Awards

The winners were announced during a ceremony held at the Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend.

This year’s Ringo Awards winners were announced last night during a ceremony at the Baltimore Comic-Con.

This marks the eighth year for the awards program named for artist Mike Wieringo, the artist of Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Tellos and more who died in 2007.

Besides the Ringo Awards themselves, other awards were given out during the ceremony, including three from the Hero Initiative. Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort received The Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year Award, while artist Klaus Janson received the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award.

Artist Tom Raney received the first Brogan Fidelity Award. According to the Hero Initiative,”this new award honors creators who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the comic book medium and its fans, embodying the spirit of perseverance, passion and excellence, in the spirit of the late Dr. Kevin Brogan.”

 The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Spirit Award went to the comic The Hunger and the Dusk, by G. Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose, and published by IDW. This award is selected every year by perennial jurors Todd Dezago, Craig Rousseau, Mark Waid and Matt Wieringo, Mike’s brother.

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

Continue reading “Mariko Tamaki, Jeff Smith, Elsa Charretier, ‘Monica’ + more win at the 2024 Ringo Awards”

Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘World’s Finest: Teen Titans,’ ‘Web of Carnage’ and more debut this week

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meet the kids from ‘Stranger Things,’ Moon Knight hits a milestone, Knight Terrors kicks into high gear and … Svengoolie?

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. It’s another packed week as summer hits its stride, with more Knight Terrors, a new Carnage title, a big TMNT/Stranger Things crossover and more.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘World’s Finest: Teen Titans,’ ‘Web of Carnage’ and more debut this week”

Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Amazing Spider-Man,’ ‘DC Pride,’ ‘The Rocketeer’ and more

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by Drew Craig, Andrew Wheeler, Ilias Kyriazis, Jason Aaron, Marguerite Sauvage, Leah Williams, Jesus Saiz and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Amazing Spider-Man,’ ‘DC Pride,’ ‘The Rocketeer’ and more”

‘The Rocketeer’ returns for a one-shot in May

Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Adam Hughes, Jae Lee and more contribute stories to the anthology.

IDW will publish an anthology one-shot featuring Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer, with stories by Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Adam Hughes, Jae Lee and more.

The idea for the project sprang from 2022 documentary Dave Stevens: Drawn to Perfection by Kelvin Mao. Mao found out that The screenwriters for The Rocketeer movie, Bilson and De Meo, had written a Rocketeer comic book script featuring the Rocketeer teaming with Amelia Earhart. Hughes will draw that story, while Mao and Windom each wrote a new story for the one-shot.

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