On sale this week is Rocketeer Adventures #2, continuing the latest anthology miniseries from IDW Publishing that finds many of comics' coolest creators both contemporary and veteran indulging themselves in the graphically rich and infinitely charming world of The Rocketeer, the cult classic adventure hero created by the late, great Dave Stevens. Edited by Scott Dunbier, the latest issue comes with short stories about the impetuous Cliff Secord, his long suffering girlfriend Betty, and his stolen experimental rocket pack by talents including David Lapham and Chris Sprouse & Karl Story, Kyle Baker, Matt Wagner and Eric Canete, Eric Powell with Dave Stewart, all topped with a gorgeous cover by Darwyn Cooke. Take a look below.Set before and during World War II, The Rocketeer stories star Cliff Secord, a young, handsome and broke pilot desperately in love with his model-actress girlfriend Betty. Jealous and insecure, Cliff nearly gets himself killed again and again trying to find some money with which to prove that love, and finding an experimental rocket pack only makes things worse for him (but better for us). Truthfully, occasions where The Rocketeer depicts a traditional good vs. evil adventure story are very rare, as most of the time the hero is doing something incredibly foolish and getting rightly punched in the face for his trouble, with poor Betty caught in an endless loop of both worry and fury.

This endearing character dynamic combined with the aesthetically perfect period helped bring out the best in Stevens' talents, and the same is true for the always impressive roster editor Scott Dunbier assembles for each issue of Rocketeer Adventures, now in its second volume. This issue goes on sale this week in finer comics stores, and the collected edition of volume one -- featuring work by John Cassaday, Michael Allred, Alex Ross, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, Chris Weston, Gene Ha, Ryan Sook, Bruce Timm and many more -- is available in comics shops and bookstores.













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