Dave Stevens

[samurainoir]

Amazon.com: Brush with Passion: The Art and Life of Dave Stevens: Dave Stevens, Arnie Fenner, Cathy Fenner, James Steranko: Books
I finally picked up the sweet Lt Ed Hardback with Slipcase and extra pages. Worth every penny.

An incredible amount of Steven's work I had never seen before, and a great amount of fascinating biography. It also shatters the "hollywood" illusions that one might have about the process of having a comic book turned into a movie. Hard to believe Stevens would spend so many years after that experience barely making ends meet given his enourmous talents.

There were a couple of slightly risque Batman and Catwoman commissions in Steven's Pulp style that were notable.

I real shame that he passed away so young.

[ctc]

>Hard to believe Stevens would spend so many years after that experience barely making ends meet given his enourmous talents.

Definitely; but comics was a little different back in his heyday. He worked mostly for the independants, who didn't pay anywhere's near as much as the mainstream companies did. (OR the bigger independants today.) And his work was very labour intensive, so he couldn't have picked up a lot of bucks based on volume.

And I've read about a few folks who had movies based on their stuff but were whangdangled out of any serious money.

It's funny to see how much of his style has snuck into the current crop of artists.

Don C.

[samurainoir]

I'm talking about his Post-Rocketeer movie career, well after he'd left comics behind in the eighties after Dark Horse decided not to continue with Rocketeer Adventure Comics due to low sales.

Stevens traded his merchandising participation in order to retain the ownership of The Rocketeer. Given the avalanche of Rocketeer stuff that came out during that summer, that's just heartbreaking. He was dealing with The House of the Mouse, and history shows us it was to be expected. One can only imagine that perhaps Spielberg might have given him a better deal (as Stevens speculated looking back on the experience in the book).

There is a great deal of writing by Stevens himself reflecting on his work and career, and it's just mind boggling how he undersold himself time and again.

[neogelion]

It's a shame he is gone. I always think of him and Steve Rude in the same vain. Two 'free comic book days' ago they gave out a promo for Steve's "The Moth" and it just blows away anything that is made by mainstream comic companies today.

[samurainoir]

It's a shame he is gone. I always think of him and Steve Rude in the same vain. Two 'free comic book days' ago they gave out a promo for Steve's "The Moth" and it just blows away anything that is made by mainstream comic companies today.

I love both The Nexus and The Moth and I am just baffled why Steve Rude is not a rabid fan favorite given the level of his skill and craftsmanship in any comic he draws. At least Dave Stevens had his career as a pin-up artist to fall back on and could survive on private commissions.

I was reading a while back about Steve Rude's struggles to get a Nexus animated series off the ground. The test footage looked really cool in an old school Hanna Barbera kind of way. Apparently he put his own money into the development.

[ctc]

>He was dealing with The House of the Mouse, and history shows us it was to be expected.

Working with Disney is like gambling.... a lot of folks think they can beat the odds but few ever do.

I remember a similar story from Eastman and Laird during this time. Eastmen had mentined that the movie people "just wanted us comic people to go away;" inferring that they had no respect for them, even though they were originating the ideas being put up on the screen. I kinda think that attitude is still present, considering how much any given comic is modified for film. Often for no real reason.

>it's just mind boggling how he undersold himself time and again.

Yeah. I think again that comes from the era; he didn't get anywhere's near the accolades he deserved from his own industry 'cos the comic boom was usurped by the Big Two and it seemed like nobody who didn't work for them got much recognition. So it's easy to be down on yourself when you're constantly barraged by how wonderful OTHER guys are. (Especially if they aren't actually as good as you. And if you're looking to take your stuff in a different direction it can be easy to think the whole world hates you STYLE, and not just you.)

>I always think of him and Steve Rude in the same vain.

There are SO MANY forgotten cartoonists out there. (I'd add Joe Staton, Ernie Colon and Timothy Truman to the mix too.)

Don C.

[kingdom warrior]

I haven't picked this up yet.... but Stevens was and still is a major influence for me. I got the chance to meet him in the late 80's and he was nice enough to look at my work and gave me tons of pointers about penciling and inking with brush instead of pen.

Truly a very talented man who didn't like to rush anything. he felt he always had to give his best all the time. The Rocketeer is probably one of the best underrated comics.
I was reading that there will be a complete Rocketeer collection coming out soon with many sketches and unused art......can't wait!

[samurainoir]

>I always think of him and Steve Rude in the same vain.

There are SO MANY forgotten cartoonists out there. (I'd add Joe Staton, Ernie Colon and Timothy Truman to the mix too.)

Add in Mark Schultz, Brett Blevins, and William Stout. All very old-school kind of guys with a very classic pinup/pulp style working on the periphery of the mainstream.

What I always loved about Truman's work is the fact that he really gravitated towards a different kind of hero, and the beginnings of the direct market really allowed for a character like Scout or Dragon Chiang to be produced. You can even see it in his mainstream stuff like Lone Ranger where it was really Tonto who stood out more than the titular character. Dug his Johan Hex as well.

[ctc]

>Brett Blevins,

Yeah! I've found his work to be kind of uneven.... sometimes it's really sketchy; but sometimes it's astounding! A weird mix of cartoony designs and solid rendering. Very expressive too; which is a big deal for me.

>What I always loved about Truman's work is the fact that he really gravitated towards a different kind of hero,

His stuff always had this great weathered look to it. Perfect for stuff like Scout and Grimjack.... and any old west book anyone would want to do.

>Truly a very talented man who didn't like to rush anything.

Anybody who'd ever worked with him had nothing but good things to say.

Don C.