"Wow!" is right. For Valentine's Day I don't think any of my favorite artists nail the holiday any better than the late great Dave Stevens. Stevens rocked the comic book world in the early 80's when in the back pages of Pacific Comics Starslayer #2 he unleashed The Rocketeer. Immediately it was a hit and zoomed out of the back pages into cover status. Stevens blew us all away with his delectable depiction of the Rocketeer's number one damsel -- the ever vivacious Betty.
This is the one page I'd say had the same level of impact as the Silver Age debut of Mary Jane Watson. Stevens went on to become the go-to artist for good girl art across the comic book world, while at the same time continuing his main career in animation . In lieu of the holiday I'm offering up a few more examples of the vintage Stevens covers, quite simply because I could not choose among these love ladies -- so why do it.
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"Love? Lord above. Now you're tryin' to trick me in love"
ReplyDeleteWe ain't talkin' bout love....
But we are talkin' about some lovely ladies! And one very talented artist.
The best "good girl" art elevates the female form to an ideal, and Stevens did that like gangbusters.
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It didn't hurt that Dave modeled Betty on Bettie Page - and it led to Page coming out of near-seclusion to greet a new generation of fans.
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