A Suspended Animation Classic review from 1989, by R.A. Jones.

The Rocketeer Adventure MagazineThe Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #s 1 & 2/Comico, publishers/$2.75 (originally)/available in comic shops/for all ages.

Everyone dreams of flying, whether with the wings of an angel or the jets of an airplane or the rockets of a space ship. Dave Stevens brings those dreams to life with his pen in the pages of "The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine." And if you share his fascination for adventure and for America in the 1930s, you're invited to soar to new heights with Cliff Secord – The Rocketeer!


Cliff's an aviator who occasionally straps a rocket to his back and dons a single-finned helmet to take to the skies. Cliff shares a common parent with Indiana Jones in the pulp magazines of the '20s, '39s, and '40s – a parent full of action, intrigue and excitement whose only interest was to entertain.

An added delight in Rocketeer is a wealth of outlandish gadgets that promised to be our future. Among these in the Autogiro – half airplane and half helicopter – that seems to symbolize the spirit of adventure and experimentation of the 1930s.

In the first two issues, Cliff follows his angry girlfriend to New York City to recapture her affections. He falls afoul in a nightclub fight, however, and broke and broken-hearted, Cliff becomes an operative for "Jonas", himself a shadow of one of the most famous of pulp crime-fighters. Together, they become embroiled in a serial murder investigation that promises Cliff will be the next victim!

This magazine's back-up feature, "Brucilla, The Muscle", by Michael Kaluta, concerns a troupe of 'girl scouts' – The Galactic Girl Guides – who resemble The Little Rascals thrust hundreds of years into the future. Although it suffers from too great a dose of 'cute', "Brucilla" is an apt companion to the exploits of The Rocketeer, full of fun, movement and colorful characters.

"The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine" is fun, and if you enjoy flights of fancy into the near past or forward into the distant future, you'll find both in this exceptional but infrequent comic book. Both Stevens and Kaluta deserve the highest praise for some of the best art in comic books or strips today.