Interview and Exclusive Preview: Cliff Secord must escape Alcatraz in ROCKETEER: BREAKS FREE finale
Comic creator Stephen Mooney wears his love of classic adventure serials on his sleeve, epitomized by his creator-owned series Half Past Danger. So it was no surprise when back in 2022, IDW Publishing tapped Mooney to writer and draw The Rocketeer: The Great Race, a miniseries published for the 40th anniversary of Dave Stevens‘ beloved character. Since then, Mooney has followed up that original Rocketeer project with subsequent sequels. In the newest miniseries The Rocketeer: Breaks Free, Mooney and artist Staz Johnson craft a tale that sees our hero Cliff Secord take a trip to San Francisco only once again answer to call to duty as the Rocketeer.
Ahead of the release of the final issue next month, we had the opportunity to interview Mooney and Johnson over email about the latest Rocketeer adventure. Check it out below along with exclusive preview art.
TAIMUR DAR: In a similar vein to Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, while not everybody may be versed in the original Rocketeer comics by Dave Stevens, I think the general public knows the character through the live-action movie. As comic creators and fans of the character, I’m tempted to assume you both loved the Dave Stevens comics before working on the Rocketeer. So the obvious first question is your history with the Rocketeer before this project?
STEPHEN MOONEY: Oh absolutely. I came to the comic a few years before the movie. I didn’t buy them at initial launch, but pretty soon after the fact, I became aware of the character’s existence and immediately started scouring the back-issue bins for the Pacific Comics material. That would have been around 1989 or ’90, when I began collecting American comics in earnest. I think it was the home video release of the movie before I actually saw it, so that was likely around ’92. No idea why I didn’t see it in the theater – likely my Dad didn’t want to bring me to see it (I was 13)! But yeah, that stuff floored me.
Both the comic and the movie had a massive impact on my own storytelling sensibilities, which is readily evident in many of the books I work on these days besides Rocketeer – most notably my own series, Half Past Danger. I’m such a massive Dave Stevens fanboy and that shines through in both my artwork and writing, I think.
STAZ JOHNSON: I had been a fan of Dave Stevens’ work in general and of The Rocketeer in particular ever since I first encountered it in the mid to late 1980’s. I was a huge fan of the Raiders Of The Lost Ark type of stuff, so The Rocketeer‘s brand of derring-do high adventure appealed to me immediately, but moreover, as someone who (at that time) was still only chasing the dream of working in professional comics, Dave’s artwork was mesmerizing to me, the precision of his line, the economy of his storytelling, it was a masterclass. As for the movie, as anyone who has ever asked me will tell you, I always say it’s my favorite comic book movie, that it never got a sequel, but we as movie goers had to sit through Batman & Robin, and Barb Wire is a crime.
TAIMUR DAR: Stephen, you wrote and drew his first Rocketeer project “The Great Race” while handing the art duties to another for Den of Thieves last year. How did Staz come aboard this project and did you know each other or previously work together in any capacity?
STEPHEN MOONEY: I had actually requested Staz as the artist on my second Rocketeer series, as I simply hadn’t the time to write and draw the book this time around. However, our editor at the time (and arbiter of all things Rocketeer) Scott Dunbier had already been keen to pair another brilliant artist, David Messina, with me on that one. I was more than happy with this result, as I’m very good friends with David and love his artwork. I also knew that, like me, he’s a massive Rocketeer fan. So, I decided that if I got to write a third series, I would lobby hard for Staz as the artist, as he’s one of my favorite artists working today. As well as having The Rocketeer on his bucket list of all-time characters (like so many other creators), he’s absolutely top-tier when it comes to the classic, pulp adventure material that suits the character perfectly. I’d been chatting to Staz a little in the background (we didn’t know each other well at that point) to gauge his interest and once Scott saw his work, he was quickly convinced. After that, it was all down to scheduling and availability, etc. I couldn’t be more delighted with the results, as Staz rocked this thing even harder than I could have imagined.
STAZ JOHNSON: Me working on the book is entirely Stephen’s doing, for which I will be forever grateful. I had been aware of Stephen’s stuff from the old Eclectic Micks blog, and I was an admirer of his Half Past Danger (which is the coolest title for a comic, wish I’d thought of it myself) work before we ‘met’ via the wonders of social media.So when Stephen said he’d like for me to work with him on a Rocketeer book, I couldn’t believe my luck and jumped at the chance, and even though it didn’t work out first time around, we got there eventually.
TAIMUR DAR: The Rocketeer: Breaks Free miniseries picks up certain story elements from Stephen’s previous Rocketeer projects. How did you go about making this series accessible to potential new readers but at the same time reward long-term readers?
STEPHEN MOONEY: That’s the real juggling act, as far as these things go. I wanted to maintain a real sense of progression across the series and was very wary of treading old/similar ground. You’ve got to play the hits to a certain extent, while adding enough new spice to keep the flavor new and enticing. Different, but not so different that you alienate returning readers, who are looking for a certain element of comfort food with these books. That makes onboarding potential new readers a tricky feat, aligned with the fact that I’d introduced some new recurring characters into the mix. How daunting is that? Adding to a note-perfect cast is such a delicate balancing act. Whether we achieved that, is for the readers to decide; but I can say I’m satisfied with our attempts.
I also really wanted to ever-so-slightly modernize certain aspects, like giving Betty a lot more agency and capability in her own right, rather than outright altering her character in any egregious way. I wanted her to become much more of a foil to Cliff. I also wanted to progress/cement their romantic relationship in a few subtle ways, so that it feels like life is actually progressing organically. Nothing forced. All that and then you also need to leave the characters in basically the same place as you found them, so that the next creators who come along to portray their versions of these characters aren’t mystified or alienated by what they’ve been left with. It’s tricky, but oh-so much fun to figure out and engage with.
TAIMUR DAR: This miniseries is set in San Francisco. Though Cliff Secord has had adventures in other places, unless I’m mistaken, this is the first time a Rocketeer story has been set in San Francisco. What inspired this story and taking Cliff away from Hollywood?
STEPHEN MOONEY: Honestly, I just wanted to mix it up a little and offer myself some new storytelling opportunities. Relocating the cast immediately places them in (literally) unknown spaces and scenarios, and that immediately presents a tonne of story potential. It’s the same reason I took Cliff and Betty across Europe to Paris in my first series. Just get them out of their comfort zone and have them deal with something altogether less familiar. At the same time, you don’t want to go too far afield and have things get too outlandish. One of the story ideas I pitched Scott [Dunbier] in the early days, was to have Cliff embroiled a caper in the jungles of Peru, but Scott felt (rightly) that that was just a little too far afield. So, it’s all about getting the chemistry correct.
TAIMUR DAR: This series introduces new characters Debbie and Rose. What went into their conception and development both in terms of characterization and visually?
STEPHEN MOONEY: Agent Debbie Seville was actually introduced in my first Rocketeer series, The Great Race. She was a competing pilot in the transatlantic race that turned out to be a CIA plant, there to observe the Nazi Flier. I added her her as a foil to Cliff; somebody who could hold her own in a scrape, but also brought a new type of energy to the book. She appears briefly in the following series, Den Of Thieves, and then features heavily again in this new series. Staz worked from my original designs for Debbie, while applying his own patented stylistic leanings.
Rose, Debbie’s mother, was introduced in this new series as a delicate attempt at introducing a potential new love interest for Peevy. Trying to progress his character a little and make him a tad more rounded. Never stepping on the toes of what was established by Dave, of course; just adding a little more nuance to his character and potentially giving him another avenue to pursue, rather than simply bangng out Cliff’s dents. Staz designed Rose from the ground up and did a wonderfully compelling job, I think.
STAZ JOHNSON: From my point of view Stephen had delineated Debbie perfectly in The Great Race, so all I had to do was try to follow his lead, though he draws those 1940’s hair-do’s way better than I ever could. In terms of Rose, she had to be obviously someone who could conceivably be Debbie’s mum, and she had to have some steel about her, & to that end I put a little of my own mother in there, because when she was still here, she definitely had some steel.
TAIMUR DAR: With any long-running character or franchise you want to go bigger without breaking the character and “jumping the shark.” Perfect example is Kingdom of the Crystal Skull where many fans rejected the idea of aliens being in an Indiana Jones movie. For both writing and drawing, are there any rules you feel are necessary for the Rocketeer before it jumps the shark? I don’t suppose Cliff Secord fighting aliens is fair game for a Rocketeer story?
STEPHEN MOONEY: Ha! Let’s not rule it out! Seriously though, I completely take your point. Let me give you an example. Dave Messina *really* wanted to have a Godzilla-like Kaiju stomping around Manhattan in the climax to our story, Den of Thieves. I was, shall we say, hesitant. Scott [Dunbier] immediately put the kibosh on that idea though, reasoning that it was simply too far outside the boundaries of Cliff’s established reality and would just be too left-field, no matter how cool the set piece could have turned out.
This of course, coming from the editor who greenlit actual dinosaurs in the amazing Mark Waid/Chris Samnee Rocketeer series, Cargo of Doom! So, I guess people’s mileage may vary!
STAZ JOHNSON: Visually, you can’t mess with the design. Obviously Cliff the man is more than just a helmet & leather jacket, & he’d be the same guy whatever outfit you put him in, but the look is iconic, ans for me you don’t mess with iconic. Also, as much as the strip has some fantastical elements, I think it has to stay grounded and not go the Indiana Jones route of supernatural foes and challenges.
TAIMUR DAR: Finally, any upcoming projects you both want to plug for next year?
Other than that, a couple of upcoming writing gigs, including co-writing the HPD movie, and my usual monthly-ish covers at Marvel and elsewhere. Busy-busy! Long may it continue.
STAZ JOHNSON: At the time of writing, as actors like to say “I am currently resting between assignments, darling.” Hopefully the rest doesn’t last too long.
The Rocketeer: Breaks Free #4 arrives in comic shops on Wednesday December 4, 2024.
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