Icons Rocketman/Commando Cody Helmet Prototype

Rocketman, King of the Rocket Men comes from the classic heyday of the serial. It was made at the time that serials were starting to die out due to a combination of waning interest and the pitifully low budgets caused by Wartime shortages. And certainly, King of the Rocket Men is among one of Republic Pictures more routine. Rocketman was at least one of the few superheroes original to the serials, combining the then popular serial themes of the masked superhero - Batman (1943), The Phantom, Zorro etc - along with that of the flying ace hero - Ace Drummond (1936), The Masked Marvel (1943).

The origins of the Rocket Men date back to 1940 when artist Jon Small created a comic book character known as Bulletman. In 1949, Republic Pictures first introduced it's famous flying suit in King of the Rocket Men. It proved to be Republic's last top-notch serial production.

By the early fifties, science-fiction was becoming increasingly popular among matinee moviegoers. To answer the call and because Republic Pictures clearly decided that having expended the money to make the Rocketman costume that they would get the maximum usage out of it, they reused it in three subsequent serials : Radar Men from the Moon (1952), this serial offered a space age spin as well as a new character, dubbed Commando Cody. Radar Men utilized much of the stock flying footage seen in King of the Rocket Men, with a few new take-offs and airborne close ups thrown in.

Later that same year, Republic released two more adventures showcasing the well traveled rocket suit. As the serial era began to draw to a close, the Studio attempted to break into the low budget, juvenille-oriented television market. Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe was produced in twelve complete episodes without cliffhanger endings. Although it originally aired theatricaly, most remember seeing it during a 1955 T.V. run. After the first three Sky Marshal episodes were in the can, the Studio shifted gears and began filming the third and final flying suit serial, Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). And of course, more recently, 42 years later, artist Dave Stevens breathed new life into the jet-powered hero with his character in Disney's Rocketeer (1991) - a film that had a larger budget than just about every serial ever made put together.

I was told that Mike Moore, Vice President of the Icons Fabrication & Design Group and one of Icons co-founders, had access to a "Hero" helmet used in filming and could therefore have a mold made off of it....which was rare to be able to do. This replica prototype is made in fiberglass with the addition of other materials (metal hinges, mouth grill, smoke lenses...). First time advertised.....I didn't know this one even existed until I saw it !!!

The Rocketman helmet at Icons in the conference / showroom, with James Latta, Jonathan Harris and Douglas Conway....