Dave Stevens got his start in comics from Russ Manning at the age of 19. He was Manning's assistant on TARZAN newspaper strips and ended up receiving the first Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award in 1982. Soon afterward, he went to work in Hollywood, doing storyboards and movie posters. Most notable among these projects was the storyboard for the Michael Jackson THRILLER video.

In 1981, Pacific Comics published a backup feature for Mike Grell's STARSLAYER by Dave called "The Rocketeer," which immediately became a hit with fans, morphing into the lead story in PACIFIC PRESENTS. After Pacific went out of business, Dave took the Rocketeer first to Eclipse Comics, then Comico and finally Dark Horse. When THE ROCKETEER movie came out in 1991, it was Dave who designed most of the merchandising, like watches and T-shirts, etc.

He is also known for his pin-up art (especially Bettie Page) and for spearheading the Bettie Page revival. Some of these pin-ups appear in his JUST TEASING portfolio. In 1994, he developed a line of Dark Horse Bettie products from which she received generous royalties through Dark Horse until her death. It is almost prophetic that both she and Dave died in the same year.