The Rocketeer was created by Dave Stevens and had originally appeared in a serialized run that jumped across multiple books and publishers.  Those original stories are easily available across different collections, including an incredible Artist Edition from IDW.

IDW had later continued Dave Stevens’ stories in a series of anthology series from the industry’s top creators, followed by a number of mini-series.

Those anthology series really explored the character and his place in time, spanning from his early days to his incremental involvement in World War II and his legacy as perceived from the distant future.

The list below is the chronological order of those stories.  The anthology books are repeated multiple times, as each contain stories that span different times.  Refer to the story name in the details next to the issue.  Stories without a specific indication of it’s place in time are placed in relation to its allusions to other stories or other time markers (such as the approaching WWII) and either marked with a question marked or specifically stated as having no date.  Some stories can be considered non-canonical, and are placed at the end of the list.

Starslayer #2 BUY by by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Origin
Starslayer #3 BUY by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Origin
Pacific Presents #1 BUY by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Origin
Pacific Presents #2 BUY by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Origin
Rocketeer Special #1 BUY by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Origin
Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #1 BUY by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Cliff’s New York Adventure
Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #2 BUY by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Cliff’s New York Adventure
Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #3 BUY by by Dave Stevens: 1938 – Cliff’s New York Adventure
Rocketeer Adventures #1 BUY by byMike Allred: 1938? – Post Cliff’s New York Adventure
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #4 BUY by David Mandel, J Bone 1938 (May 14) – “Cliff Secord, Warlord of Blargon”
Rocketeer Adventures #4 BUY by Dave Gibbons, Scott Hampton 1938 (November) – “A Day at the Beach”
Rocketeer Adventures #1 BUY by John Cassaday No date – Maroni?
Rocketeer Adventures #3 BUY by Joe Lansdale, Bruce Timm No date (Pre-WWII) “Heaven’s Devils”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 BUY by Stan Sakai No date – “A Dream of Flying”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 BUY by Markc Guggenheim, Sandy Plunkett 1939 – “The Good Guys”
Rocketeer Adventures #2 BUY by Mark Waid, Chris Weston 1939 (May) – “It Ain’t the Fall that Kills Ya…”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #4 BUY by John Byrne 1939 (June) – NYC – “Fair Game”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #2 BUY by Walter Simonson, John Paul Leon 1939 (August 15) – “Autograph”
Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #1 BUY by Roger Langridge, J Bone 1939
Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #2 BUY by Roger Langridge, J Bone 1939
Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #3 BUY by Roger Langridge, J Bone 1939
Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #4 BUY by Roger Langridge, J Bone 1939
Rocketeer Adventures #3 BUY by Jonathan Ross, Tommy Lee Edwards (nearly) 1940 – “Junior Rocketeers”
Rocketeer Adventures #4 BUY by Joe Pruett, Tony Harris 1940 – “Waterlogged”
Rocketeer Cargo of Doom #1 BUY by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee 1940
Rocketeer Cargo of Doom #2 BUY by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee 1940
Rocketeer Cargo of Doom #3 BUY by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee 1940
Rocketeer Cargo of Doom #4 BUY by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee 1940
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #2 BUY by Paul Dini, Bill Morrison 1940 (Spring) “Betty’s Big Break”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #3 BUY by David Lapham, Chris Prouse No date – Betty’s famous – “Coulda Been”
Rocketeer Pulp Friction #1 BUY by Mark Waid, Paul Smith 1941 (February)
Rocketeer Pulp Friction #2 BUY by Mark Waid, Loston Wallace 1941 (February)
Rocketeer Pulp Friction #3 BUY by Mark Waid, J Bone 1941 (February)
Rocketeer Pulp Friction #4 BUY by Mark Wiad, J Bone 1941 (February)
Rocketeer Adventures #4 BUY by John Arcudi, Brendan McCarthy 1941 (Summer) – “Flight of the Aeronaut”
Rocketeer Adventures #2 BUY by Lowel Francis, Gene Ha 1942 (February 7) – “TKO”
Rocketeer Adventures #3 BUY by Ryan Sook No date – WWII (Homefront) – “A Rocketeer Story”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 BUY by Peter David, Bill Sienkiewicz No date – WWII (Homefront) – “The Ducketeer”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #4 BUY by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson 1942 – “War Hero” – Cliff joins the War effort
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #2 BUY by Tom Taylor, Colin Wilson No Date – WWII (enlisted) – “Work to Do”
Rocketeer Adventures #1 BUY by Kurt Busiek, Michael Kaluta 1944-1945 (8/14/45) – Gone to War and Back – “Dear Betty”
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #3 BUY by Matt Wagner, Eric Canete Distant Future – “History Lesson”
Rocketeer Adventures #2 BUY by by Darwyn Cooke: Episode 6 – “Betty Saves the Day” (Non-Canonical?)
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #3 BUY by  by Kyle Baker: Episode 17 – “Butch Saves Betty” (Non-Canonical?)