One of the stalwarts of the Bronze Age was Dave Cockrum - costume designer extraordinaire, and shepherd of the Legion of Super-Heroes and the All-New, All-Different X-Men. One of my favorite artists from my youth!
Great illustrations Doug! Cockrum was high on my artistic chart too. Aside from his excellent work on X-Men and Legion, he did many sharp covers for Marvel. And he truly aced the visuals in one of the best Bronze Age comics ever, Giant Size Avengers 2. Wish he would have done more Avengers tales (of course with the likes of Buscema, Perez and Byrne, one can't complain about Avengers art in the 70's...
Thanks for the comments, guys. I agree with both of you - Cockrum's Bronze Age output was fleeting. Never did he seem to stay on a book past a couple of years. And in the days when bi-monthlies were still a thing, that's even less output. Yes, as Redartz mentioned, he became somewhat ubiquitous on Marvel's latter Bronze Age covers (alongside Kirby and Kane), but I longed for an extended tenure on one of the team books. I'm thankful for the work he did leave for us; however, my greed wins out. I wanted more!
I'm sure I read somewhere that before Dave passed away, he made it known that he wanted to be buried in his Green Lantern T-Shirt. That is a bit macabre that I know that ( ! ) but I also find it quite moving..
That two page Legion spread was the reason he left DC and the Legion... he asked for an exception to the "no original artwork returned" policy... he begged for that one image, and they said no, so he said "see ya".
Company policy = everyone's loss. What a great run, regardless of how short it was. Mike Grell came along and continued the revitalization, and it was very good. Pity, though, that Dave Cockrum couldn't (wouldn't) have stuck around.
Cockrum was one of the very best superhero costume designers - in my view, he's right up there with Ditko in creating eye-catching and often iconic outfits.
Love me some Dave the Dude Cockrum! I loved his work on the early run of the all new X-men, especially when he drew Storm and Nightcrawler. The issue where he did Ororo's origin story stands out in my memory even after all these years. To me, no one drew a better Storm than Cockrum. I've often heard he really loved the Nightcrawler character, and most of the X-men's costume designs were rejected from his earlier run on the Legion of Superheroes. Imagine if DC had accepted his designs! Wow!
Great illustrations Doug! Cockrum was high on my artistic chart too. Aside from his excellent work on X-Men and Legion, he did many sharp covers for Marvel. And he truly aced the visuals in one of the best Bronze Age comics ever, Giant Size Avengers 2. Wish he would have done more Avengers tales (of course with the likes of Buscema, Perez and Byrne, one can't complain about Avengers art in the 70's...
ReplyDeleteI wish he'd done more Legion...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, guys. I agree with both of you - Cockrum's Bronze Age output was fleeting. Never did he seem to stay on a book past a couple of years. And in the days when bi-monthlies were still a thing, that's even less output. Yes, as Redartz mentioned, he became somewhat ubiquitous on Marvel's latter Bronze Age covers (alongside Kirby and Kane), but I longed for an extended tenure on one of the team books. I'm thankful for the work he did leave for us; however, my greed wins out. I wanted more!
ReplyDeleteDoug
I'm sure I read somewhere that before Dave passed away, he made it known that he wanted to be buried in his Green Lantern T-Shirt. That is a bit macabre that I know that ( ! ) but I also find it quite moving..
ReplyDeleteThat two page Legion spread was the reason he left DC and the Legion... he asked for an exception to the "no original artwork returned" policy... he begged for that one image, and they said no, so he said "see ya".
ReplyDeleteCompany policy = everyone's loss. What a great run, regardless of how short it was. Mike Grell came along and continued the revitalization, and it was very good. Pity, though, that Dave Cockrum couldn't (wouldn't) have stuck around.
ReplyDeleteDoug
Yeah, I always liked Cockrum's art; he did quite a few pages for the Marvel universe handbooks ... great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI love that Legion team shot! I recognize so many of the poses from the old Slurpee cups! Such great costume designs, especially Lightning Lad.
ReplyDeleteCockrum was one of the very best superhero costume designers - in my view, he's right up there with Ditko in creating eye-catching and often iconic outfits.
ReplyDeleteLove me some Dave the Dude Cockrum! I loved his work on the early run of the all new X-men, especially when he drew Storm and Nightcrawler. The issue where he did Ororo's origin story stands out in my memory even after all these years. To me, no one drew a better Storm than Cockrum. I've often heard he really loved the Nightcrawler character, and most of the X-men's costume designs were rejected from his earlier run on the Legion of Superheroes. Imagine if DC had accepted his designs! Wow!
ReplyDelete- Mike 'Bamf!' from Trinidad & Tobago.