A perusal of the Web this evening brought the sad news that comic book creator Dave Cockrum passed away in his sleep this morning.
Cockrum was born in Pendleton, Oregon, not far from my hometown of Walla Walla, Washington. Cockrum first came to fans' attention in the early seventies, when he drew the teen superhero team comic LEGION OF SUPERHEROES. In the process, he designed new costumes and looks for many of the characters; and some of those costumes can be seen on the Sat-Am animated LEGION series on the CW these days. But his biggest claim to fame -- and the one that eventually made several folks in both New York and Hollywood much richer -- was co-creating THE NEW X-MEN with writer Len Wein and editor Roy Thomas, just over 30 years ago. Cockrum created the visuals for such characters as Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix. He drew the series from 1975 to 1977 (collaborating with writer Chris Claremont after Wein left); and then, after fan-favorite penciller John Byrne left, did a second stint from 1981-1983. His innovative, exciting, and fun style will be missed.
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