Clifford Meth, a friend of the family, released the following statement:
With a heavy heart, I regret to inform you that Dave Cockrum passed away this morning. After a long battle with diabetes and its varied complications, Dave died in his sleep early this morning.
Dave’s many creations—including some of the X-Men’s staple characters—brought tremendous joy to his legion of fans. For three decades, he was a beloved fixture at comics conventions across the country where he would sketch for a pittance and encourage would-be creators. Those of us who knew Dave personally will remember him as one of the sweetest, jovial, most generous individuals in the comics industry. I’ll miss my friend very much.
There are no details of services at this time. Dave asked to be cremated, and his widow Paty is burdened with the news, so well-wishers are asked not to call. Email can be sent to magnetorampant@yahoo.com.
• 
Aw, crap.
Cockrum has been a favourite artist of mine since his days on the Legion at DC.
I’m very saddened by this news.
I met Dave Cockrum at a convention when I was 11 or 12. In addition to being a talented artist, he was a tremendously nice guy.
This is a terrible loss. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends.
The title of this thread hit me like a brick in the face. I remember learning about Cockrum’s medical problems in an article in Wizard a couple years back. He was apparently having trouble with his medical bills then and Wizard listed an address where people could send donations. From what I understand, the response was very strong.
The sad part is, there are still so many people even in the comic industry itself who don’t know of his contributions, particularly of X-Men characters that have gone on to mainstream appeal and generated millions of dollars. May he rest in peace.
My deepest sympathies for Dave and his family.
He will be missed.
Regards:
Warren S. Jones III
Ðámņ.
He was one hëll of a talented artist and an amazing creator.
My deepest sympathies his friends and family.
As someone who first started reading comics in the ’70s, Dave’s work on Legion of Super-Heroes and the All-New, All-Different X-Men really stood out.
One of the greats. His style did not garner the poular acclaim that some of those who followed him did but it was his character designs that made some of those followers so succesful. For the New X-Men alone he deserves a place in history.
Like Jerome I had the chance to speak to him a long time ago and he was a very gracious man. Old school. And Paty was a pistol, every obviously proud of him. My condolences.
Dave was– and will always be– one of my favorite geniuses. I have an absolutely gorgeous personally inscribed nude of Storm hanging proudly in my office.
And while I will always cherish it– I actually regard it much more for the memories of Dave that it invokes every time I look at it.
Rest in Peace, Dave. No more battles, no more pain. You won the war, my friend… Now it’s time to rest.
Wow. This news just feels like a punch in the stomach. I met Dave at a convention many years ago and have enjoyed his work since I was a child.
I know he was having a long health issues over the last several years and now I hope peace has fallen over him.
R.I.P.
The “New” X-Men that began in the 70’s with Giant Sized #1 and X-Men #94, are as much Cockrum’s creation as Len Wein and Chris Claremont’s. Although he was only on the book for a little over a year (Byrne took over with #108, and yes I know he came back later), his dynamic style defined its look, and although many of the characters from the first couple issues of that run (Banshee, Wolverine, Sunfire) had appeared elsewhere, Cockrum created the look of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Thunderbird, and the “Little Orphan Annie-eyes” look of many mutants.
More info on Dave Cockrum at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Cockrum
I’m surprised and sad to hear this news. When I was a teenager, Dave and Paty were very good to me and a group of my friends who had a small press comic at the time. They gave us advice and were, in general, fantastic, inspiring role models and friends. I’ll pray for them both.
First reaction at the thread title: Oh… oh no.
Second reaction: Ðámņ, that guy could design a character or a costume like nobody’s business. Great, great talent to be sorely missed for sure…
Nightcrawler is my favorite comic book hero of all time (with Colossus not too far behind) and I will always be grateful to Dave Cockrum for that.
R.I.P.
He was an extremely able artist who had good friends.
My condolences to his family. Please thank Cliff for sending along the sad news.
This is a sad day. Oddly enough, I just bought his Essential X-Men, and was looking at it this morning.
I was so sad when I heard. He did a commission for me a few years back…the man was actually apologetic that his health problems were delaying the piece.
I still remember one email from him that arrived about a year and a half after I set the sketch up. “I’m going into the hospital again,” he said, “but don’t worry; I’ll be bringing in my drawing board and I hope to find some time to draw, between treatments.”
After desperately assuring him once again that (good God) he should concentrate on getting well, not on doing a sketch for a fan, I clicked Send. Then I thought about all the times in my career that I pouted about how unfair it was that I had to stay home and finish a column instead of going out to see a movie or something.
Then I spent some time on a line of thought entitled “Ihnatko, you suck.”
Anyway. What a legacy DC leaves behind.
text correx: After a long battle with diabetes–not diabetics. I don’t believe Dave ever fought any diabetics.
Ðámņ, this is sad news. I loved his stuff going back to his Legion days. I believe his last regular comic book was SOULSEARCHERS.
He’s not dead, he ran off to join the Starjammers.
Very sad news indeed. My condolences to the family.
I gasped.
I literally gasped right now when the main page loaded and I saw the headline.
Dave Cockrum’s X-Men was one of the earliest runs that I read/collected of an ongoing title. It’s just that non-deliberate feeling you have about people and things you grew up with that are just not supposed to end, even though you know in your mind that eventually all things do.
I met his son once at a convention. He was friendly. IIRC, when he told me his father was attending, I felt bad that I hadn’t brought any of his books with me to sign.
Without Dave, there’d be no Nightcrawler, no Storm, etc., and the ranks of the X-Men and its various spinoffs and other incarnations would be largely empty, or at least look a lot different.
He will be missed.
Rest in peace, Dave. 🙁
Dave Cockrum art was so easy to recognize, to easy to tell from other’s, that I can easily label it “iconic”. Everything he did he did it in his own original way and I expect to read about many present day artist praising the influence he had in the industry.
As for myself, I dont remember what was the first american comic book I read, But I remember for sure that Cockrum’s X-Men was the first book I consciously startet to buy on a steady basis with my own meager allowance. My mother, who used to read everything I got, absolutly adored his work, specially Nightcrawler. I think that, coming from a woman that grew up reading such classics as Hal Foster, Hergé or Alex Raymond, says it all.
First Dr. Jerry Bails, and now Dave Cockrum — what a terrible week for comics fans. What a one-two punch in the gut.
Both will be greatly missed.
My condolences to his friends and family. Dave Cockrum will be missed.
A shock, and sad, sad news for sure. The roster design in the upper left corner of Marvel’s X-Men books in the 70’s defined “all-new” and “all-different” for me. Those head shots are what made the X-Men stand out IMHO, and it’s the first thing I think of when I look back on 70’s X-Men. All the characters’ expressions were tough, angry and wild. He will be missed.
Ed
*Raises mug*
All happiness in your next life, Mr. Cockrum.
Loved his art work but never fortunate enough to meet the man.
He will be missed.
🙁
Ðámņ, I’m really sorry to hear that. I was a huge Cockrum fan going back to his LSH stuff right through the Futurians and although I’ve long since divested myself of most of my comic collection, I still kept most of his books as personal favorites, in particular Giant Size Avengers #2, with that gorgeous Hawkeye splash and wonderfully fluid artwork. I had the good fortune to meet Cockrum at several conventions in the eighties and always found him very friendly and easy to talk to. I’ve still got several beautiful sketches that he did for me, which I shall now hold on to with great pride.
Ðámņ…that is awful. Just earlier this month I re-read a TPB I bought way back in ’89 collecting the first four issues of Marvel Fanfare, with first Spidey and Angel, and later the X-Men, going up against Sauron and the Savage Land Mutates. Michael Golden pencilled the first half of the story, Cockrum the second.
I also have another Trade Paperback including his work on the new version of the X-Men in the ’70s, starting with the battle against Krakoa, spanning the death of Thunderbird and including a few issues after that. I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing his work in issues of Classic X-Men.
From the statement it sounds like he was a great guy, and if that’s so it’s too bad that myself and so many others are only familiar with his work. And apparently a lot of people aren’t even familiar with that since it’s been so long.
In the aforementioned TPB, directions from Cockrum to future artists on how to draw the X-Men are included. A couple of his notes on Nightcrawler made me laugh my ášš off, and I think they’re worth quoting here:
“The tail is connected to the base of the spine…it DOES NOT grow out of his ášš! The tail is prehensile, by the way…
“When drawing Nightie from the front: DO NOT connect the tail directly to his crotch–you’ll give the Code fits, and John Romita ulcers!!”
(LOL, and I really mean that because I’m chuckling here reading it again…the front view of Nightcrawler accompanying the notes shows the “right way” to draw it, with the very top part of the tail curving to the left and thus obscured by Kurt’s left thigh. The tail continues in that direction for a half-foot or so and then snakes back the other way until the very end of it winds up to the right of Kurt’s right ankle, making most of it visible in the area between his lower thighs, knees and calves–to reiterate, NOWHERE NEAR his CROTCH!!! 😛 )
He will be missed.
To this day Giant-Size X-Men #1 remains one of the best comics I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.
As long as there are new eyes to discover his work Dave Cockrum lives.
“To this day Giant-Size X-Men #1 remains one of the best comics I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.”
But… they fight a living island!
Robert Fuller wrote:
But… they fight a living island!
S.C.: No man is a living island. 🙁
Neil Gaiman posted a nice piece he wrote about him for a benefit book:
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/
Condolences to his wife and family.
I’ve always been a comics reader, as opposed to a comics viewer — that’s to say, I’m attracted to comics by the quality of the writing first. I’d forgive artwork I didn’t enjoy so long as the writing engaged me. Dave Cockrum was the first artist to grab me by the eyeballs. I studied his artwork and came to appreciate in particular his skills at costume design. And he could draw the female form in a way that made me linger on a page long after the reading was finished. Every so often, an artist will change the look of Dave’s classic characters, but before long, they return to his basic designs, and with good reason.
I will enjoy Dave’s legacy for a long time to come.
Wow. I just don’t know what to say.
I was finally able to attend my first convention this year (Heroes Con in Charlotte), and there had been some concern that Dave and/or Paty wouldn’t be able to attend because of health, but both were there, and I was able to chat with both of them for a few brief minutes. It was so incredible to meet them both, and I now regret that I didn’t take my Futurians GN with me to get signed. I attended on my own, and I wasn’t sure how to get around the con with a bunch of comics, etc., in tow, so I opted to just take an autograph book with me, and got both Dave and Paty’s signatures (I also got a nice little Magneto sketch from Paty). Dave and Paty were so nice, and I’m afraid I was babbling when I was speaking with Dave (I can’t even remember much of what I said).
I’m sorry to learn of Dave’s passing, but I am very thankful that I did have a chance to meet in person a man who provided me with many hours of reading enjoyment over the years.
One of the makers of us childhood go, but his art and spirit still here for ever.
My condolences to his family
Oh Bûggër!
Bûggër, bûggër, bûggër…
Ðámņ.
That sucks. To describe Dave’s work as ‘seminal’ would be a massive understatement.
My condolences to his family, and to all of you who actually knew him.
Cheers.
No one drew Deathboing the way he did.
Sigh. I was at Mid-Ohio-Con yesterday and heard nothing about this. (Not uncommon; if the world blew up during a Con, the attendees wouldn’t know of it.) I only met him once, maybel 10 years ago in Indianapolis. There should be a major period of mourning for X-Fans and Legion Fans alike.
“But… they fight a living island!”
They had to fight the living island there so we didn’t have to fight it here.
RIP, Dave.
They had to fight the living island there so we didn’t have to fight it here
I can imagine what Krakoa was thinking at the time…
“Oh, I hope that idiot Summers is dumb enough to bring more mutants here to save these other tasty ones I’m consuming right now. Otherwise I’ll have to walk or swim to the mainland… Probably take years, even with a map, which I don’t have.
“If only I wasn’t an ‘island that walked like a man’, but a human instead. Then I could easily board a flight for the mainland U.S., or catch a boat, or I could run across the border from Mexico or Canada, or parachute in or something, using my human freedom of global movement to full advantage without being hindered in the slightest by anything happening in, to pick a region at random, the Middle East.”
(I haven’t had any coffee yet, so if that was lame, that will be my excuse.)
heard about this from an unreliable source and thought back to dave working on soulsearchers. so i thought, “well if it’s true peter will say something about it, but hopefully it’s not true.” unfortunately, this ruins my wishful thinking. i pray that dave is in a better place.
“S.C.: No man is a living island. :(“
Except, of course, the Isle of Mann.
When I think about the X-men… there are two people that come to mind first: Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. Others might laud Chris Clairmont or John Bynre, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby but for me it was always Wein and Cockrum.
I finally got to meet Dave Cockrum this year at Heroes Con in North Carolina. There was a huge line early in the day but by the afternoon he and his wife were pretty much forgotten and I got to stand and talk with the person who had defined what superheroes looked like for me for what seems ages.
He was open and willing to share stories of his bullpen days. Talking about Nightcrawler and Wolverine and the death of Proudstar. I got him to sign some issues and walked away being incredibly impressed by the man and wishing I had brought more then the handful that I had on me. Sad that more people weren’t lining up to listen to him talk. Lured away by the appearance of Tony Harris and crew. (no slight on them btw Ex Machina is a great comic)
With his death, the comic world has lost an elder statesman and incredible talent. I wish his family well.
You know, I was flashing back this morning to the day I picked up a copy of Giant Size X-Men #1 on my way home from school, and how I pored it over it countless times, to the point where that potentially valuable (in hindsight) book was eventually beaten to hëll. Although I’ve seen that book reprinted over the years, there will never be a more memory than pulling that book off the shelf at my local candy store. Best fifty cents I ever spent.
I can’t help thinking if Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko created the visuals for most of Marvel’s key characters in the early sixties, Dave Cockrum was one of the small handful of artists who helped launch Marvel’s second silver age. In the pages of one book alone, he brought us Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus and Thunderbird, three of whom became part of the foundation for the X-books, which in turn really helped cement Marvel’s market dominance. And considering the millions upon millions of dollars generated by the three X-Men films, Cockrum’s influence continues to be felt, and will doubtless be felt for many years to come.
What a shock it was to see this headline.
Mr. Cockrum’s art was so full of energy and was just so fun.
My sympathies to his family and friends.
Gunter, you took one word out of my mouth. Fun. Everything of his that I’ve seen is just fun to look at. He had a great talent.
Bill Mulligan,
Actually, I never did get to meet Dave Cockrum in person or even interview him and now wish more than ever that I did both.
As PAD said in “Imzadi” (and I’m quoting from memory so it may not be 100% identical), the time we have to accomplish what we want on this sphere is limited, no matter how much we like to pretend otherwise.”
It is why I am especially grateful to have met the people I have and to be in a position to meet, or at least talk with, others who inspired me and that I admire. Life is very short, and it always feels good to at least say “Hi” and “thank you” to the people on the journey, especially those that have had a positive impact on you.