Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow How best to pay tribute to Dave Cockrum here?

We can't count on DC or Marvel to do it and I feel the need to do something.

Alas, Lash, I think it's best to pay tribute to people while they are still alive. After they've passed, it's too late.

Dave certainly knew that there was a large fandom who admired his work. He even interacted with many of us who accorded him the respect he deserved. I think that's more meaningful than any postmortum tribute.

On the old board, some thread or other turned into a drag queen name thread somehow... Dave loved my entry of "Sofonda Peters".

Dave was truly admired during his lifetime. In fact, it's extraordinary that someone who worked on a series over 30 years ago would be so revered. That's how Legion fans are, though.

I agree that it was very meaningful to show that appreciation to Dave Cockrum while he was still alive. I think that did happen. I have only a vague recollection of my interaction with him, online. I like Lash's little story above.

I disagree, however, with He Who Wanders in the significance of a postmortum tribute. I think it's the kind of project that we, at LW, would be perfect at putting together, whatever it is. I think our affection for the art and characters that Dave worked on would drive the project. I think the final product would stand as an excellent tribute to his work.

To make it more personal, people could tell their stories of inter-acting with Dave; whether it was a couple minutes at a con, or a lunch party, or stories from those who were closer to him. There could be stories of exchange with Dave online. There could be stories of never "meeting" him, but maybe just how his art affected us.

I would be happy to help in any way. I own all the original issues Dave drew. I own the Archive Editions that contain his work. I have a decent scanner!

Lash, these things generally require a leader and a plan. Let's continue the discussion....

I actually have permission from Clifford Meth to use a piece of Dave's Legion work to produce an item that, hopefully, we can sell and give all proceeds to ACTOR. At least that is my intention. Whether anyone will want to buy it is another.

As for something to do specifically on the board I fully support whatever you guys want to do. Be it one of the monthly art contests or stories featuring Dave's creations. Whatever. As long as it is respectful of the man and his work I see no problem.

Cool idea Scotty. A month of art and fic devoted exclusively to Dave's creations and/or Dave's brief run on the Legion.
Brief but incredibly influential.

I have an idea....

In the Legion Companion, I ran the three page tryout that Dave did to get the regular Legion assignment. I also ran pages from an unfinished Timber Wolf story which Dave was considering approaching Cary Bates and Murray Boltinoff with. Instead of everyone going helter-skelter with the fanfic approach, how about this?

Finish the stories.

Lash's comment about the old board makes me ask: Did anyone go crazy while it was still around and save threads? Specifically, threads that Dave posted on? I'd be really interested in re-reading some of those. Maybe Gary and Scott could create a read-only forum containing all of the threads that Dave posted in, both from this board and from the old DC boards. That way people could read his comments and get a feel for who he was as a person.

I also suggest that we declare November to be "Dave Cockrum Month" at Legion World, and every year do something to keep his memory alive. November was the month that he was born and died in, and November 11 (Dave's birthday) is also called Remembrance Day. What better way to remember Dave than to remember him on a day which has "Remembrance" in the title?

I don't wish to poo-poo anyone's desire to pay tribute to Dave in whatever way they choose. But Scott's idea of auctioning a piece of Dave's work for ACTOR has merit -- it both honors Dave and accomplishes something practical for a cause he believed in.

I also like Glen's suggestion of finishing Dave's stories from Legion Companion. It would be fun to "collaborate" with Dave. Any chance of the finished versions seeing print, Glen?

I will get my Legion Companion out again and re-read those pages.

I think we have a lot of great stuff happening here! I would really like to be involved in finishing the stories. There are a LOT of writers here, as well as artists. We're going to need to be very organized.

So I did it, I read those short stories. Basically, Timber Wolf crash landed on some sandy planet(oid?) and he just defeated a monster. His ship and its instrumentation are wrecked. It's pretty wide open as to what could happen next. Naturally, the question is, how will he get home? What else is on this planet? Who else could be featured?

In the other story, Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy and Sun Boy have come to rescue Element Lad from another ancient crashed ship. They find Jan but are faced with the tentacled, monstrous TYREX! What happens next?

Both stories are great sci-fi romps! The sky's the limit! I have a MILLION ideas! Now to harness it all....

No clear plots figured out yet, but I totally envision a Timber Wolf vs Nightcrawler brawl! Also, a Timber Wolf and Quetzal love scene!!! Perhaps both, within the same story?

Nope, just here.

I do have several Legion (and a few other boards) topics that were either about Dave and/or he participated in them. I was planning to recreate them here eventually even prior to this.

I'm into all the ideas so far.

Dean, if you want to pay tribute with your own special flair, you could make your next MODEL contest a "Dave Cockrum Legionnaire Costume Tribute".

Contestants would include the 70s version of Jeckie, Nura, Shady, Tinya, Star Boy, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Wildfire, Chameleon Boy, Violet, Karate Kid, Jan, and Infectious Lass.

(Ayla, Imra and Luornu's fun 70's outfits were actually modifications of designs sent in by readers, IIRC, so they wouldn't qualify.)

That might be fun.

Sounding really good, here!

Lash, I would actually rather do artwork that pays tribute to Dave's designs in another way, like in the Museum of Legion Arts. I really want to draw his unused or lesser used characters. In my head, I don't want to REJECT them again, as happens in the Pinup Model contests. Anyway, Drura won the very first one ever, so that stands as a comment on the popularity and affection for one of Dave's creations.

I also want to work on finishing Dave's unpublished short stories. So, I have lots to do already!

Not being as talented as the rest of you guys and girls, I have put up my tribute to Dave by posting a small gallery of his art.
Dave Cockrum Gallery

Nice selection! I don't know The Soulsearchers. That Legion print is one of Dave's best.

Ooh, I'd forgotten about the THUNDER AGENTS stuff; I still have those issues. Amazing how that company got colossal talents of the day like Cockrum, Perez and Giffen all on one series. It was also, iirc, Tom and Mary Bierbaum's first collaboration with Keith Giffen.