Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow Dave Cockrum R.I.P. :-(

Thanks to LL for keeping us posted on this thread. Contributing to ACTOR is a great idea. Dave is sadly an example of how the creativity we all enjoy so much comes at a price, often to health, finances, or both. Maybe we could have a "Legionworld" challenge to raise money? More important than the actual dollars would be the broad participation of this wonderful community.

I've actually contacted Clifford Meth to ask him about doing a fund raiser in Dave's name for ACTOR. I have an idea but it would require the permission of Paty and I felt it best to ask him than her directly at this time.

The picture Glen posted was the Dave I knew. Scott's picture... he looks so thin, and he doesn't seem himself.

Beat me to it. I just sent an email to the obit author thanking him. He treated Dave and his work with respect.

Update: Here's the email the obit author sent back to me:

Great news, Scott. Keep us posted.

Here's CNN's take:
Dave\'s CNN Obituary

The Chicago Tribune and The Dayton Beach News-Journal .

It is great that so many from so many different walks of life are remembering Dave. Even though he received little, if no, credit for the movies at least his vision was passed on to many more generations.

And Marvel has posted their official reflection on his contribution to them.

Clifford has given me the permission to use a piece of art that Dave did. I'll work out some more details and wait for the sample I ordered to come in before I share it with everyone.

Just found this.

Shit .

I posted here elsewhere, but i will be happy to say that i loved his art, and am saddened at his passing.

I even heard about it today on the radio, ABC news i think it was. They mentioned his revitalizing the "X-men" franchise and "numerous others" i think it was. The outsider world most likely doesn't know of his stellar turn on the Legion and never will, but we here will.

Dave, you are missed already.

I've been all over the internet, reading what people have had to say about Dave's passing. The blogosphere is buzzing, with Google listing dozens of bloggers who have mentioned his death. The AP story is making the rounds, with papers sometimes tweaking it here and there to give the impression that it wasn't just lifted off the wire. The New York Times have a long obit online, and it is more ambitious than you'd think. It attempts to go into greater detail about his career, but makes a lot of errors in the process (like getting his birthday wrong).

Three things keep hitting me as recurring themes in all of the news items posted online:

1) They keep getting their facts wrong

2) They keep showing the cover of Giant-Size X-Men # 1, which Dave didn't really draw, unless you're talking about the original X-Men at the top of the cover

3) None of them show a picture of Dave

No. 1 above reminds me that the degree of accuracy in news reports is always sustantially less than 100%, and that I keep forgetting this fact until I come across an article about a topic about which I'm familiar. You think Dave's obit is the only one they're getting their facts wrong on? Think again. If this was journalism school, their grade would be a steady C-.

No. 2 makes me wish that they'd use Dave's art when talking about Dave.

No. 3 makes me wish that they'd spend ten seconds on Google to locate a photo of Dave and use it in their articles, copyright be damned.

I am happy that news of his passing is spreading far and wide, and that people are learning about his life and career. I just wish that they were getting the real deal, and not substandard reporting.

Well, "copyright be damned" can lead to "news outlet be damned" -- by lawyers, that is.

Otherwise, I agree with points one and two, Glen. It's discomfiting how careless "professional" reporters can be.

Damn.

wow just wow

DC's news about Dave's death, from DC Direct Channel newsletter :

The Times obit was particularly perplexing in that they called Murphy Anderson the man responsible for "the modern look of Superman, Batman, Flash and other characters at DC Comics." But at least they tried to describe what a penciller and inker do and they did include a couple of Dave's sketches.
I agree about the photo issue though. There's a great photo out there of Dave at the drawing board (edit: I'm an idiot; Glen linked to that pic on the last page). How hard would it have been to obtain permission to use it?

Edit: Times obit is here.

And here's yet another obit , this time from the UK Independent. This one makes more of his contribution to the Legion, though niggling details are still not quite correct.

I never met the man; the closest I came was buying a comic that he'd autographed. But I can still respect him, admire him... and miss him.

Very nice, Gary. And very appropriate. Dave always liked your smilies, and I bet he would have appreciated this, too.

nightcrawler-
that is so brilliant and moving and heartfelt. did you put that tribute together? bless you.
wildfire's empty costume is the perfect symbol for our loss of dave cockrum.

Thanks guys. All the images are Dave's cobbled together with some fill ins and manipulations.