Thoughts

So it’s farewell for a second time to Dave Cockrum. And it’s fitting that in his final issue we get elements of all his great qualities. Firstly there’s space. and spaceships.

And cool costume designs. This time being cool costume designs of SPACE stuff.

And just generally a showcase of his ability to draw really distinct individual takes on these heroes. Many of whom he created.

I really don’t think it’s understating things to consider Cockrum vital to the success of the Uncanny X-men relaunch. Much is made of the “international” nature of the new team but I think that’s not quite right.

What really sells the team is the look. They look interesting. Cockrum knows how to make a team look diverse and intriguing. You see them, you want to know more.

Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler. These are all characters that leap out the page the first time you see them. Who are they? What can they do? What are they like? Claremont had this incredible base to build on when it came to giving them great personalities.

He pulls off the exact same trick with the Starjammers. He left the title to try and launch his own team book “The Futurians” that sadly never really took off. I’ve not read any but if i take one look at the team it makes me want to know who all these characters are.

We’ll come back to Cockrum one more time for a Nightcrawler miniseries, another title from a prolific artist who enjoyed a long career working for numerous different publishers. Sadly he died on November 26 2006, leaving behind a great creative legacy. Including all these issues I’ve been enjoying.

Fun Panel

It’s Cosmic, it’s trippy, it’s got an intriguing and unique character design at the heart of it. The perfect Cockrum panel!