Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! As ya know, Marvel had some mighty fine team-up mags (
Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-In-One, and
Super-Villain Team-Up, natch), but that never satisfied fandom's team-up itch, dig? Marvel characters were and still are well-known for visiting each others' mags. In the Groovy Age, a lot of heroes stayed in the semi-spotlight when their mags were cancelled by guest-starring in other heroes' mags. Some heroes even seemed to make their living as guest stars. Few were better at creating covers that excited us Marvel Maniacs about the appearances of "A", "B", and even "C" list characters than Delightful Dave Cockrum. See if any of these cavorting covers push any of your fanboy buttons!
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| Pencils by Rich Buckler; inks (probably) by Dave Cockrum |
Thanks. Cockrum was one of my favorites, from the first time I saw his work in Legion of Super Heroes.
ReplyDeleteDarpy
Man, Cockrum could draw the hell out of covers, couldn't he? These are all fantastic - I remember pulling the two Spider-mans and the Spiderwoman books off the spinner racks. And that Power Man & Iron Fist cover is a classic.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorite artists was/is Dave Cockrum. This i9ssue of Iron Fist was awesome. The cover was just beautiful. I was totally bummed out after I read the issue though. To learn in the letter's pg the book had been cancelled! Atleast Iron Fist went out on a Bang & not a Whimper! I was lucky to meet Dave once in Sept of 2002. At a small monster/model show of all places in Chicago. We had been e-mailing before hand so he let me know he was going to be there. I couldn't believe here he is doing this little show. Instead of ever be the guest of honor at Wizard World! For co-creating the New X-Men except Wolverine! Right after the X-men movie made tons of $$$ for Marvel. Not to even mention the comic & merchandise sales!
ReplyDeleteDave Cockrum is one of my favorite comic book artists. He did such amazing work at both Marvel and DC. It's a real shame that after the mid-1980s he seemed to no longer be in favor at either company, and really did not receive too much work. Cockrum was the artist who got me interested in both the X-Men and Legion of Super-Heroes. I was fortunate enough to meet him on several occasions before he passed away, and I even own a few pieces of artwork that he drew. But no covers, though!
ReplyDeleteWhy can't covers draw you in with exciting action and composition anymore? Everything is so static now with so-called heroes sneering or scowling angrily while doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame, Dave the Dude Cockrum was one of the comicbook industry's true legends. Seems like he was marginalised for some reason. RIP Dave.
ReplyDeleteLooking at those covers brings back some good memories. Loved Iron Fist 15, read it so many times my copy of it is worthless.
ReplyDeleteJust heard from Rich Buckler. He let me know that he drew the PM/IF #50 cover, and as soon as I looked at it after reading his e-mail, it was like the light came on. The PM/IF figures are definitely Rich Buckler. I am waiting to hear back from Rich as to whether or not Dave inked the background pics; I definitely see DC inks on the baddies. Or do I...?
ReplyDeleteI'm a big Dave Cockrum fan -- and I can easily see his work on the background images. He probably inked the entire cover. He's also been known to redraw characters -- which may be the case with Misty Knight. Honestly, all of the background figures look like 100% Cockrum. I never thought PM and IF looked like his work on that cover, but he probably did ink those. Dave was a superb inker in the 70s.
ReplyDeleteDave Cockrum always looked so great inked by Terry Austin (think X-Men # 111). It's a shame that as far as I know they only did covers together and no stories.
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