posted
Honestly, as a teenager, Cockrum's style on X-Men (which is still my main exposure to him--haven't read his Avengers or Futurians) took some getting used to. I guess in a way it seemed somehow more exaggerated and cartoony than, say, Byrne's style.
Note: I should also mention that I was only recently exposed to Dave's Legion work thru the Archives. Obviously his art is great and really helped transition LSH out of the Silver Age. I do think that the overall low quality and relative insignificance (obviously with some exceptions) of the Cary Bates scripts he drew don't help my view. It's hard for me to extoll a great artist's run when the stories didn't exactly impress me.
As I got older and looked back, Dave was clearly one of the very best X-Men artists, and I feel the style that evolved over both runs was the definitive Cockrum. One signature of this, for me, is that "thicker line" you refer to, I think. Some of my favorite stories of his are the Belasco arc, the Nightcrawler miniseries and anything he did with the Starjammers. I also think his new X-Men, Starjammers and Futurians costumesIare the best he ever did. I think the stylistic flair I associate with him really shine in those stories and designs. To me, they're miles away from his Legion run.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
In an odd way, I was introduced to Cockrum's work through various fill-ins (Spectacular Spider-Man and Iron Man I think), and then I first saw his X-Men stuff before the Legion. Which was spectacular, and I loved.
But it wasn't until after I met the LMB online and probably just before Legion World opened that I first saw Cockrum's Legion stories, which (to me) had this whole mystique to them as the Legoin stories I never got to see. And I loved them; these were the issues that made me really 'find' Dave Cockrum and learn about how great he was. I read those X-Men stories first, and maybe it was because I was so pumped on Byrne's run (which I read even before that) that I didn't give them the credit they deserve. But his Legion stuff...many it just blew me away.
His Dream Girl, Tenzil, Cham, even Superboy, all felt so different and fresh to me. And I was reading these in 2002 (in the Archive volume with the majority of his Legoin stuff).
So yeah, I like his Legion work better than his X-Men work. There are a handful of times when I've read an era of the Legion where I really felt like there was suddenly a whole new world to this concept I've been aware of for a very long time. And both Giffen's run with Levitz and Cockrum's run are probably the two most dramatic times I've felt that sense of fresh/grandiose/something just feels really different. Certainly other eras have that, but those in particular.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
PS - I've never even opened a Futurians comic before. Suddenly I feel the urge to do so!
PPS - I can understand why some people might pick Copiel for the reasons I stated in my post. To me I think his best work has been all the stuff he's done since. He's been able to take mediocre stories (House of M) and make them look magnificent. I keep hoping JMS will shock me with Thor and give us a writer/artist combo on Thor that will be simply amazing.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
In a funny way, I always thought of Cockrum's work on the X-Men almost as if he were still drawing the Legion.
Especially with the Imperial Guard connection.
But the Krakoa issue introducing the All-New, All-Different X-men could easily have been a LSH issue, too.
Sub Saturn Girl for Professor X, make the vignettes introducing the characters occur on different planets, rather than different nations, make Krakoa a living planetoid instead of a living island and it could read like a LSH tale.
Then again, I was exposed to Grell before Cockrum on the LSH-- though I'm pretty sure I read a couple of Cockrum's issues before getting my hands on GS X-men #1, which I recall buying off the comic rack at a 7-11, as I do remember thinking of Cockrum as a LSH artist... which is a jumbled way of saying that my early comic book reading memories ain't so clear-cut.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
This vote was easy for me. Dave Cockrum #1 and Steve Lightle #2.
-------------------- I tried to rip their soul out.I tried to make them forget Superman. But they won't.
From: Kentucky | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
#1 for me is easy - Giffen. It was his non-traditional, dark style that drew me to the Legion in the first place with the TMK relaunch. (after Giffen did an issue of "Justice" I bought the "Dr Fate" mini because of his art, then found the Legion) I was also a fan of the other styles he went through (especially during that last Emerald Empress story)
#2 wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be - Coipel. It was maybe the only time I've been more excited about looking at the art when a new issue would come out more than reading the story.
Sprouse is also up there in my mind and I'd also like to throw in for honorable mention someone who I think would've been a huge fan favorite had he worked on the title longer or on more memorable stories -- Terry Shoemaker.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Greg LaRocque -- Sensuous and sensitive, with women who look like real women. Also had a sense of scale that's been truly unsung.
Dave Cockrum -- The definitive LSH costumes in my opinion; he was the first fan-turned-professional to draw the Legion, and his enthusiasm was in every line.
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic | Subscribe To Topic
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
)
