Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Vol. 10 (DAVE EFFING COCKRUM)

SUPERBOY 183

This is the last of the pre-Cockrum back-ups, and thank the Gods for that. The word that comes to my mind regarding this story is "painful". The pain of seeing beloved (and not so beloved) Legionnaires in those horrible fan-designed costumes from earlier in the Archive; the pain of George Tuska's mediocre pencils made even worse by the inking of Vinnie Colletta, the laziest inker of his generation; and the pain of having to cringe one's way through Cary Bates' silly story about two utterly boring and loathsome cosmic entities involving the Legionnaires in their latest petty spat. This is as close to rock-bottom as the pre-Gerry Conway Legion ever got, IMO, and there's was nowhere to go but up. Enter Dave Cockrum...in just one week! So mark the date (06/23/15) on your calendars! Good times are just around the corner!

Cassel: Do you remember how you got involved with Legion of Superheroes.

Tuska: They gave me a script.

Cassel: Did you like doing Legion?

Tuska: I didn't.... they look like young kids, not strong or anything.



The Art of George Tuska

I don't care for nothing about costumes, kind of a nice nod to the fans to let them play artist so all is good in that department but was this some recycled Star Trek episode? This was like some generic off the shelf story that didn't really have much to do with Legion. S'all right I suppose.

I completely agree with Fanfie's assessment. This story seems to exist for no other reason than to display the fan-designed costumes. Said costumes reaffirm my notion that fans' hearts are in the right place but their expertise in costume design often is not.

The most interesting thing about this story is its title. I encountered "The War of the Wraith-Mates" in the old Legion Handbook and for years was curious what it meant. The title has a Star Trek feel to it, as does the plot. But you can't judge a good story by its title.

I'm really struggling to find something positive to say about it. Mon-El gets some good action scenes, even though he picks on a creature that was just defending its turf . . . and that's about it.

Interestingly, when the Legionnaires are introduced, the boys get to do something action-oriented while the girls just sit there, look pretty, and recover from the shock of their spaceship being attacked. This scene adds fuel to the fire of the perception that comics are mainly for boys.

The story isn't even well-told. Bates--using a device he used repeatedly in the Flash and JLA--interrupts the narrative to tell the readers something is amiss! 'Cause, you know, readers are too stoopid to figure it out for themselves. Then there is the long anti-climactic sequence when the wraith-mates explain to the Legionnaires who they are and what they had to do to survive. Hey, Cary! One of the basic rules of story-telling: Show, don't tell.

It's also getting annoying that the writer has to stop and explain who the Legionnaires are and what they do every issue--a drawback of the team appearing so infrequently, I suppose.

Superboy #173

In this second George Tuska story, I can see Fanfie's point more than ever on how the art looks incredibly similar to what Marvel was doing in the transition era from the Silver Age to the 70's. This is interesting when you consider this story is basically a straight up traditional Superman / Superboy type story that tries to fool the readers and then provides an ingenious solution at the end. Its almost the perfect combo of the "traditional" approaches of both companies and shows how by the start of the 70's, such distinctions were fading away as both companies learned from one another and evolved.

This story features my boy Cos, and I think he comes across well here. Starting off all alone, I can see where the anxiety and anger would come from. Bates tries to follow Bridwell's lead and incorporates a lot of nods to past continuity here such as Cos and Superboy's first meeting and Pol Krinn, who had only appeared once before. Unfortunately someone gets it wrong by showing Legionnaires like Tenzil and Chuck present for Superboy's induction (and the fault clearly lies with Boltinoff, the editor, who probably didn't care).

I find the usage of Mordru here really interesting. We would see him again very soon in a similar "brief, one-off" way. After his initial epic story he was the Legion's BIG BAD, yet space just wasn't available to show that.

All in all, I didn't mind this story. Not a lot to say but pleasant enough.

----------------------

Superboy #176

As a Tuska fan on Iron Man, I have to say I don't mind the art on these stories too much. He's nowhere near good as Cockrum, and not even as good as himself on Iron Man, but they're still pretty run and energetic. I like stylistic choices he makes like making the sci-cop on page 2 so muscular and leading man-ish.

I echo some statements earlier in the thread about a lost opportunity to use the Invisible Invader again. Not every villain needs to be all powerful and not every villain needs to be in a group of a dozen other villains; he was gimmicky enough to reappear in smaller stories.

For the most part, I thought this was another nice little story. We get to see both Chemical King and Invisible Kid get some screen time. We also get to see the Legionnaires working overtime to come up with a solution, and through hard work, teamwork and intelligence, figure it out. Bridwell has 7 pages to do this story, and he nails it!

We also get more of the mix of "traditional DC ingenious twist solution" meets "Silver Age Marvel all action all the time artwork" approach.

Lastly, I think it's important to note that there is a very large gap between this story, Superboy #176 in July 1971 and the next LSH appearance, Superboy #183 in March 1972. That's 7 months--longer than the gap between the Action backups and the Superboy backups! If ever there was a lowest point for the LSH it was here: only three seven page stories in about 18 months or so. It would be easy for fandom to move on. By the time the next story debuts in mid 1972, comics and youth culture continued to change rapidly.

It would be easy for me to agree and be very wrong because I was at that personal age of great change in any era, 13-14. But I don't think you or I are wrong.


A lot WAS happening between those publishing date. I might make an exercise or looking up some newspaper and magazine articles from the time to see if perception matches reality.

It was a time when the fashions and thought sets were merging quickly from the progressive mid and late 60s college students to the everyday high school student, tv programming and magazines. Buzz cuts were becoming rare, at least in the cities. Cloths were more than black, brown and white and people were interacting a bit more across racial lines. Culturally, hetero was still hetero and anything else generally still consider wrong or worse.


Cockrum's work jumped Legion ahead a good decade, from early 60s to a present time.

Good point. Actually, the gap would be from about May of 1971 through January of 1972, due to the deliberate post-dating practice of the publishers.

So what of significance happened during the spring, summer and fall of 1971?

Well, in TV, All In The Family, after a relatively slow start as a Tuesday night show from January through April, returns in a new time slot (Saturdays at 8PM) in September, and by the end of the season has become the most-watched and most talked about television show since, well, since television was invented.

In music, former Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison each get their first #1 hits as solo artists. Also, James Taylor and Carole King lead a pack of singer/songwriters that help Adult Contemporary replace Top 40 as the most listened to radio format in the US. Jim Morrison is found dead in his bathtub in Paris in July. Led Zeppelin IV is released in November. By the end of the year, Stairway To Heaven is the most-played song on FM radio.

Films like Dirty Harry, the French Connection and Shaft popularize a darker, grittier type of protagonist than had commonly been seen on the silver screen up to that point.

In the real world Daniel Ellsberg leaks the Pentagon Papers, documents that showed that the American people had been lied to concerning the Vietnam war pretty much from the beginning of that conflict, to the New York Times, which publishes them in several installments starting in June of 1971. That same month President Richard Nixon declares a war on drugs. In July, a race riot erupts in Camden, NJ, following the death of a Puerto Rican motorist at the hands of police. In September a four-day long prison riot breaks out in Attica prison in upstate New York, resulting in 42 deaths, including 10 hostages. In October, Greenpeace is founded. In November, a man calling himself D.B. Cooper hijacks an airliner and leaves by parachute with $200,000 in ransom money. He is never found.

All in all, I'd say the entire world was changing pretty fast that year.

Superboy 176
Our world used to be a utopia. Everyone got on really well and there was no greed or destruction. In our future, some idiot invented commercial time travel and a bored humanity came bounding back in time to mess things up for everyone. That’s the repercussions of the first panel.

It’s good to see the time cube technology progress. In keeping with the idea of going to the past, they collect paper currency in a bucket.

A thug like villain appears, but outwits everyone present using the cube itself to escape. It seems to be more of a spacetime cube, than a time cube able to go anywhere and anywhen. We get some insight into Chemical Kid and particularly Invisible Kid this issue. Like Karate Kid explaining years later that he worked at his power every day, Lyle shows us the various hurdles he had to overcome to work towards his power. We see he has total control over his invisibility.

The setup is a good one. To succeed Lyle will have to show everyone just how to defeat himself. We see how he avoids various ways to detect something that’s invisible. This is a good way of showing just how effective he is in an age of futuristic technology.

The end is a bit of a rush, and not just because it’s set at a grand prix. Of all the places the villain could strike, the Legion happen to pick the right one. Sure, there’s bait there, but it’s a bit too easy. The villain is defeated when his invisibility fails to work. We learn that it’s down to Chemical Kid controlling the reaction of Lyle’s serum in the villain’s body.

So, Lyle’s secret is safe. Does the villain tell everyone else how it’s done? Do we see lots of invisible crimes? No we don’t. Perhaps an invisible hand helped to keep him quiet.
I wonder just how much the bold on the word “pal,” the eye contact and the handshake between Lyle and Condo sparked relationship thoughts.

Of course, it could all have been solved by using the time cube to go back before the original heist and stop the crook. It’s just one of the problems introducing such powerful technology.

Elsewhere
Superboy alternates between selfish obsession over his secret ID, to caring for his “kid sister”. The alien probe is pretty creepy and Superboy is unable to stop a car plunging off a cliff.

He Who, I thought that was an exceptionally incisive review, and I give you credit for trying to find something positive to say about the story. Sadly, some stories just prove to be feckless.

Cobie, good call pointing the finger at Boltinoff for the continuity error. And, unfortunately, his influence would just get worse and worse after Cockrum left.

And thanks to rest of you guys for pointing out the context in which the hiatus took place. No wonder audiences wanted escapism! Even Boltinoff, as clueless as he was, must have realized that even this unwanted stepchild of an IP he was stuck with needed an infusion of youthful energy from Cockrum.

Hermit, great overview of the culture of the era!

Fanfie, escapism is exactly the right term. As so much of pop culture went more gritty and realistic, something like the Cockrum LSH must have been as refreshing as homegrown Mary Jane .

The Legion: our drug of choice!

Superboy #186

The Legion returns after its hiatus and now it's bumped to 11 pages! But in this "last one before Dave" story, I can't help but focus on a lot to dislike:

- those awful costumes. Shady's skimpy top notwithstanding, these costumes are pretty horrific.

- the opening "females are weaker than males line". Out the gate with a groan!

- Colleta making Tuska look like Kirby in places. Tuska's style is his own, good or bad. This isn't it.

- the Legionnaires, despite physically being there, are missing for most the story. I've been patient thus far having so few since I know it's the backup era, but this pushes it.

- Shady being called "Shadow". Thankfully that didn't stick.

- the vege-demon being a total plot device as both a threat and then happily surviving in its new prison.

That being said, if there is one good thing, some of Tuska's panels, particularly with Shady, are quite beautiful. In those random moments he and Colleta make her stunningly beautiful while dynamic and dramatic. But a few gorgeous panels don't make a great story, I know.

All in all, probably the worst in awhile. Bring on Dave!

(Yay! All caught up for the good stuff!)

Thanks, Cobie.

Just five days to go...

Superboy 183

The first panel starts of well enough. We get weird space wraiths looking to devour/possess our heroes for nefarious purposes/ just to stay alive at the expense of others.
But it’s downhill from there, with a momentary glimmer of them breaking out of the Legion cruiser squabbling.

The new “action suits” are pretty poor. Karate Kid’s is heavily insulated, strangely including his hands which aren’t protected. While they may also be heavily insulated, there’s so little of Jeckie and Shady;s suits that it won’t make much difference.

Despite an increased number of pages, there’s not a lot more to say. The action takes place around a plant monster I thought was one of Jeckie’s illusions. It’s there as a device to shake the Legion out of their possession. But not before Mon gets in a good cry.

Karate Kid is reduced to Razor Hand Roy and the cast stand around explaining why a hokey plot worked out the way it did.

Elsewhere:
A pretty good Gravity Girl story featuring Lana Lang. It’s the usual snoop on Clark to see if he has a secret ID. But then Lana gets powers,, and turnabout is fair play. Superboy finds a convenient way of making sure he’s the only superhero in Smallville at the end. Gravity Girl is the Legion precursor to Gravity Boy. You can see how versatile Lana’s powers are, compared to the way Ayla and Thom are shown at this time.

In the leading story, we get another version of Clark as Tarzan. “The hairless ones have strange customs…MMM…but pleasant ones!” he says after a snog with the first woman he’s ever seen. In DC’s Young Love this month we get to see the scene from the point of view of Kenaru, the female ape that Clark would be standing up that Saturday.

SUPERBOY #184

According to Dave Cockrum (whose Volume 10 introduction I've decided to paraphrase bits of rather than quote directly from), we have his mentor Murphy Anderson to thank. It was Anderson who helped Cockrum get a foot in the door at DC Comics, and it was Anderson who vouched for Cockrum to Boltinoff. Anderson also inked Cockrum's first three Legion stories; clearly some of Curt Swan's influence had rubbed off on Anderson by this time, because some of the faces here are more Swan than Cockrum -- not a bad thing at all. But the futuristic architecture and technology, the palpable energy and enthusiasm...that was all Cockrum. Where Tuska gave us lazy close-ups, stock poses, and cliche facial expressions, Cockrum gave us vast panoramas, dynamic body language, and beautifully rendered faces.

As for Bates' story? Well, for starters, even Gentleman Dave politely dismissed it as silly (though he was thoughtful enough to add, "Sorry, Cary.") It is nice to see a spotlight on the rarely used Matter-Eater Lad, and if you can forgive the way that his powerful digestive system somehow fails to digest the telepathic transmitter that Tenzil's misguided brother snuck into Tenzil's food, or the way that Tenzil is able to eat a death-ray instead of getting his head vaporized...uh...well, then, congratulations, you're definitely the forgiving kind. I'm normally not so lenient. But in the context that Boltinoff was apparently rubber-stamping these weak scripts without a care, and that Cockrum wasn't yet a fan-favorite who could have some positive influence on the direction of the feature, it's not that bad.

And it sure is pretty to look at.

I appreciate the background on Cockrum and Anderson, Fanfie. Those of us who are reading from the original issues miss out on the text features in the Archives.

"One Legionnaire Must Go" certainly is nice to look at. It's probably the best looking Legion story since Swan. Mortimer, as we've discussed, was a fine artist, as was Tuska, on other series, but neither belonged on the Legion. In his first issue, Cockrum, along with Anderson, creates an expansive 30th century that feels like an inviting place: rich, varied, and, yes, full of energy.

This story also marks the first appearance of the Cockrum-designed Legion cruiser, which borrows a lot from Star Trek but is nevertheless exciting to look at.

The story is hopelessly juvenile and feels like it belongs in the early Adventure run. After returning from a vacation, M-E Lad is accused of having traitorous thoughts by Saturn Girl (whose telepathy picks up his thoughts even though she's vowed not to pry into other Legionnaires' minds). Ultra Boy, who takes over as leader again, turns on M-E Lad without any other evidence and places him in a cell with Magnozite bars--an alloy so poisonous even Bismollians can't eat it.

Tenz spots a flaw in the bars and escapes back to his native Bismoll--somehow thinking that's the last place the Legionnaires would look-- only to find his own brother, Renkil, has framed him. After a nasty confrontation in which Tenz is seriously injured, Renkil repents and summons the Legionnaires to save his brother.

Showing he's the forgiving kind, Tenz not only refuses to press charges against Renkil but recommends him to the Legion as his temporary replacement while he gets the thought transmitter removed from his stomach.

And the Legion, showing some common sense, has both Tenz and Renk committed, and here we learn that the true cause of Tenz's later insanity was not eating the Miracle Machine, but that he was always delusional.

Well, not really . . . I made that last part up, but that's what should have happened.

It's tempting to go through the flaws of this story, but there's no real point. It's also tempting to blame Bates or Boltinoff for not giving a whit; however, as bad as these stories are, they may have been intentionally dumbed down to attract a very young audience. In the lettercol of 176, Boltinoff discusses the move from Action to Superboy:



So that may explain why we've gone from stories featuring drug abuse and domestic squabbles to tales of sibling rivalry and Legionnaires turning on one another. Perhaps such stories were deemed more suitable for a young audience.

Thanks for that lettercol quote, He Who. It's especially interesting in light of the cheap shock tactics that Boltinoff, Bates, and Shooter would adopt immediately after Cockrum's departure (killing off Invisible Kid, having Cosmic Boy strike Light Lass, etc). It's as if Infantino and the other DC executives were constantly second-guessing what they thought the readers wanted, to no one's benefit.

Yeah, it does seem they were figuring out things as they went along. In 176, Boltinoff discusses the possibility of a Legion comic and admits he has no idea what the future holds. When they eventually got around to a Legion comic, instead of featuring the wonderful Cockrum art, they reprinted stories from the Adventure run, which, even in 1973, seemed dated. (Though this was how I discovered the Legion, so I can't complain.)

I must differ about Invisible Kid's death being a shock tactic, though. It was indeed shocking, but, combined with the wedding of Chuck and Luornu a mere three issues earlier and the sexy Legion costumes, it seemed like DC was trying to reverse the juvenile trend the series was on and let the Legionnaires grow up some.

Writing out Chuck, Lu, and Lyle might also have been a misguided attempt to clean house, but these were daring moves that were bound to upset some fans. No Legionnaire had permanently been written out since Ferro Lad, and fans are notoriously resistant to such changes (although upset fans = media buzz = more sales). The fact that DC was willing to take such risks shows, I like to believe, that they had some faith in the series.

Cos slapping Ayla is Shooter being Shooter, alas.

"Cos slapping Ayla is Shooter being Shooter, alas."


Someone drew it. Someone approved it. Just looking through the last few posts, there is a lot of blaming of the uppers and excusing the writers/artists as following direction. How does a just out of college Shooter get different treatment?


Comics in general, so much different than some fledgling author writing something and shopping it to publishers. Comic books seem much more top-down, shaped by the publisher and if you want the gig, tow the line.


If someone thought Cos slapping Ayla was going to sell a book, then by Boltinoff, Cos was going to slap Ayla. Or it could have just been a situation, how do we show the stress Cos is being put under by the situation and by Ayla's insensitivity?


So, could it have been a marketing move? Could it have been a realistic portrayal of the effects of stress? I suppose Shooter might be accused of misogynistic intent when he could have had Light Lass blasted and Lighting Lad barely escaping to face Cos' wrath. Certainly would have been more politically correct than "hitting a girl" but it wouldn't have had close the same emotional effect IMO. It would have just been some guy hitting another guy, happens everyday.

You make some good points, BB, but I also think you've confused or conflated a few things.

For one, in quoting my post, you seem to be asserting that I'm one of ones who has "blamed the uppers" and "[excused] the writer/artists," but I don't think I've done that. I don't think any of my posts can be interpreted as implying that Shooter got special treatment more than other creators. If I have implied that, can you show me where? I may need to clarify my post.

I also don't think I've ever accused Shooter of being misogynist, though others have. I don't know the man, so I'm not going to cast aspersions on his character. However, some of his depictions of women (such as Ms. Marvel in Avengers 200) seem odd and merit scrutiny. When I said Shooter was being Shooter, that's what I was referring to.

Where I agree with you, though, is that Cos slapping Ayla, by itself, may be open to several interpretations. You mention the stress he was under. While I don't think stress should excuse his actions, it does highlight the fact that the story was published at a time when women's lib was in full force. Women demanded to be treated as equal to any man and, so, in that context perhaps it was intended to be no different than Cos slapping one of the male Legionnaires. It still seems dodgy to me, but perhaps that was the intent.

I also agree that that slap is an emotional high point of the story and certainly the most memorable aspect of it, judging by our discussions. Whether or not that's good is another thing.

I don't know the ins and outs of DC editorial control--who approved what, what say artists had in the script, etc.--but I think it's fair to say that Shooter, or any writer, did have a certain amount of influence over how his scripts turned out, and, at any rate, it's his name on the title page. For better or worse, he gets the credit/blame.

I’ll look “conflated” up later.





I referred to the previous conversation (posts) in general so as to not target any one poster, however since you brought it up…





Only my first paragraph referred to the quote, where you singled him out. You did in your previous post cast a wider net of blame then just the writer, when that writer wasn’t Shooter so I think my question was fair game. The rest of my post referred to “Comics in general.” The only reference I made to Shooter and misogynistic opinions was my supposition that he could be accused of it because of his choice in victim. I didn’t refer to your opinion on Shooter, which was only “Shooter bring Shooter,” I thought in reference to Fanfic’s “cheap shock tactics” comment, which was the only context I had.


But now you add this:





That honestly, sounds like an “aspersion.” Might be merited. Since I don’t know the situation, I can’t comment. But it’s an easy accusation to make if unchallenged.


There’s wider conversation that seems to be commencing that “isms” are the new bully words, used to put people on the defensive with little merit. I think maybe it’s worth challenging people who use them without accompanied examples and even challenging the context of the examples so that those words do not lose their value. It’s not to put off people who feel they have a justified case but perhaps we all could benefit an exchange of opinions from the less involved to balance our outrages. Too many people have fought too long to give those words value for them to be cheapened by opportunists, not at ALL putting anyone here into that category. I just saw an opportunity with this sort of connected conversation to bring up the point as it's been on my mind of late.

Superboy 184

Glimpses of exotic, futuristic locales start off this Legion adventure. Things seem to have turned around for Tenzil’s family after their problems being on Earth. I can only imagine that what Jo’s father was smoking in his pipe was just one of the many vices that dragged Rimbor downwards.

More technological advancements are evident in the Legion HQ, from multiple monitors to irradiating your foes so you can peek inside their craft. But it’s variation on an old favourite that involved in the first scene after Imra discovers that one of the three Legionnaires on base is a traitor. Strapped to the encephalo-detector, no one can lie. Sounds great. Unless you’re trying to overthrow a tyranny. More fun from the United Planets.

Imra, Tenz and Jo looked happy to be in each other’s company when we first saw them together. A snarling Tenz, kicking Jo’s gun away as he accuses Imra of lying shows you just how dark the story turns in a couple of pages.

Tenzil makes his escape, but it’s only when he’s on his way to Bismoll that we learn he really doies think he’s innocent. The story could have had Tenz on the run, trying to clear his name. But it’s a short tale. So, having established that Tenz feels he’s innocent, it’s only a few panels later that we find out who’s framing him. His own brother. The Kem family fortunes haven’t changed much after all.

Renkil Kem’s plan is born out of emotion. He clearly hasn’t thought it through. Having confessed to his brother, it hasn’t occurred to him that he’d have to ensure Tenzil’s silence. While that could be a plot hole, Renkil’s rash action, and instant regret in knocking his brother out, reinforces his emotional state.

A shame faced Renkil, awaits his punishment. But he actually gets what he had wanted all along, if only for a while as his brother’s replacement.

I don’t recall seeing Renkil as Tenzil’s replacement later on. But he’s always on my Legion membership list. Tenzil also later suggested the Legion look at Calorie Queen as a replacement for him too. Tenz is always looking out for others.

The Anderson/ Cockrum art works quite nicely here. Lots of nice backgrounds, and Tenzil descending form the cruiser is a good panel. Bates gives a few twists and turns into the limited space available. The necessary pace also helps move the reader along. And from looking too closely. Overall it’s a solid improvement.

I’m not much of a fan of Imra’s bikini though. I’m left wondering what the Legion had a pot of glowing purple paint lying around for, if Imra didn’t create it for the bluff?

LOL

That reminds me of something I forgot to mention in my review: Given the opulence surrounding the Nahs, is it possible Jo is just a poser who's been lying about being a street kid? He wouldn't be the first. Let's see the continuity buffs disprove THAT!

Or that his dad is the poser, taking the family to pipe smoking opulence from their origins in the gutters of Rimbor. A rise made possible through crime!

Associating more with the people he grew up with, Jo relates to that side of Rimbor more and more as he gains independence in the Legion and adopts their values.

Jo's acting comes from a childhood watching the shifting personalities of his parents, particularly his father. It doesn't keep him out of trouble though.

Jo's and Marla's matching costumes with the work tools show that Jo joined the Legion from a prison rehabilitation scheme set up by Brande. Ostracised shape changing aliens, throwbacks from the 20th century, outcast telepaths, impoverished planets and bounty hunters. Brande knew that heroism could come from anywhere.

Aha.

Nicely done, Thoth.

Superboy #184

There isn’t much for me to add that Fanfie and HWW didn’t cover in the first two reviews of this issue. They summed it up pretty succinctly: very exciting, dynamic artwork arriving on the scene that immediately catches the eye, while the story itself is pretty juvenile and one of the more forgettable Legion stories we’ve had thus far in its history. While I like Tenzil and any story featuring him as a lead character usually makes me even just a little happy, there isn’t much to praise about this one.

That art though. Dave arrives on the scene and you feel his presence immediately. The figures, the technology, the sheer vibrancy. And also the layouts and excitement that is on the page. It would only get better and better, but this is already a terrific start.

I also love all the “inside” knowledge being posted here. Like Fanfie, I enjoyed immensely Dave’s own words at the start of the Archive, and I’m also fascinated by Boltionoff’s statements on the letter’s page. I really enjoy hearing that Murphy Anderson played such a critical role in getting Cockrum noticed and published. I’ve always enjoyed Anderson’s art and reputation a lot, and as I was saying in Teed’s “12” thread in Gym’lls, only just recently was I surprised to hear from my Dad how much he loved Anderson’s Hawkman covers and art during the Silver Age. I had never known Hawkman was one of his favorites (and as a “Marvel first” kid in the 60’s, it’s always surprising to hear what non-Marvels stood out to him). Looking at those old covers you can see why. He also did a ton of superb Strange Adventures covers as well.

I also note there is nothing to say that guy with Jo was his Dad. For all we know that’s his parole officer or old drug dealer mentor who softened over time.