Here, through the courtesy of Roger Freedman who sent me the link, is a better newspaper obit on Dave Cockrum.
One point I think someone oughta make about Dave's career is the way in which his presence on the Legion of Super-Heroes strip at DC changed industry thinking. The editor of that comic was a man named Murray Boltinoff. Now, Murray was a pretty good editor but with a couple of "old school" philosophies, one being a certain disdain for the new writers and artists who were getting into comics. In the early seventies, he was especially against catering to what some called the "fan" mentality — readers who read the books regularly, studied the storylines, etc. Comics, he felt, should be written so that each story was utterly transparent to someone picking up their first-ever issue. There should not be any references to earlier tales, and especially not to any more than a few months back. Boltinoff was generally against the idea of trying to build or maintain any sort of long-term mythology that transcended individual stories…and he also felt that DC Comics had a moral obligation to its older freelancers. He never liked to give work to a new person if there was an "old pro" who could use the job.
Obviously, some or all of that is wise in its place. Within the industry today, I believe there's a consensus that editors are too quick to pass over veterans in favor of anyone who can be described as "hot, new talent." There are even editors who routinely who do it who will admit it's wrong both morally and from a long-term sales standpoint, but do it anyway. Back when Boltinoff needed someone to draw the Legion, the pendulum was all the way over in the other direction. He resisted engaging the inexperienced Dave Cockrum and had to be talked into it. (I believe he only accepted Dave because he figured Murphy Anderson — an "old pro" for whom Dave sometimes worked — would really be doing the work, or would at least be supervising every step.)
The Legion of Super-Heroes had suffered at DC from a lack of continuity and from being crammed into short back-up stories. The strip had a large cast with an even larger mythology and it just didn't work in the occasional seven-page appearance. Then when Dave came on it, something happened. He introduced new costumes and drew with a greater-than-usual density (a lot more happened on each page) and this liberated and inspired the writer, who I believe was then Cary Bates. Suddenly, the strip's potential was obvious to the readers and though it took a little while, to Murray Boltinoff and DC Management. Soon, the Legionnaires had the whole book and it was on its way to becoming one of DC's better sellers.
Dave, who left soon after, shouldn't get all the credit, of course. Cary deserves plenty and there were others, as well. But I always thought that the success of that strip — and of the willingness of Boltinoff to embrace the work of a "new kid" — marked a turning point in the history of seventies' comics. Murray became such a champion of that book that when Dave quit in a silly dispute — silly on DC's part; they promised him the original artwork to one particular double-page spread he drew, then reneged on that promise — Boltinoff published a nasty crack about Dave in the letter page and awarded the art assignment to the next "new kid" who walked in the door. (That assignment worked out well for Boltinoff only because that artist happened to be Mike Grell.)
Roy Thomas at Marvel knew what Dave's presence had done for the Legion. That's how come Dave and Len Wein got assigned to revamp the X-Men and as we all know, that worked out well, far beyond anyone's expectations. And from that moment on, it truly was a brand new ball game.
