Dave Cockrum is a legend in the comicbook field
and an all out nice guy. He was recently at a
comic convention in Houston, and he was nice
enough to let me take up some of his time by
interviewing him. Hes a great guy and I still adore
his costume designs from the seventies. DC and
Marvel need to get with the program: its not old
fashioned, its retro. To further understand my
comment, read on.
Sidra:
So how did you break into comics?
Dave Cockrum:
Well, it was largely a matter of
going to New York and badgering people until they
gave me work. Originally DC and Marvel werent
interested and Neil Adams sent me over Warren. So
I did some work over at Warren comics originally
until I was ready to break into color comics.
Sidra:
In the 70s you created a lot of costumes
both for The Legion of Superheroes and X-Men that
captured the fashion sense of the time, did you
look at magazines for this or was it pure
inspiration?
Dave Cockrum:
It was straight out of my head,
really. It was stuff that I liked. I dont know.
Id probably do similar stuff now, and it dates
me.
Sidra:
Youre best known for working on Legion of
Superheroes and X-Men, do you like working on team
books?
Dave Cockrum:
Well, I did. I think Id prefer a
single character book now, because theyre easier
to do. With age one gets tired and also gets a
little more sense. But group books are what Im
known for and what I keep coming up with ideas for.
So Im probably stuck in that mode.
Sidra:
I originally understand that you created
Night Crawler for the Legion, why didnt DC want the
character?
Dave Cockrum:
Murray Boltinoff was the editor and
he was very conservative and afraid of offending
the readers, because Night Crawler we so funny
looking.
Sidra:
How do you like seeing characters you
created on the movie screen?
Dave Cockrum:
Well, Im of mixed feelings. Im
glad theyre there. I wish I got some money out of
it and they were more like the way I created them
in the comics.
Sidra:
If you could work on any current comic
which would you work on and why?
Dave Cockrum:
Hawkman, Green Lantern or Flash
because theyre books Ive always loved. Hawkman
in particular has always been just about my very
favorite. I would love to do Hawkman. I love the
look of the character. I love the wings. Since my
teens, Hawkman has been one of my favorite
characters.
Sidra:
And what projects are you working on
currently?
Dave Cockrum:
Right now Im working on looking for
work. * laughs * The editors all seem to think my
stuff is too old fashioned. So, Im looking. Maybe
Ill find something one of these days.
Editor's Note: I'd buy *any* comic Dave Cockrum works on. I'm sure I'm not alone.
