Dave Cockrum & Legion of Super-Heroes

[kybearfuzz]

First, let me say that I think Dave Cockrum was an amazing artist who helped create and/or re-designed many of the characters I loved as a kid -- The X-Men, The Legion, etc. I'm about to channel my inner Tim Gunn though.

Over the last few weeks I bought several hardbound compilations of "The Legion of Super-Heroes," specifically the Cockrum and Mike Grell years in the 1970's. These are issues that introduced new costumes for several Legionnaires, but also strengthened certain personalities and made the individual characters more unique. While most costumes were pretty good, some were odd and questionable.

Karate Kid's uniform became his definitive look. Duo Damsel donned her first orange-purple outfit that coolly divided in color when she split into two bodies (designed by a reader mainly, I know). Sadly, she got married and retired soon after it was introduced, so it wasn't seen much. I personally loved Phantom Girl's bell-bottomed costume. Lightning Lad and Timber Wolf got new outfits that are well known.

Some of the unusual ones though are signs of the time, in my opinion. Saturn Girl's pink bikini outfit was awful and didn't go with the character's personality of being cold and reserved. Around this time, Shadow Lass suited up in a black bikini, but being from a desert world and having a wilder personality, this was believable. Cosmic Boy's bustier outfit wasn't very practical, I did like that it showed off some skin. Conversely, Colossal Boy's outfit was overdone. In an emergency I bet it took him forever to get dressed.

Granted, these are just my opinions. Any other readers from this era have a comment or so?

Comments

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

I started reading The LSH in 1963.

This was during the era when John Forte
was still drawing them.

I loved their silver age costumes best.

When I saw the changes, I didn't like it
at all at first, but then I pretty much
felt as you do.

Colossal Boy when through some really awful designs before he finally got an
acceptable outfit.

Loved Element Lad's new green & dark blue
outfit.

I agree: Saturn Girl's outfit was terrible. It was very incongruous with who she was. She looked like a failed hooker.

I was relieved when Keith Giffen gave
her a more appropriate look in the early 1980's.

Karate Kid: All I see when I look at that costume is that it's the one he died in. :(

Dave Cockrum was one of the BEST artists
for The Legion. He's one of the best artists, period. I was very sad when he died. I have several comics he'd drawn.
I wish I could have met him. I hear he was very nice. Cute, too.

I'm sorry he couldn't have stayed on or come back, but I love his work on The X-Men. I guess he was meant to recreate them, as well.

Curt Swan will always be THE ARTIST for The Legion Of Superheroes for me, though.

Most of my LSH user icons were drawn by him.

Anytime you want to talk comics or LSH, let me know!

I could talk all day about comics.

Really.

:)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I loved reading the Legion reprints of the 1960's issues in the Adventure Comics Digest. It was there that they set a character trait of Saturn Girl as being cool, intelligent, and level-headed, not to mention having her be leader for two terms. So when you see her in the pink bikini outfit, it was like they were trying to sex her up and came off as awkward.

While it may be the costume he died in, Karate Kid did have a very distinct look that was amazingly original :)

While I love Swan's work as classic, I really enjoyed Keith Giffen's work up to the time before and after the Great Darkness Saga, before it turned into the sloppy mess best suited to Ambush Bug. When Giffen drew Timber Wolf's uniform as that low-cut chest area with all that fur, I was in love. It was probably the first time (except for Wolverine) that a hairy chest hero was prominently on display all the time. :)

[notmypresident.livejournal.com]

I think both Cockrum and Giffen had their heydays on the Legion before moving into phases of their careers where the art just didn't measure up. When Cockrum began working the back-up LSH stories in Superboy, it was clear that he was bringing something new and exciting to the game. And when Cockrum began to ink his own works, the art really exploded. No one could ink like Cockrum (I hated the inkers that Marvel used during Cockrum's X-Men period), and in his LSH work the characters had fluidity.

I never really thought much about the practicality of his costume designs. They were mostly just great to look at. And his Star Boy refit is still being used today...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think both Cockrum and Giffen had their heydays on the Legion before moving into phases of their careers where the art just didn't measure up.

I completely agree. And Star Boy's star-pattern uniform is one of the best I've ever seen. It's simple, yet futuristic, easy to draw but probably a pain to ink. :D

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

I agree-Cockrum was the best inker suited to his artwork.

I own parhaps a dozen X-Men issues drawn by him.

I love Star Boy's "Starfield" outfit best.

I don't see Mon-El and Shadow Lass in that group LSH pic.

Maybe they were on leave at the time?
:)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

The characters above were part of a spread in one of the SLSH issues where new costumes were introduced along with brief biographies. Mon-El and Shadow Lass weren't included in those pages. :)

[dendren.livejournal.com]

These are the classic costumes I first familiarized myelf with, I came in right at the beginning of the Cockrum/Grell era in the 70s.

Tinya's costume really was best, tho the pony tails......

Timber Wolf, Dawnstar and Star Boy... awesome.

Colossal Boy... cool once they started coloring in the legs... it looked horrendous with the bare legs in his first new costume appearances.

Saturn Girl, Jeckie and Shadow Lass (and even Tinya with the many skin showing holes)... so completely 70s. I liked the costumes at the time but they are such sex kitten lookng to me now. I remember when they changed Saturn Girl back to a more classic look I thought she looked so matronly and boring but have gotten to prefer it again.

I do love the 70s/80s LOSH tho...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I agree. Colossal Boy went from the 1960's costume to those horrible outfits. I think Giffen got him a cleaner costume that worked well.

And I think when Saturn Girl's outfit to the classic look was definitely more mature. I think something between the bikini and the matron look would have been good.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I think Imra's change was the most sudden and drastic of the early 80s new costumes. It's interesting how they rolled out new costumes team-wide a couple of times instead of just introducing a new costume here and there over the years. I'm trying to remember, for Imra, was the change about the time she got pregnant with Graym and Garridan? I guess that would lead to having a more matronly outfit. Can you imagine her in the pink bikini 9 months pregnant LOL

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think if it was done in the 70's, she might have been wearing it. *shudder*