Dave Cockrum; turned obscure X-Men comics into sensation

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Comic book illustrator Dave Cockrum, who in the 1970s overhauled the X-Men and helped popularize the relatively obscure Marvel Comics title into a publishing sensation and eventually a major film franchise, died Sunday. He was 63.

In his Superman pajamas and with his Batman blanket, Mr. Cockrum died in his favorite chair at his home in Belton, S.C. He had suffered a long battle with diabetes and related complications, his wife, Paty, said.

At Mr. Cockrum's request, there will be no public services and his body will be cremated. His ashes will be spread on his property.

At Marvel Comics, Mr. Cockrum and writer Len Wein were handed the X-Men. The comic had been created in 1963 about a group of young outcasts enrolled in an academy for mutants, but the premise failed to capture fans.

Mr. Cockrum and Wein took the existing comic, added their own heroes and published "Giant-Size X-Men No. 1" in 1975. Many signature characters Mr. Cockrum designed and co-created -- such as Storm, Mystique, Nightcrawler, and Colossus -- became part of the "X-Men" films starring Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.

Mr. Cockrum received no movie royalties, said family friend Clifford Meth, who organized efforts to help him and his family during his protracted medical care.

"Dave saw the movie and he cried -- not because he was bitter," Meth said. "He cried because his characters were on screen and they were living."

Mr. Cockrum was born in Pendleton, Ore., and served in Vietnam for the Navy.

In the early 1970s, he drew the Legion of Super-Heroes for DC Comics before moving to Marvel.