The importance of Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men run can’t be overstated. It was the best selling comic book on the spinner racks month after month and outside of GI Joe, no other comic even came close. So, while the current movie popularity of Captain America and Iron Man have created a narrative that their comics have always been chart toppers, that was hardly the case. All other comics and characters played second fiddle to Claremont’s X-Men.
But where did the concepts for those mutant characters come from? From the pencil of a man named Dave Cockram, that’s where. And here is that uncanny story of how Cockrum designed a team of mutants that awed a generation of comic book readers.
When he was a young man, Cockrum was known as a “letterhack,” a fan who frequently had letters printed in comic book letter columns. In fact, one such letter began a pen-pal relationship with Andrea Kline, who later became his first wife.
Cockrum was still in the Navy during his early days of fandom, but he always had dream of being an illustrator. He and Andrea were stationed on Guam for a brief period. During stormy evenings and with no power, he and Andrea would keep themselves occupied by making up characters. Cockrum had folders full of these characters.
The idea for an international team book was first tossed around at Marvel in 1972. Wanting to appeal to foreign markets, Roy Thomas wanted to do an X-Men book with mutants from all around the world who operated out of a secret base.
After a years long pause in the development, Len Wien was now involved and approached Cockrum about pitching him some character designs. Let’s look at three of them.
Nothing creative goes to waste. From Wolverine’s iconic tufts of hair, to an ill-advised Go-Go outfit for Jean Grey, and an early Phoenix design that ultimately became Oracle from the Shi-ar Imperial Guard, Cockrum had tons of early designs that morphed and grew into what we’ve known for decades. Cockrum had an indelible impact on the look of the Uncanny X-Men and for that, we’re grateful.
Dave Cockrum died in 2006 after a prolonged battle with diabetes. But his character concepts live on in the hearts of X-men fans everywhere.
Here is a deeper dive if you want to explore the lore of Dave Cockrum’s early designs: Cosmic Teams | Blackhawks | The Strangers