# AP article lede on death of Dave Cockrum - Fair or Foul? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190 "2006-11-29T14:12:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/1 "2006-11-29T14:12:34Z")
From today’s CNN, [from the Associated Press](http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/28/comic.death.ap/index.html): **X-Men illustrator dies in Superman pajamas** COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) – Wearing Superman pajamas and covered with his Batman blanket, comic book illustrator Dave Cockrum died Sunday. The 63-year-old overhauled the X-Men comic and helped popularize the relatively obscure Marvel Comics in the 1970s. He helped turn the title into a publishing sensation and major film franchise. Cockrum died in his favorite chair at his home in Belton, South Carolina, after a long battle with diabetes and related complications, his wife Paty Cockrum said Tuesday.So maybe, as a comic book fan, I’m over-sensitive. It just seems to me that both headline and lede are needlessly condescending. Why not something like - “Dave Cockrum, 63 year old comic book illustrator, died Sunday. In the 1970s, he overhauled the X-Men comic” – and so on. I see no problem in reporting that he choose to wear Superman pajamas as he was dieing, but he was a comic book professional, not some pathetic child who never grew up. Is it common to report what clothing famous novelists, or directors, or artists wore on their deathbeds? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/2 "2006-11-29T14:18:30Z")
Just how many 63-year-old men do you think wear Superman pajamas or sleep under a Batman blanket? Seems very relevant, given his occupation. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/3 "2006-11-29T14:19:35Z")
Also, if you’re going to be all sensitive on the topic of public perceptions of comics people, perhaps you should wirk on yer speling. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/4 "2006-11-29T14:35:03Z")
It’s fair and very relevant. You’re the one drawing the implication ‘he was a child and never reached maturity’. The article simply states the facts. My impression was that it meant Cockrum really loved comics and was not embarrassed to admit it. **Papermache Prince** you’re the one seeing this as a negative thing. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/5 "2006-11-29T14:38:37Z")
Thanks, **Doc Cathode** – that’s why I was asking. You offer a reasonable alternative explanation. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/6 "2006-11-29T14:44:00Z")
Plus, how would the writer know that had he not been told by Mrs. Cockrum? She (and likely he) obviously found it endearing. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/7 "2006-11-29T15:28:38Z")
Would it have been wrong if they wrote, “when he died, he lost control of his bowels and oddly, soiled the face of Mytzlplk”? ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/8 "2006-11-29T15:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Also, if you’re going to be all sensitive on the topic of public perceptions of comics people, perhaps you should wirk on yer speling. [/QUOTE] **Evil Captor** , I assume you’re referring to “lede.” What that tells me is that the OP is not necessarily a poor speller, but rather a journalist. From [The Mavens’ Word of the Day](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001128): > [@](#): > > The word is lede, and it refers to the opening lines of a newspaper article, also called the “lead.” ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/9 "2006-11-29T15:45:25Z")
[QUOTE=JohnM] **Evil Captor** , I assume you’re referring to “lede.” What that tells me is that the OP is not necessarily a poor speller, but rather a journalist. From [The Mavens’ Word of the Day](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001128): [/QUOTE] Well, he did write “dieing” too. I’m just saying, though. Spelling nitpicks aint’ my bag. I dont’ give a shit how he spelled thing. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/10 "2006-11-29T15:50:54Z")
I think the lead is an entirely appropriate reference to Cockrum’s relationship to his work and lifelong interest. Over at Comics101, [Scott Tipton has reprinted an interview](http://www.comics101.com/?page=C101) he conducted with Cockrum around the release of X-Men 2 (featuring one of Cockrum’s creations, Nightcrawler). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/11 "2006-11-29T15:53:51Z")
A poorly-written obit as most wire-service obits are. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/12 "2006-11-29T16:09:33Z")
I’m just thankful they didn’t go with the headline “ **Holy dead comic book artist, Batman!** ” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/13 "2006-11-29T20:15:38Z")
I’m 30 years old and sleep on Batman pillows. Marc ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/14 "2006-11-29T20:24:32Z")
I don’t know whether to admire your bravery, make a confession of my own, or mock you. Probably I’ll decide to do all three. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/15 "2006-11-29T20:37:50Z")
I thought it was a little condescending, too, but it doesn’t bother me very much. > [@Papermache Prince](#): > > Why not something like - “Dave Cockrum, 63 year old comic book illustrator, died Sunday. In the 1970s, he overhauled the X-Men comic” – and so on Because it’s boring to write and boring to read. The purpose of a lead [I’m such a prick about spelling that I refuse to write it “correctly” :p] is to draw the reader into your story and convince him/her to keep reading the article. Giving them a picture of Dave Cockrum, as a man who wore Superman pajamas and slept under a Batman blanket even though he was in his 60s, gives you a more personal connection, tells you more about him, and is just more interesting than a dry sentence that told you his age. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/16 "2006-11-29T20:43:55Z")
**Marley23** is correct- would this have even made CNN or whatever if not for the jammies? Not knowing the man and his mental state, I think I would like him. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/17 "2006-11-29T20:47:08Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] **Marley23** Not knowing the man and his mental state, I think I would like him. [/QUOTE] Last I heard the diabetes had left him blind and paraplegic, but not effected his mind. I don’t think Cockrum was senile or regressed into a second childhood when he died. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/18 "2006-11-29T21:21:27Z")
After re-reading the headline (yeah, I am spending too much time thinking about this, but I think its pretty cool), perhaps the writer was making an observation about a Marvel comic guy with two DC items in his possession? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/19 "2006-11-29T21:30:48Z")
Nah. Cockrum also worked for DC. He redesigned most of the Legionaires’ costumes. Nightcrawler was originally intended as a Legion member. The Shiar Imperial guard were other designs for LOSH costumes (I can’t remember if they were rejected or if Cockrum left LOSH before getting a chance to try them). I am a bit surprised that they weren’t X-Men sheets and pajamas though. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190/20 "2006-11-29T22:07:45Z")
I also thought it came off a bit condescending. While probably not intentional, it does illustrate the fact that many people have a patronizing attitute towards comic book fans. (No one here of course!) But it’s perfectly okay for adults to run around decked out to the nines in football jerseys and NASCAR jackets. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-article-lede-on-death-of-dave-cockrum-fair-or-foul/382190.md?page=2)