RIP: Dave Cockrum, X-Men Illustrator

The illustrator of X-Men comics died Sunday curled up in his favorite chair, wearing his Superman pajamas.

Dave Cockrum, who drew many of the X-Men characters, was 65. He died after a long battle with diabetes. At his request, there will be no public service and his body will be cremated with his ashes spread over his property.

But just because there might not be a service, that will not stop people from saying nice things about the man who deeply loved his job.

Family friend Clifford Meth said Cockrum loved his job so much that he cried when he first saw the first X-Men film. He did not receive movie royalties but he was so happy to see his characters come to life.

"He cried because his characters were on screen and they were living," he said. "He had a genuine love for comics and for science fiction and for fantasy, and he lived in it. He loved his work."

Cockrum started out at DC Comics and then moved to Marvel in the 1970s. He was able to refurbish the X-Men comic after other artists failed to grip readers with stories of a group of mutants.

Cockrum designed and co-created X-Men heroes like Storm, Mystique, Nightcrawler and Colossus.

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