Comic news does not, as a rule, make headlines in the actual news. It is an industry largely separate from mainstream entertainment news, and for good reason. A well selling, blockbuster comic book, such as the recently revamped Justice League of America, was a roaring success with issue #1 reaching a circulation of around 200,000 copies. Action Comics, the industry’s longest running continuous comic book, features Superman, probably the best known figure of the genre, and sees monthly sales in the 40,000 to 80,000 neighborhood. Some comics do a fraction of that, and still get published. These are not big numbers. When something happens in the comic book world, most people don’t care about it. If Susan Logan, the Editor and Chief of Cat Fancy Magazine, were to die suddenly, it probably wouldn’t make the news, and Cat Fancy Magazine has a circulation of over 3,000,000 issues annually. Unless she were like, mauled to death by a tiger or something.

So when Dave Cockrum, longtime comic book artist, lost his battle with diabetes a couple of days ago, I wasn’t surprised that no one outside the Comic Industry noticed. To some, Dave Cockrum was a legend. He was one of the guys who revamped the X-men in the 70’s, and helped craft them into the sort of characters we see today. He was also widely known for his work on The Legion Of Super-Heros. Outside the comics industry he is known as, well, some guy named Dave. That is why this headline, from CNN, puzzled me:

X-Men illustrator dies in Superman pajamas

I have two problems with this headline. The first is that, really, you have to be a comic book fan to get it. In order to appreciate the irony, a reader would have to know that Superman is owned by DC Comics, and The X-Men belong to Marvel, and that they are each other’s chief rivals.

The other problem, and I think the most important one, is that DAVE COCKRUM’S DEATH ISN’T FUNNY. The article is actually sort of nice, but the headline makes it sound like it’s one of those wacky “Stripper bites Dog” sort of offbeat news stories.

I am glad we’re honoring these old school comic guys, even if we have to be a little demeaning when we talk about them. They are legends, and their creations have made a lot of money for a lot of people. Most often, the creators themselves don’t get in on the multi-billion dollar pie. They deserve respect.

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