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Dave Cockrum's First X-Men TPB Painted Cover Artwork Up For Sale

Published Tue, 16 Nov 2021 07:57:14 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Dave Cockrum, co-creator of Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Sunfire and the All-New All-Different Uncanny X-Men also painted the cover for the first collection of his X-Men comic books with Chris Claremont, an early trade paperback edition, Marvel Illustrated Books: The X-Men, published way back in 1982. The painting somewhat reflects the original cover he drew for Giant-Size X-Men, though without the new X-Men bursting through an image of the old. And the original painting is up for auction from Heritage Auctions, going under the hammer between the 18th and the 21st of November with bids, at the time of writing, up to $23,000. and is part of a seriously enviable lot of original artwork going through this system right now.

Dave Cockrum's Painted Cover To First X-Men Collection Up For Sale

And this is how it looked on publication as the book reprinted those earlier tales for whom they hoped was a brand new audience. Worked out nicely in the end, didn't it?

Dave Cockrum Marvel Illustrated Books: The X-Men Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1982). Similar to Cockrum's splash page of Giant-Size X-Men #1, this scene was painted for the mass-market paperback that reprinted that classic first appearance of the new X-Men (the first time that story was ever reprinted, if we're not mistaken). Featuring Angel, Banshee, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Colossus, Storm, Iceman, and Thunderbird, led by Professor X. This may be the only painted image of the X-Men team by Cockrum that exists, and any published art by him with the entire team would take a small fortune to pry loose from the collectors who own them. So this lot is an opportunity not to be missed. Gouache on illustration board with an image area of 10.75" x 17". Slight toning, corner dings, marginal smudging and staining, with edge and handling wear. Signed by Cockrum in the lower left image area and in Very Good condition.