His father was a lieutenant colonel of the United States Air Force, resulting in the Cockrums frequently transporting their household from one city to another for years.

[8] After leaving the military, Cockrum found employment with Warren Publishing,[7] as well as with Neal Adams' Continuity Associates as a member of the "Crusty Bunkers".

[9] He was then hired as an assistant inker to Murphy Anderson,[2] who was inking various titles featuring Superman and Superboy for DC Comics.

When the position of artist for "The Legion of Super-Heroes" was left vacant, Cockrum sought the job and was rewarded with his first assignment drawing a feature.

[10] Cockrum's work on the feature, beginning with a backup story in Superboy #184 (April 1972) and recurring in several following issues "established an exciting new vibe".

Cockrum drew the story wherein the characters Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel were married in Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #200 (Feb.

[2] Moving over to a staff position at Marvel, Cockrum and Len Wein under the direction of editor Roy Thomas created the new X-Men, co-creating such characters as Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus.

Storm and Nightcrawler were directly based on characters which Cockrum had intended to introduce into the Legion of Super-Heroes storyline had he remained on the title.

Cockrum gave those first few issues of X-Men a sumptuous, late-'70s cinema style that separated the book from the rest of Marvel's line, and superhero comics in general.

Reading those X-Men comics felt like sneaking into a movie starring Sean Connery or Sigourney Weaver, not simply like flipping on the television.

Cockrum was Marvel's primary cover artist during this period,[13] and also penciled or inked a number of other titles for DC during this time.

In 2004, he became seriously ill due to complications from diabetes and pneumonia,[28] and a number of fellow artists and writers led by Clifford Meth and Neal Adams organized a fundraising project.

[8] Marvel eventually provided an undisclosed amount of financial support in exchange for Cockrum agreeing to terms protected by a nondisclosure agreement.

[8] The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art bestowed the first annual Dave & Paty Cockrum Scholarship to a promising artist in 2008.