Meet Paty Cockrum, Get FUTURIANS RETURN and (Maybe) Win a Dave Cockrum X-Men File Copy

Paty Cockrum's FOOM illustration of Marvel Bullpenners as members of the original X-Men.

Artist Paty Cockrum, the widow of beloved X-Men co-creator Dave Cockrum, will be a guest at X-Con this weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Paty was one of the last members of the legendary Marvel Bullpen where she penciled such titles as Amazing Spider-Man and Claws of the Cat and worked on FOOM. Her stories of working with Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Marie Severin, Roy Thomas and Bill Everett are spell binding, to say nothing of her tales of Jim Shooter and Bob Harass (“Harass, you idiot!”)

Paty is also the colorist of Dave Cockrum’s FUTURIANS RETURN, which will soon be released by Aardwolf Publishing. With contributions from Neil Gaiman, Jim Lee and Bill Sienkiewicz, FUTURIANS RETURN is the final Futurians story written and penciled by Cockrum (who created Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Mystique and many other characters for the Marvel Universe). Paty will have signed bookplates specially made for the FUTURIANS RETURN and everyone who purchases the book will be entered into a raffle to win one of Dave Cockrum’s X-Men file copies.

X-Con occurs this weekend (May 15-17) at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, 2101 North Oak Street, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577. For more information on the convention visit xconworld.info For more on The FUTURIANS RETURN visit AardwolfPublishing.com

Note: All customers who pre-ordered FUTURIANS RETURN via Aardwolf Publishing or the Kickstarter campaign are auto-entered into the drawing for the Dave Cockrum X-Men file copy.

Speak Up: Cast Your Vote for Best Inker

Neal Adams and Clifford Meth delighted to support The Inkwell Awards.

I was pleased to be named a Special Ambassador to the Inkwell Awards this year. Now it's time to vote. Please join us.

Here's the official skinny:

The Inkwell Awards, a non-profit organization devoted to the education and promotion of the art of inking, invites everyone to vote for the industry's best of the past year. The official public ballot will be available on the Inkwell Awards' homepage from May 1 through May 15. Voting is open to everyone, from fans to professionals.

The ballot also lists the nominees for the internally chosen Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame lifetime achievement award. To avoid a popularity contest where recent names have more influence than past masters, the two winners were chosen by a separate, pre-arranged Hall of Fame Nomination Committee. Current nominees are listed as a courtesy. Past HoF award recipients can be found on the organization's web site.

New for this year is the Special Recognition Award (SRA) for an outstanding inking career of 25 or more years in American comics. This differs from the HoF award due to one or more factors such as the artist being out of the “public eye,” having limited name-recognition due to semi- or full retirement or death, limited-yet-influential output, social barriers such as gender/race, or other factors that would otherwise limit them from being nominated for a traditional HoF award. This award was also chosen internally.

“We’re always thrilled for this event, where the best of the best ink artists and their work get the recognition they deserve,” said Bob Almond, founder and director of The Inkwell Awards. “Inkers have their own fans and followers, yet often go unnoticed or glossed over by most awards events. Ours cater specifically to ink artists and allows them to be recognized and appreciated in various categories. We hope to have even more voters than last year.”

Once voting closes after May 15, the winners will be announced at the live awards ceremony at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC June 19-21 on Friday the 19th. Click here to vote.