News Tue, 07 Nov 2006 18:17:34 CST Ilke

Once More Into the Breach, Dear Friends
Thursday, September 2, 2005
By Clifford Meth

(excerpt)

UNCANNY DAVE COCKRUM PRESTIGE EDITION HARDCOVER (Sep 2005) UNCANNY DAVE COCKRUM TRIBUTE #1 (Errata) (Jun 2004)

This mornings episode was another reminder: Aardwolf Publishing had announced the new Uncanny Dave Cockrum Prestige Edition Hardcover. Dave Cockrum was prepared to abandon all proceeds from this book; to earmark them for another as-yet-unnamed creator in need. We offered to turn the monies over to Neal Adams to help someone else. "Theres no one in the industry we trust more," said the press release.

But Neal called me and rejected the proposal. "Your hearts in the right place," he said. "But all it takes is one objection from one creator. They were asked to create a piece of art specifically for Dave; we cant suddenly tell them their art is being used for any purpose other than that."

I agreed, of course. How can you argue with that? But I admit I was disappointed. Im still naïve enough to assume that no one could possibly object to something as beneficial as a hospital.

The new statement from Aardwolf now reads as follows:

Jim Reeber of Aardwolf Publishing has announced that his company will be releasing a short run of The Uncanny Dave Cockrum Prestige Edition. This Limited-Edition Hardcover will feature all of the art and artists that appeared in the trade paperback edition of the book (Neal Adams, Jim Lee, Travis Charest, Will Eisner, Joe Kubert, John Cassady, etc.) along with new art from George Perez, Rich Buckler, Mark Texeira, and others. There will also be a section of never-before-seen Cockrum creations, and each book will be signed/numbered with a unique sketch from Cockrum bound into the book.

"Dave is recovering now and these sketches represent his first professional work since he was hospitalized last January," says Clifford Meth, editor of the project. "Dave is known industry-wide as a generous soul, so many fans have received sketches from him. But his illness has prevented him from drawing much this year, and he isnt up for traveling, so this book gives fans not only an opportunity to have the Tribute book in hardcover, but also to own a unique piece of Daves art."

The Uncanny Dave Cockrum Prestige Edition will be limited to 300 signed/numbered/remarqued copies. Other contributors to the book include Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Johnny Romita, Harlan Ellison, Chris Claremont, Stan Lee, Walt Simonson, Neil Gaiman, Sergio Aragones, and Gene Colan. The retail price is $110. Anyone who ordered the trade paperback directly from Aardwolf will receive a $25 discount. For more details, contact Amy at

(Vu: Was this ever released?)