The Wizard Entertainment Website has the distressing tale of the condition of famed X-Men artist Dave Cockrum, who is suffering from complications of diabetes and pneumonia in a V.A. hospital in the Bronx, separated from his (legally blind) wife, who remains in their South Carolina home (which he has never seen). That post is actually a month old now, brought to my attention by the folks at Hypothermia where they are looking to raise money to help Dave relocate near his home and family for further treatment. Dave is an enormous talent whose revival of the X-Men franchise along with Chris Claremont is arguably the reason Marvel still even exists today, and with the success of the two X-Men films, he has obviously helped make some people stinking rich(er). So it's a shame that appreciative fans are needed to step in to make up for the shortfalls in support from Hollywood, much less a grateful nation (I don't know the extent of Dave's service other than that he's in a Veteran's Administration hospital, and that he spent six years in the Navy during the time of the Vietnam War). Here's hoping this works out better in the future than it has so far, and that these efforts can assist in Dave's recovery from his various ills.

Links of the Day::	FanPants. Thanks Jim Chaney. The Museum of Burnt Food.
Stories of the Day:	Height a Pain for Ukraine's 'Gulliver'. Thanks Ant. Dog found 6 days after avalanche kills owner.
Science!:	Millions of locust-like insects to swarm parts of the US. Metal coolant adds to space junk risk.
Follow-up:	NASA completes first steps toward returning shuttle to space.
	Thanks Mike Martinez