DAVID 565
The beings of the mind are not of clay;
Essentially immortal, they create
and multiply in us a brighter ray
and more beloved existence.
—Lord Byron
Whatever I may do, or not do in this life, one of the things I will be most proud of is my contribution to the fantasies of so many people who made David part of their dreams. There are few people who realized these daydreams and reflected them back for others to enjoy more than Corky Zoar. I will always consider my correspondence with him a privilege and a rare gift. So often an artist sends his work out into the world like a message in a bottle, not knowing whether it reaches anyone or what effect it may have had on them. But I was blessed to have known Corky. Sadly, all the emails he sent me, which I kept, were lost in my recent hard drive crash, so those conversations will live in spirit and my memory.
Corky graced the David Fan Club with his first masterpiece, "Dave's Dream", in which David dreams himself back into the wrestling matches of ancient Greece. His next story was the thrilling "Mighty Man" which portrays David as an indomitable superhero. Other stories were in the works, but sadly, news of Corky's death reached us a week ago.
Corky often told me that one of the things that made his recoveries from multiple health crises easier was his fervent desire to resume the writing of
his latest David story. One got the distinct impression that Corky thumbed his nose at Death because he had several chapters more to write in his current
story. And if that weren't enough, he had plans to write other stories after that. Comas, the loss of use of limbs, partial blindness, and several close calls with death couldn't stop him. The fact that he would survive again and again filled me with awe, and the fact that David was a factor in his recoveries only added to my amazement.
Anyone who says that David is just a figment of the imagination, a dream without any real power, never met Corky.
As artists, we are often asked how much of ourselves we put into our characters, and whether they represent what or how we would really like to be. Though we strive to create complex, original characters, I don't think we can not imbue our characters with some of ourselves, at least subconsciously. In David, Corky found a vehicle for a physically perfect, brave, unstoppable fighter. But in the end, it was Corky who turned out to be the real Mighty Man.
Thank you Corky, for giving further life to my character, for sharing your dreams, and for providing a playground for our imaginations. Rest in peace.
—ManOfSteel
2013