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COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- Wearing Superman pajamas and covered with his Batman blanket, comic book illustrator Dave Cockrum died Sunday.

The 63-year-old overhauled the X-Men comic and helped popularize the relatively obscure Marvel Comics in the 1970s. He helped turn the title into a publishing sensation and major film franchise.

Cockrum died in his favorite chair at his home in Belton, South Carolina, after a long battle with diabetes and related complications, his wife Paty Cockrum said Tuesday.

At Cockrum's request, there will be no public services and his body will be cremated, according to Cox Funeral Home. His ashes will be spread on his property. A family friend said he will be cremated in a Green Lantern shirt.

At Marvel Comics, Cockrum and writer Len Wein were handed the X-Men. The comic had been created in 1963 as a group of young outcasts enrolled in an academy for mutants. The premise had failed to capture fans.

Cockrum and Wein added their own heroes to the comic and published "Giant-Size X-Men No. 1" in 1975. Many signature characters Cockrum designed and co-created -- such as Storm, Mystique, Nightcrawler and Colossus -- went on to become part of the "X-Men" films starring Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.

Cockrum received no movie royalties, said family friend Clifford Meth, who organized efforts to help Cockrum and his family during his protracted medical care.

"Dave saw the movie and he cried -- not because he was bitter," Meth said. "He cried because his characters were on screen and they were living."

Cockrum was born in Pendleton, Oregon, the son of an Air Force officer. He set aside his interest in art while serving in Vietnam for the U.S. Navy.

He moved to New York after leaving the service and got his big break in the early 1970s, drawing the Legion of Super-Heroes for DC Comics before moving to Marvel.

In January 2004, Cockrum moved to South Carolina after being hospitalized for bacterial pneumonia. As his diabetes progressed, his drawings became limited.

His last drawing was a sketch for a fan, who attended a small comic book convention in Greenville, Paty Cockrum said.

Meth said Cockrum will be remembered as "a comic incarnate."

"He had a genuine love for comics and for science fiction and for fantasy, and he lived in it," Meth said. "He loved his work."

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- After a three-year drought, gamers can again boldly dive into a new series of "Star Trek" games now in stores.

Bethesda Softworks enlisted Dorothy "D.C." Fontana, a veteran "Star Trek" scribe, to guide these new adventures. She worked on the original 1960s series and wrote the story lines for Bethesda's first titles, "Star Trek: Legacy" for Xbox 360, and "Star Trek: Tactical Assault" for PSP.

"Game technology grows more and more innovative, more and more able to match the look of film and high-definition TV," Fontana said. "With the quality visuals now available, it puts the game experience on par with watching a movie or TV episode with the added benefit of being interactive."

Fontana became familiar with the video game realm after working on a previous "Star Trek" game, Activision's "Star Trek: Bridge Commander." In 1998, Activision signed a 10-year exclusive video game deal with Viacom for video game rights to all things "Star Trek."

Two years ago, Activision sued Viacom over the license, claiming that the studio was not supporting the property with new films and TV series.

After the lawsuit was settled last year, Bethesda Softworks stepped in with a new multiyear deal to bring "Star Trek" video games to multiple platforms. The deal includes all "Star Trek" licenses, TV shows and films up to the present, but it does not include new properties like the new feature film J.J. Abrams is developing for Paramount Pictures.

Fontana worked on the game stories with writing partner Derek Chester, who also worked with her on the "Bridge Commander."

"Dorothy and I both have suggested things at times that the designers have found to be an interesting idea, and they will occasionally take those and flesh them out to add to the gameplay experience," Chester said. "As a writer, it's fantastic to add onto the 'Trek' mythology with a respect and adherence to canon."

"Legacy" makes full use of the next-generation capabilities of Xbox 360, bringing high-definition graphics to the "Star Trek" franchise.

The game introduces a new Vulcan protagonist and an original story that spans 40 years and all five TV shows. All five captains from the TV series signed on to provide voices for the new game, which allows players to take command of various starships from the shows and engage in space combat.

But even with that kind of star power and next-generation visuals, games still must abide by the age-old rules of showbiz. If the script doesn't work, no amount of graphics power can help. As a result, Fontana always concentrates on the story first.

Fontana believes the advances in game technology that next-generation systems are introducing will attract more Hollywood creative talent to the gaming realm.

"As video games proliferate more and more, more writers may become interested in being involved," Fontana said.

"'Pac-Man' was an amusing game, but it had no story. Today, the games have to have more going on in them -- story, character, crisis or conflict, goals. Because of that, I believe writers will begin to see the possibilities in this form of storytelling."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- New Zealand director Peter Jackson, who scored worldwide success with his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, said Tuesday he will not be making the movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit" or a planned prequel.

In a letter posted on a Lord of the Rings Web site, Theonering.com., Jackson and partner Fran Walsh said a top executive from Los Angeles-based New Line Cinema had called to tell them the studio was moving ahead with "The Hobbit" movie without Jackson.

"Last week, Mark Ordesky called Ken (Kamins, Jackson's manager) and told him that New Line would no longer be requiring our services on The Hobbit and the LOTR 'prequel,"' Jackson wrote.

"This was a courtesy call to let us know that the studio was now actively looking to hire another filmmaker for both projects," he added. New Line Cinema holds the rights to produce "The Hobbit," and Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer the rights to distribute it.

A spokesman from Wingnut Films, Jackson's production company in the New Zealand capital, confirmed to local media Wednesday that the letter was genuine. He spoke on his standard condition he not be named.

The announcement comes amid an ongoing dispute between Jackson's Wingnut Films and New Line Cinema over the amount Jackson was paid for "The Fellowship of the Ring," including DVD payments.

While Jackson has not said how much he believes he was underpaid, The New York Times last year quoted his lawyers as saying it was as much as US$100 million. He is suing New Line Cinema over the shortfall.

The Dominion Post newspaper in the New Zealand capital Wellington quoted Jackson as saying that because he and Walsh would not discuss the movies "until the lawsuit is resolved, the studio is going to have to hire another director."

"We are very sorry our involvement with 'The Hobbit' has ended this way," the pair added.

Plans for Jackson to make a US$128 million movie version of the sci-fi video game Halo were also scuppered this month after backers 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures pulled out.

Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy grossed nearly US$3 billion at box offices worldwide.

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- The long-rumored arrival of a hybrid mobile phone and iPod music player from Apple Computer Inc. has morphed from a question of "If" to "When" among fans and analysts.

Since Apple's introduction of the iPod five years ago, the company has sold more than 67 million of the devices and more than 1.5 billion songs from its iTunes online music store.

Now, Chief Executive Steve Jobs and Apple are poised to roll out what has been dubbed the "iPhone," perhaps as soon as January next year at the Macworld conference that kicks off every new year, analysts say.

"From a technical standpoint, the phone is pretty much done," said American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu. "It's a big endeavor and we believe it's beyond speculation."

Speculation has simmered since even before the introduction of the ROKR phone from Motorola Inc. that uses a slimmed-down version of the iTunes digital music jukebox to play 100 songs. But sales were lackluster as users complained the phone did not hold more songs.

In recent weeks, blogs that cater to Apple fans have been buzzing insistently that the iPhone is coming. Just this week, the Taiwanese financial daily, Commercial Times, reported that Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. is building the iPhone.

"There is a lot of buzz," said Gartner analyst Mike McGuire. "But there are also a lot of things in the way that make it difficult. Which carrier and the like they use are not trivial challenges."

An Apple spokesman said the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

Jobs and Apple are famously tight-lipped about unannounced products. But company Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer did hint about a possible mobile phone with iPod-like functions during a conference call with analysts in July to discuss third-quarter financial results.

Asked to comment on how Apple would compete with offerings such as Sony Corp.'s popular Walkman phone, Oppenheimer said he believed Apple would do just fine.

"We don't think that the phones that are available today make the best music players," he said. "We think the iPod is. But over time, that is likely to change. And we're not sitting around doing nothing."

Analyst Wu believes the iPhone would be a candy-bar-shaped phone, rather than a flip phone like Motorola's huge hit, the RAZR mobile phone.

And he believes the iPhone would not be too bogged down with all the bells and whistles often crammed into today's smart phones.

"I think it'll be pretty simple with functionality probably similar to an iPod Nano," Wu said. "It's going to be very similar to the Sony Walkman phone, which is very media-centric and that's Apple's strength."

The now-widely-expected iPhone is also a way for Apple to add yet another line of revenue to its business. Sales of the iPod, still far and away the No. 1 digital music player, have moderated somewhat recently and sales of Mac computers, now powered by Intel Corp. chips, have set records.

But with about a billion cell phones expected to be sold next year, if Apple can break into that market and be half as well received as its iPod was, it adds up to serious dollars.

Wu estimates that a 1 percent share of a billion unit market, with the iPhone carrying an average price tag of $200, could mean about $2 billion a year more for the Cupertino, California-based company.

But Apple needs to learn from the ROKR and introduce a real phone, not just a music player with a phone jammed in almost as an afterthought, analysts said.

"The key challenge here is if they were doing it, it has to be a very good phone and a good extension or subset of the iPod and iTunes software," McGuire said. "It's not just music. It would have to be a good media device."

One other not inconsiderable decision is what cell phone standard -- CDMA or GSM, for example -- the phone would use and whether Apple would link up with one mobile phone company to provide the service.

Some Mac watchers, such as site ThinkSecret, have mentioned Cingular as an early, exclusive winner. Still others say the phone will be sold with an Apple-branded MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator, in which Apple effectively leases excess capacity from other mobile service providers and resells it to customers.

"The other thing is finding a set of carriers or an ecosystem where they wouldn't need to be dependent on the carriers," McGuire said. "But they've won over tough audiences before, like the music labels."

(CNN) -- The 19th Century American lawyer turned author Christian Nestell Bovee once said, "It is the nature of thought to find its way into action."

A 26 year-old amputee from Maryland in the United States is living 21st Century proof of the power of the mind.

When former U.S. Marine Claudia Mitchell lost her arm at the shoulder in a motorcycle accident in 2004, she doubted whether she would ever get her old life back.

But with the aid of Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) under the direction of doctor Todd Kuiken, Mitchell has been able to transform her life and with it transform the possibilities for amputees in the future.

The RIC, in association with the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs (NECAL), has pioneered a muscle reinnervation procedure which takes an amputee's own nerves and then connects them to healthy tissue.

The operation was successfully trialed four years ago when Jesse Sullivan, a double amputee had four nerves transferred from his shoulder to the muscles in his chest.

Once the nerves were embedded in his pectoral muscle, the prosthetic arm -- which has electrodes that detect muscle activity -- was then able to respond to his thoughts. If he thought "open hand", the electrodes detected the nerve activity and the arm responded accordingly.

Mitchell's arm, which weighs five kilograms and contains six small motors, is a further step towards a more full range of movement.

With six nerves transplanted to her chest, she is able to perform more complex procedures.

"It has changed my life dramatically", she said, "I use it to help with cooking, for holding a laundry basket and all kinds of daily tasks. My life is more rewarding and active."

In the future it is hoped that electrodes in the hand will send signals up the arm to the skin on the chest, which in turn will deliver a message to the brain. This will allow the patient the perception of sensation.

The fictional bionic man famously cost $6 million. In real life, Claudia Mitchell's bionic arm cost just 1 per cent of that figure totaling around $60,000.

According to Gregory Clark, a professor in bioengineering at the University of Utah, a natural arm is able to make 22 discrete movements.

The hope is that future prosthetic limbs will be able to perform much like a normal arm.

With scientists in the UK having recently developed technology that enables artificial limbs to be attached directly to the skeleton using a titanium rod, the prospects for more complex prosthetic limbs are wrestled from the grasp of science fiction films and books and become an astonishing reality.

At the end of the 21st Century, neural engineers will look back at the work of the scientists at RIC and NECAL and view them as pioneers. Their advances are probably just the tip of the iceberg.