Darwyn Cooke will be remembered for his timeless designs, masterful storytelling, and his impact on the comic book world.
BURBANK, Calif. (May 14, 2016) – Darwyn Cooke had a vision of the DC Universe that was uniquely his own, yet embraced by everyone. Once you saw his timeless designs and concepts for Batman, Catwoman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern or any other character, you immediately adopted his jubilant interpretation of these heroes as your own and wanted more. His take on the most iconic heroes in the world were breathtakingly direct and elegant, powerful and cool. His were some of the most beautiful, fun DC superhero images we have ever seen.
"Darwyn Cooke lived life like a character from a Micky Spillane novel, a throwback to a bygone era that was, more than occasionally, reflected in his work," said DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio. "He was both compassionate and combative, approaching everything he did with a tenaciousness and temerity that is now unheard of in a world afraid to offend. The simplistic brilliance of his art and the natural flow of his storytelling not only elevated but enhanced all projects he touched and his passion and love of comics was reflected in every panel of every page. Working with Darwyn was not without its challenges. There were times we'd spend hours arguing over story then go months without talking, but we always found our way back, drawn together by the common bond and friendship comics creates. This is an industry-wide loss that I feel personally, but the sadness is mitigated in the knowing that the beauty and grace of his art will forever stand the test of time and be a monument to all that is great about comics."
Darwyn was one of our medium’s true innovators. A gifted artist and master storyteller, Darwyn began his career as a magazine art director and graphic designer. After answering an ad placed by Warner Bros animator Bruce Timm, Darwyn entered the world of animation, where he contributed to such shows as Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and Men In Black: The Series. From there, Darwyn made the leap into print comics, where his character design was never more effective, enduring or entrancing. It was the look and honest simplicity of his characters for which Cooke became famous—as first seen in his breakout work Batman: Ego published over 15 years ago today and then followed up by his popular and critically acclaimed work on Catwoman: Selina's Big Score and The Spirit. Even after 15 years, Darwyn's design for Catwoman is still the one used today in both comics and inspired the look for Catwoman on the hit TV show, Gotham.
An Eisner-award winning artist and accomplished writer, Darwyn has been a much-loved and respected member of the comics community. He lent his signature retro style to all corners of the DC Universe, from Jonah Hex to Before Watchmen to Vertigo Comic’s The Twilight Children and, of course, his master work, DC: The New Frontier. His bold, direct style, often compared to the works of Joe Kubert, Alex Toth and Jack Kirby, reflected his down to earth, no nonsense personality. Darwyn Cooke always claimed that he was a lucky man to have such a wonderful family, friends, and such a wonderful life. He lived that life with the same brilliance and fearlessness that so permeated his work. And for those of us who knew this one-of-a-kind and genuine soul, we were lucky as well.
Like Mike Parobeck and Bruce Timm, Cooke's work relied on cartoon short-cuts but was never cartoony. And, again like Parobeck and Timm, his work exhibited an exuberance and joy that was infectious.
He was at the 2011 HeroesCon, and I was lucky enough to spend some time in his company:
Heroes Discussion #29–The Outfit Room 209 A few years ago, the Heroes Discussion group covered Darwyn Cooke’s The Hunter and we had so much fun, we thought we should discuss The Outfit next. Join us as we discuss this fabulous graphic novel with its creator Darwyn Cooke! Copies of the book will be available after the discussion for brief signing.
Great guy, and he told lots of stories. Not only about this book (and the Parker books in general), but also about his approach to doing comics--he refused to deal with continuity in anything but very basic terms--and his decision to go into comics. I remember him signing my copy of the DC Solo issue he did.
I remember picking up New Frontier when it came out and just being blown away. Here was a writer/artist I had never heard of and yet he seemed to arrive fully formed and in complete command of his craft.
Outside of his DC work, Darwyn Cooke did a excellent series of graphic novels based on Donald E. Westlake's Parker series of hard-boiled crime novels, written under the pen name Richard Stark: The Hunter, The Outfit, The Score and Slayground.
The Hunter is such a good story, it's been the basis for three movies: Point Blank, Full Contact, and Payback. Cooke's version is a faithful adaptation of the book, done in collaboration with Westlake, although Westlake died before it was published.
Cooke's seemingly cartoony style -- done here with his typical dark brushwork, overlaid with tones of a single color in each book -- works well with the brutal prose as it follows a tough-guy bad guy through the underworld. The Hunter is a straight-up revenge story, as Parker goes after the crew that left him for dead in a job that went sideways. The Outfit has Parker taking on the Syndicate, as it was called then, because they put a bounty on his head, and he's making sure nobody collects. The Score is a job where Parker is hired onto a crew that plans to rob a whole town. He doesn't like it, but goes along anyway ... and as things get underway, we find out why he was right to be wary. I just learned of the fourth one, so I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure it's excellent.
Damn. I am at a loss for words. I own nearly all of his work in collected form, and the rest of it in single issues. I am a huge fan of his from New Frontier to Jonah Hex and everything in between. This is a true creative loss.
I was truly thrown. After just hearing about his cancer I almost immediately heard he had died. Even though I never met the man it actually brought a tear to my eye. I've never seen any of his work that I didn't love.
He's been my favorite comics artist for years; I'd buy anythingI could that he drew. On the one occasion I met him, at NYCC a few years ago, he was a hell of a nice guy, complementing my shirt as I stood in line for him to sign a just-released Parker hardcover. I'm stunned by this news; I'm going to miss seeing new work from him so much. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.
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Here's DC's post:
In Remembrance of Darwyn Cooke
"Darwyn Cooke lived life like a character from a Micky Spillane novel, a throwback to a bygone era that was, more than occasionally, reflected in his work," said DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio. "He was both compassionate and combative, approaching everything he did with a tenaciousness and temerity that is now unheard of in a world afraid to offend. The simplistic brilliance of his art and the natural flow of his storytelling not only elevated but enhanced all projects he touched and his passion and love of comics was reflected in every panel of every page. Working with Darwyn was not without its challenges. There were times we'd spend hours arguing over story then go months without talking, but we always found our way back, drawn together by the common bond and friendship comics creates. This is an industry-wide loss that I feel personally, but the sadness is mitigated in the knowing that the beauty and grace of his art will forever stand the test of time and be a monument to all that is great about comics."
An Eisner-award winning artist and accomplished writer, Darwyn has been a much-loved and respected member of the comics community. He lent his signature retro style to all corners of the DC Universe, from Jonah Hex to Before Watchmen to Vertigo Comic’s The Twilight Children and, of course, his master work, DC: The New Frontier. His bold, direct style, often compared to the works of Joe Kubert, Alex Toth and Jack Kirby, reflected his down to earth, no nonsense personality. Darwyn Cooke always claimed that he was a lucky man to have such a wonderful family, friends, and such a wonderful life. He lived that life with the same brilliance and fearlessness that so permeated his work. And for those of us who knew this one-of-a-kind and genuine soul, we were lucky as well.
He had a great style.
Like Mike Parobeck and Bruce Timm, Cooke's work relied on cartoon short-cuts but was never cartoony. And, again like Parobeck and Timm, his work exhibited an exuberance and joy that was infectious.
I will miss him greatly.
He was at the 2011 HeroesCon, and I was lucky enough to spend some time in his company:
Heroes Discussion #29–The Outfit
Room 209
A few years ago, the Heroes Discussion group covered Darwyn Cooke’s The Hunter and we had so much fun, we thought we should discuss The Outfit next. Join us as we discuss this fabulous graphic novel with its creator Darwyn Cooke! Copies of the book will be available after the discussion for brief signing.
Great guy, and he told lots of stories. Not only about this book (and the Parker books in general), but also about his approach to doing comics--he refused to deal with continuity in anything but very basic terms--and his decision to go into comics. I remember him signing my copy of the DC Solo issue he did.
A huge loss.
I remember picking up New Frontier when it came out and just being blown away. Here was a writer/artist I had never heard of and yet he seemed to arrive fully formed and in complete command of his craft.
Outside of his DC work, Darwyn Cooke did a excellent series of graphic novels based on Donald E. Westlake's Parker series of hard-boiled crime novels, written under the pen name Richard Stark: The Hunter, The Outfit, The Score and Slayground.
The Hunter is such a good story, it's been the basis for three movies: Point Blank, Full Contact, and Payback. Cooke's version is a faithful adaptation of the book, done in collaboration with Westlake, although Westlake died before it was published.
Cooke's seemingly cartoony style -- done here with his typical dark brushwork, overlaid with tones of a single color in each book -- works well with the brutal prose as it follows a tough-guy bad guy through the underworld. The Hunter is a straight-up revenge story, as Parker goes after the crew that left him for dead in a job that went sideways. The Outfit has Parker taking on the Syndicate, as it was called then, because they put a bounty on his head, and he's making sure nobody collects. The Score is a job where Parker is hired onto a crew that plans to rob a whole town. He doesn't like it, but goes along anyway ... and as things get underway, we find out why he was right to be wary. I just learned of the fourth one, so I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure it's excellent.
I was truly thrown. After just hearing about his cancer I almost immediately heard he had died. Even though I never met the man it actually brought a tear to my eye. I've never seen any of his work that I didn't love.
He's been my favorite comics artist for years; I'd buy anythingI could that he drew. On the one occasion I met him, at NYCC a few years ago, he was a hell of a nice guy, complementing my shirt as I stood in line for him to sign a just-released Parker hardcover. I'm stunned by this news; I'm going to miss seeing new work from him so much. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.