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May 13, 2016 7:33 AM Subscribe
Darwyn Cooke, author and illustrator of the Eisner award winning DC: New Frontier, is currently receiving palliative care for aggressive cancer. He is also well known for his work on Catwoman, The Spirit, animated series such as Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond as well as the odd miniseries for Marvel.
He's a visionary. If you're not into comics, they made an animated film out of New Frontier and I think it is pretty good and captures his style relatively well.
posted by griphus at 7:42 AM on May 13, 2016
posted by griphus at 7:42 AM on May 13, 2016
This fucking sucks.
Along with his superhero work, check out his adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker crime novels. They're fantastic (and also on sale at Comixology, though oddly as part of a publisher-specific offer for books from IDW rather than being lumped in with the rest of Cooke's work).
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:46 AM on May 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
Along with his superhero work, check out his adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker crime novels. They're fantastic (and also on sale at Comixology, though oddly as part of a publisher-specific offer for books from IDW rather than being lumped in with the rest of Cooke's work).
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:46 AM on May 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
Very sad to hear this, he's an amazing artist. Being in Canada and not the US should spare him some indignities, but it's still horrible news.
posted by Artw at 7:50 AM on May 13, 2016
posted by Artw at 7:50 AM on May 13, 2016
I always thought if he wasn't a comics writer, he would be acknowledged as one of the great noir novelists, esp those Parker adpations.
posted by PinkMoose at 7:53 AM on May 13, 2016
posted by PinkMoose at 7:53 AM on May 13, 2016
Dammit. His JLA: New Frontier miniseries was one of my favorite things back in my serious comics-buying days. Also, his early 2000s(?) Catwoman redesign (cat-eye goggles!) was by far the best thing to happen to the character visually in years.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:06 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:06 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Damn. I was a huge Eisener Spirit fan, and I looked at the reboot with dread. But Cooke's work was so damned good it felt like Eisener reborn. What a talent.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 8:09 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by GhostintheMachine at 8:09 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
I hate this year.
posted by entropicamericana at 8:11 AM on May 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 8:11 AM on May 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Damn. I loved his work on Catwoman, a much-much-much-abused character.
posted by praemunire at 8:18 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 8:18 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ugh.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 8:51 AM on May 13, 2016
posted by chainlinkspiral at 8:51 AM on May 13, 2016
Aw damn. I love his work, and the TCAF poster he did in 2007 is on my wall at home.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 8:54 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sevenyearlurk at 8:54 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Fuck cancer.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:17 AM on May 13, 2016
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:17 AM on May 13, 2016
Get checked, guys. This is your reminder that mammograms and colonoscopies are way less unpleasant than dying of cancer. I have seen it up close more than I care to remember.
posted by middleclasstool at 9:30 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by middleclasstool at 9:30 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
oh nooooooo this is terrible, terrible news. He has made some of the best comics I've ever read.
Also, I have one good Darwyn Cooke story, and this is it: some years ago he was a guest at Dragoncon and I got up the nerve to get my New Frontier trades signed and chat with him a bit. While I was there, Scott Adsit from 30 Rock came up with to ask Darwyn if he'd draw something for his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sketchbook, which was full of stunning art from various well-known comics artists.
After he left, Darwyn grumped, "I don't even watch 30 Rock. Am I getting paid for this?"
BUT he was incredibly nice to me and drew a quick Robin for my Robin sketchbook for free. He's a great guy and an incredible artist. Fuck cancer.
posted by nonasuch at 9:38 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, I have one good Darwyn Cooke story, and this is it: some years ago he was a guest at Dragoncon and I got up the nerve to get my New Frontier trades signed and chat with him a bit. While I was there, Scott Adsit from 30 Rock came up with to ask Darwyn if he'd draw something for his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sketchbook, which was full of stunning art from various well-known comics artists.
After he left, Darwyn grumped, "I don't even watch 30 Rock. Am I getting paid for this?"
BUT he was incredibly nice to me and drew a quick Robin for my Robin sketchbook for free. He's a great guy and an incredible artist. Fuck cancer.
posted by nonasuch at 9:38 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is devastating. Cooke's retro style ironically makes him one of the new(er) greats, as he does way more with it than a lot of fussier artists can accomplish. Along with the "fuckcancer" tag, this could go under the "fuck2016already" category.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:07 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:07 AM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Here's a blog post from Gail Simone on Darwyn Cooke and her love for his work.
posted by sleeping bear at 10:22 AM on May 13, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by sleeping bear at 10:22 AM on May 13, 2016 [6 favorites]
Saw it on Twitter, didn't realize he was in palliative until I came here, damn. Fantastic creator. Check out his issue of Solo, it's pretty fantastic.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:42 AM on May 13, 2016
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:42 AM on May 13, 2016
Those Parker books? One of the few adaptations of Donald Westlake/Richard Stark's Parker novels that Westlake allowed to use the Parker name while he was alive. They live up to the name. Even after [minor spoilers] Parker gets his new face in The Outfit, and thus a new graphic treatment, he's still Parker, in a way that's easy to do with words but damned hard to do visually. Cooke nailed every aspect of those stories.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:33 AM on May 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 11:33 AM on May 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
He's one of the greatest cartoonists ever, maybe the best of this century. This is horrible!
posted by Kevin Street at 8:40 PM on May 13, 2016
posted by Kevin Street at 8:40 PM on May 13, 2016
There are now unofficial & unconfirmed reports that Darwyn has passed away. I will update if I see anything that looks like more than a rumor.
posted by fight or flight at 1:17 AM on May 14, 2016
posted by fight or flight at 1:17 AM on May 14, 2016
Looks like comics luminaries and friends of Darwyn are confirming the news that he has passed, but his wife has asked for the media to wait out of respect for the family.
In any case:
.
A true master of the craft and, from the sounds of it, a genuinely good dude, has left us. Really sad.
posted by fight or flight at 5:24 AM on May 14, 2016
In any case:
.
A true master of the craft and, from the sounds of it, a genuinely good dude, has left us. Really sad.
posted by fight or flight at 5:24 AM on May 14, 2016
Tucker Stone wrote a good piece about Cooke, and presents a great interview done for the release of The Outfit.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:34 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:34 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
.
posted by praemunire at 10:15 AM on May 14, 2016
posted by praemunire at 10:15 AM on May 14, 2016
.
The sequence in New Frontier of Martian Manhunter watching TV and responding to what he sees is one of my favorite spreads in comics.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:07 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
The sequence in New Frontier of Martian Manhunter watching TV and responding to what he sees is one of my favorite spreads in comics.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:07 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Guy Smiley at 11:33 AM on May 14, 2016
posted by Guy Smiley at 11:33 AM on May 14, 2016
via Bleeding Cool:
One other story I read recently that’s funny. I know this sounds obnoxious but the comp books we get from dc can really pile up over the course of the years. Apparently, Alan Moore had been receiving these books and finally said, “Please don’t send any more DC comp books to me, thank you, they are cluttering up my home.”
“Except New Frontier. You can keep sending that.”
Alan was right.
posted by Mezentian at 4:39 PM on May 14, 2016
One other story I read recently that’s funny. I know this sounds obnoxious but the comp books we get from dc can really pile up over the course of the years. Apparently, Alan Moore had been receiving these books and finally said, “Please don’t send any more DC comp books to me, thank you, they are cluttering up my home.”
“Except New Frontier. You can keep sending that.”
Alan was right.
posted by Mezentian at 4:39 PM on May 14, 2016
According to some random commenter on io9: Comixology is having a 50% off Darwyn Cooke titles for the next 2 days.
No indication is it's crass commercialism or if there's going to be some sort of donation to cancer research.
posted by Mezentian at 6:04 PM on May 14, 2016
No indication is it's crass commercialism or if there's going to be some sort of donation to cancer research.
posted by Mezentian at 6:04 PM on May 14, 2016
.
&
can you fucking cool it with all the killing keen folks, 2016? I think we get it.
posted by Minus215Cee at 7:20 PM on May 14, 2016
&
can you fucking cool it with all the killing keen folks, 2016? I think we get it.
posted by Minus215Cee at 7:20 PM on May 14, 2016
As above, get checked and do it early. I'm in a rotten state myself due to an entirely unexpected development, but you people can perhaps get ahead of the game with a little forward planning. This is nothing you want.
posted by Wolof at 12:44 AM on May 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by Wolof at 12:44 AM on May 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
No indication is it's crass commercialism or if there's going to be some sort of donation to cancer research.
Or coincidence, since the books went on sale days before the announcement that Darwyn Cooke was sick. DC generally does a weekly sale. It's also possible that someone at DC decided Cooke's comics should go on sale in hopes that the royalties would benefit him in his time of need. I guess what I'm saying is you really don't know and it's not great to speculate in this way.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:59 AM on May 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Or coincidence, since the books went on sale days before the announcement that Darwyn Cooke was sick. DC generally does a weekly sale. It's also possible that someone at DC decided Cooke's comics should go on sale in hopes that the royalties would benefit him in his time of need. I guess what I'm saying is you really don't know and it's not great to speculate in this way.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:59 AM on May 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I just re-read New Frontier last night after hearing the news. I realized it's probably intended very much as a response to Watchmen. Both books are riffing on similar source material and use intertwining narratives, the time periods overlap, mass media and the role of pop culture are considered seriously in both stories, and the final threat in both cases is also pretty similar. I was struck specifically with the parallels between the government sanctioned superheroes intervening in Vietnam in both books, and how Cooke's treatment of that responds to Moore's but doesn't entirely disagree with it.
New Frontier manages to succeed in making a strong case in favor of the redemptive value of superhero stories in a world where Watchmen exists and is part of the canon and therefore makes that task very difficult. Cooke's beautiful art does a lot of that work, but he really wrote the hell out of it too.
I've read a lot about other people especially appreciating the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman arcs, but for me it's really about Martian Manhunter and his process of renegotiating his self-image in response to a world that he fears isn't ready for him. That's a story that's always going to have something to teach us.
And maybe that's all made more impressive by Cooke's work on the four Parker books, which are deeply, stylishly, coolly nihilistic. Another parallel with Moore, who reinvented himself after Watchmen with his own golden/silver age throwback stories - being able, willing, and interested in tackling not just different subjects but different viewpoints throughout a career that's marked with more than one masterpiece.
posted by lousywiththespirit at 6:15 PM on May 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
New Frontier manages to succeed in making a strong case in favor of the redemptive value of superhero stories in a world where Watchmen exists and is part of the canon and therefore makes that task very difficult. Cooke's beautiful art does a lot of that work, but he really wrote the hell out of it too.
I've read a lot about other people especially appreciating the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman arcs, but for me it's really about Martian Manhunter and his process of renegotiating his self-image in response to a world that he fears isn't ready for him. That's a story that's always going to have something to teach us.
And maybe that's all made more impressive by Cooke's work on the four Parker books, which are deeply, stylishly, coolly nihilistic. Another parallel with Moore, who reinvented himself after Watchmen with his own golden/silver age throwback stories - being able, willing, and interested in tackling not just different subjects but different viewpoints throughout a career that's marked with more than one masterpiece.
posted by lousywiththespirit at 6:15 PM on May 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
I just finished watching New Frontier (I need to buy the trade) and, yeah, it's a reaction to watchman.
The scene with Superman/Diana in Korea? SO WATCHMAN.
And, I got the the end of the 70 minutes, and realised New Frontier contains the worst excesses of the Murderverse and the CGI world-muncher, and was actually joyous. And it's the perfect way to introduce the JLA to the world.
posted by Mezentian at 5:15 AM on May 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
The scene with Superman/Diana in Korea? SO WATCHMAN.
And, I got the the end of the 70 minutes, and realised New Frontier contains the worst excesses of the Murderverse and the CGI world-muncher, and was actually joyous. And it's the perfect way to introduce the JLA to the world.
posted by Mezentian at 5:15 AM on May 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
IMO it's still the best DC animated feature.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:46 AM on May 16, 2016
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:46 AM on May 16, 2016
.
posted by Kevin Street at 4:55 PM on May 18, 2016
posted by Kevin Street at 4:55 PM on May 18, 2016
The Fake Darwyn Cooke Original Art Scams Have Begun. It has a happy ending.
posted by Mezentian at 4:16 AM on May 19, 2016
posted by Mezentian at 4:16 AM on May 19, 2016
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