• Comic Book Artist Darwyn Cooke (DCAU, Justice League: The New Frontier, Before Watchmen) has died.
    12 replies, posted
Source: [url]http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-darwyn-cooke-obituary-20160514-snap-htmlstory.html[/url] [quote] In 2012, comic illustrator and writer Darwyn Cooke took on the unenviable task of creating a prequel comic to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic graphic novel “Watchmen.” It was a tricky assignment but Cooke had an idea of how to best lengthen the series. He added the idea of hope. “It’s a very, very dark book,” Cooke told The Times that year. “I don’t know about you, when I was younger I used to be a lot more romantically attached to really dark work and I find as I get older I’m looking for work that offers, for lack of a better word, hope. Or a hopeful solution? Or the possibility of a hopeful solution?” It's only natural that Cooke would turn to hope for help; his work was ingrained with a sense of humanity and wonder pulled directly from his signature retro-touched style. On Saturday, Cooke's family announced that the artist had died at age 53 from cancer, an illness his wife Marsha Cooke disclosed on the artist's website the day before. "We regret to inform you that Darwyn lost his battle with cancer early this morning," the family statement said. "We read all of your messages of support to him throughout the day yesterday. He was filled with your love and surrounded by friends and family at his home in Florida." Fans, artists and peers flooded social media with remembrances, a testament to his impact in the world of comics. “One of the best things I ever did was convince Darwyn Cooke to revamp Catwoman with me," wrote comic book writer Ed Brubaker on twitter. "For about a year we were making magic together.” The artist's work was loaded with that type of once-in-a-lifetime magic. Take Cooke's recent crop of DC Comics variant covers, for example. The scenes include Batgirl gleefully leading a police chase on her bat-cycle, Wonder Woman shredding on the guitar, and a sleeping Bruce Wayne getting tucked in by his ever-faithful butler Alfred. No matter the context, Cooke’s fat, black lines, V-shaped men and hourglass cut women would fill each page with nostalgic charm and bold visuals impossible to turn away from. [/quote] This fucking sucks. The dude was great. He was a storyboarder for Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series back in the day, and actually, with Bruce Timm, helped conceptualize and put together the intro to Batman Beyond, parts of which he animated himself ([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z65aq1EVGhs]He animated a Batman Beyond short for Batmans 75th anniversary, too[/url]), and designed the character Inque. He even ended up working as a director for the Men in Black cartoon. Bruce Timm discussed in Modern Masters Darwyns involvement in the creation of that intro [url=http://cp12.nevsepic.com.ua/55-4/1354923421-0614790-www.nevsepic.com.ua.jpg]Part 1[/url] [url=http://cp12.nevsepic.com.ua/55-4/1354923359-0614791-www.nevsepic.com.ua.jpg]Part 2[/url]. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzS1KWsMcDg[/media] He was also the guy who redesigned Catwoman from her old purple spandex into her current black catsuit with goggles. [img]http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Catwoman.gif[/img] [img]http://media.dcentertainment.com/sites/default/files/imce/2016/05-MAY/GICOOKE_DJ-10_5737533decdbe0.44775066.jpg[/img] [img]http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/40/4088600-det_37_cooke_var.jpg[/img]
This REALLY sucks. He basically set the line tone for the Timm/Burnett era stuff. Fuck.
Man, this is one of those guys who really [B]made[/B] superheroes for me. I mean before him we had the old Superman and Batman films and stuff, but the DCAU is what defined the genre in my mind.
That is real fucking shame. RIP man. You will be missed. The DCAU will always have a special place in my heart.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVAePIyC4kQ[/media]
I highly recommend checking out Justice League: The New Frontier and his run on the modern revival of The Spirit. It sucks, he was planning on doing another big book that would've rivaled The New Frontier, but focused on Darkseid and the New Gods. I hope he left enough notes and art behind that some guys like Bruce Timm can come in and finish it.
Once again, fuck cancer.
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;50321659]Once again, fuck cancer.[/QUOTE] You really added alot to this thread, thanks for that original comment.
[QUOTE=DJrorok;50321715]You really added alot to this thread, thanks for that original comment.[/QUOTE] What an incredibly odd thread to go and be a complete dick in.
The New Frontier is one of my favorite comics of all time. RIP
RIP New Frontier is a book I absolutely love. One of those perfect love letters dedicated to the Silver Age, everything from the art to the writing of characters like Hal Jordan(who 9 times out of 10 I don't give a shit about), it just hits all the right notes. If you've ever watched the animated film for it and enjoyed it, do yourself a treat and pick up a copy of the book, its even better. What else was really impressive is that just a couple of months ago DC had an entire month dedicated to his covers. He either pushed through the cancer like a champ during that time or it didn't catch up till recently. Guess now's as good a time as any to finally read Parker and his The Spirit reboot as well
Wow, had just gotten into his adaptation of Parker a short while ago as part of one of my classes. Shame to hear this.
Rip to a legend in the comic book world :( we wouldn't have had half the inspiration and creative comic book productions we do have if it wasn't for him.
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