Darwyn Cooke
Encyclopedia
Darwyn Cooke is an Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...

-winning comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

, cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

 and animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...

, best known for his work on the comic books Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...

, DC: The New Frontier
DC: The New Frontier
DC: The New Frontier is an Eisner, Harvey, and Shuster Award-winning six-issue comic book limited series written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, published by DC Comics in 2003-2004. It was then collected into two trade paperback volumes from 2004–2005 and then an Absolute Edition in 2006...

, The Spirit and Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter
Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter
Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter is a 2009 graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke, an adaptation of the first Parker novel The Hunter written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark...

.

Career

In 1985, Cooke published his first comic book work as a professional artist in a short story in New Talent Showcase #19, but economic pressure made him leave the comic book industry, and he worked in Canada as a magazine art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....

, graphic
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...

 and product design
Product design
-Introduction:Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. It is concerned with the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products.Product designers conceptualize and...

er for the next 15 years.

In the early 1990s Cooke decided to return to comics, but found little interest for his work at the major publishers. Eventually he was hired by Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...

 after replying to an ad placed by animator Bruce Timm
Bruce Timm
Bruce Walter Timm is an American character designer, animator and producer. He is also a writer and artist working in comics, and is known for his contributions building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, the DC animated universe.-Animation:Timm's early career in animation was varied; he...

.

He went on to work as a storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....

 artist for Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated...

and Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...

, and in 1999 he animated the main title design for Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond is an American animated television series created by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration with DC Comics as a continuation of the Batman legacy...

. He then worked as a director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

 for Sony Animation's Men in Black: The Series
Men in Black: The Series
Men in Black: The Series also known as Men in Black: The Animated Series is an American animated television series that aired during The WB's Kids' WB programming block for four seasons from 1997 through 2001.The show features characters from 1997's science fiction film Men in Black, which was...

for a year.

DC Comics then approached Cooke about a project which he had submitted to the publisher years earlier which eventually became Batman: Ego, a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

 published in 2000.

The critical success of that project led to Cooke taking on more freelance work, such as X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...

, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...

/Doop
Doop (comics)
Doop is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe who was created by writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred. He made his debut in X-Force vol. 1 #116. He is a green, floating spheroid creature of unknown origins who spoke in a "language" all his own . Doop is a bisexual creature...

and Spider-Man's Tangled Web
Spider-Man's Tangled Web
Spider-Man's Tangled Web is a comic book series starring Spider-Man and his supporting cast published by Marvel Comics for 22 issues from June 2001 to March 2003....

for Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 and Just Imagine...
Just Imagine...
Just Imagine Stan Lee is a comic book published by DC Comics. It was the first work by Stan Lee, co-creator of numerous popular Marvel Comics characters, for DC Comics, in which he reimagined several DC superheroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and The...

 Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....

for DC.

In 2001, Cooke and writer Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...

 teamed up to revamp the Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...

 character. They started with a 4 issue serial "Trail of the Catwoman" in Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...

#759-762 in which private detective Slam Bradley
Slam Bradley
Samuel Emerson "Slam" Bradley is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. He is a private detective who exists in DC's main shared universe, known as the DC Universe...

 attempts to investigate the death of Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman).

The story led into a new Catwoman title in late 2001 by Brubaker and Cooke, in which the character's costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...

, supporting cast and modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...

 were all redesigned and redeveloped. Cooke would stay on the series, which was met with critical and fan acclaim, up until issue #4. In 2002 he would write and draw a prequel, the Selina's Big Score graphic novel which detailed what had happened to the character directly before her new series.

Cooke's next project was the ambitious DC: The New Frontier
DC: The New Frontier
DC: The New Frontier is an Eisner, Harvey, and Shuster Award-winning six-issue comic book limited series written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, published by DC Comics in 2003-2004. It was then collected into two trade paperback volumes from 2004–2005 and then an Absolute Edition in 2006...

(2004), a six issue miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 which sought to tell an epic storyline bridging the gap between the end of the golden
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...

 and the start of the silver age of comic books
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...

 in the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...

. The story, which was set in the 1950s, featured dozens of super-hero characters and drew inspiration from the comic books and movies of the period as well as from Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...

's non-fiction account of the start of the US Space Program The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff (book)
The Right Stuff is a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the pilots engaged in U.S. postwar experiments with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircraft as well as documenting the stories of the first Project Mercury astronauts selected for the NASA space program...

. The major DC characters are introduced in The New Frontier in the same order that DC originally published them, even down to the correct month and year in the story's timeline. In 2005, Cooke won an Eisner Award for "Best Limited Series", and a Joe Shuster Award for "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist" for his work on the series.
Most recently, Cooke contributed to DC's artist-centric anthology project Solo
Solo (comics)
Solo is an American comic book series that was published bimonthly by DC Comics, beginning in October 2004. Each issue has 48 pages plus covers, with no ads.Solo was canceled in 2006; in total, twelve issues appeared.-Overview:...

. His issue (#5, June, 2005) featured several different stories in different styles with a framing sequence featuring the Slam Bradley character. In 2006, Solo #5 won an Eisner Award for "Best Single Issue."

In July 2005, it was announced that in 2006 Cooke and writer Jeph Loeb
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...

 would produce a Batman/Spirit crossover
Intercompany crossover
In comic books, an intercompany crossover is a comic or series of comics where characters published by one company meet those published by another...

, to be followed shortly afterwards by an ongoing Spirit series written and drawn by Cooke. Batman/The Spirit was ultimately published in November 2006, followed in December by the first issue of Cooke's The Spirit. In June 2007, Cooke and J. Bone won a Joe Shuster Award for "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Artists" for their work on "Batman/The Spirit", and Cooke won "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist" for his work on "The Spirit".

In July 2006, it was announced that Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics would release a series of direct-to-DVD animated movies based on important DC comic books. One of the first comics to be adapted was Cooke's DC: The New Frontier. Cooke co-wrote the film with Stan Berkowitz and also provided art direction. The movie was produced by Bruce Timm.

Darwyn Cooke also wrote the first six-issue story arc of the new Superman monthly series, Superman Confidential
Superman Confidential
Superman Confidential was a monthly comic book series from DC Comics. The series debuted November 1, 2006, and was canceled in April 2008 after 14 issues.Superman Confidential featured Superman stories set in the early years of the character’s career...

, which debuted on November 1, 2006. Superman Confidential features stories set in the early years of Superman’s career. In June 2007 Cooke was awarded the Joe Shuster Award for "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Writer" for Superman Confidential.

In July 2009, IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

 published Cooke's Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter
Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter
Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter is a 2009 graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke, an adaptation of the first Parker novel The Hunter written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark...

, an adaptation of the Donald Westlake novel, The Hunter. This is the first of four Parker
Parker (fictional criminal)
Parker is a fictional character created by Donald E. Westlake. He is the main protagonist of 24 of the 28 novels Westlake wrote under the pseudonym Richard Stark.-Character overview:...

 novels that Cooke will be adapting for IDW. The second, The Outfit, was released in October 2010. The remaining two adaptations will be The Score and Slayground

As penciller or writer/penciller

  • Batman: Ego (DC Comics, 2000). A 64-page prestige format Batman story. Writer & artist.
  • Catwoman #1-4 (DC Comics, November 2001 to February 2002). With writer Ed Brubaker.
  • X-Force #124 (Marvel Comics, January 2002). With writer Peter Milligan, Cooke drew this one-issue story about the relationship between The Orphan and U-Go Girl. The regular penciller of the series was his friend Mike Allred.
  • 9-11, Volume 2 (February 2002).
  • Spider-Man: Tangled Web #11 (Marvel Comics, April 2002). Cooke writes and draws "Open All Night!", a Spider-Man Valentine's Day story.
  • Catwoman: Selina's Big Score (DC Comics, Summer 2002). 96-page graphic novel featuring a Selina Kyle story that takes place before Catwoman #1.
  • Spider-Man's Tangled Web #21 (Marvel, February 2003). A Spider-Man Christmas story titled "T'was the Fight Before Xmas", also featuring several female Marvel characters (Crystal, Medusa, The Wasp and The Invisible Woman).
  • Wolverine/Doop #1-2 (Marvel, 2003). 2-issue miniseries written by Peter Milligan that co-stars X-Men's Wolverine and X-Force's Doop.
  • DC: The New Frontier
    DC: The New Frontier
    DC: The New Frontier is an Eisner, Harvey, and Shuster Award-winning six-issue comic book limited series written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, published by DC Comics in 2003-2004. It was then collected into two trade paperback volumes from 2004–2005 and then an Absolute Edition in 2006...

    #1-6 (DC Comics, 2004). Writer and artist.
  • Green Lantern: Secret Files 2005 (DC Comics, 2005). Cooke pencils the main story (22 pages), written by Geoff Johns
    Geoff Johns
    Geoff Johns is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, where he has been Chief Creative Officer since February 2010, in particular for characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman...

    .
  • Solo #5 (DC Comics, June 2005).
  • Batman/The Spirit
    Batman/The Spirit
    Batman/The Spirit is a 2007 one-shot comic book written by Jeph Loeb with art by Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone. Published by DC Comics, the comic is a crossover between Batman and the Spirit.-Plot summary:...

    (DC Comics, November 2006). One-shot crossover issue between Batman and The Spirit, featuring some of the supporting casts of both characters (Robin, Catwoman, the Joker, Ebony, P’Gell, Commissioner Dolan and more). Co-written by Cooke and Jeph Loeb, and penciled by Cooke.
  • The Spirit #1-6, 8-12 (DC Comics, December 2006 to January 2008). Writer and artist.
  • Justice League: The New Frontier Special (DC Comics, May 2008).
  • Jonah Hex #33 (DC Comics, July 2008) Artist.
  • Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter
    Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter
    Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter is a 2009 graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke, an adaptation of the first Parker novel The Hunter written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark...

    (IDW Comics, July 2009) Adapted from the novel by Richard Stark, illustrated by Cooke.
  • Richard Stark's Parker: The Man With the Getaway Face - A Prelude to The Outfit (IDW Comics, July 2010) Oversized (8" x 12") one-shot adapted from the novel by Richard Stark, illustrated by Cooke. Later republished as the first chapter in Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit.
  • Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit (IDW Comics, October 2010) Adapted from the novel by Richard Stark, illustrated by Cooke.
  • Richard Stark's Parker: The Score (IDW Comics, TBA) Adapted from the novel by Richard Stark, illustrated by Cooke.
  • Richard Stark's Parker: Slayground (IDW Comics, TBA) Adapted from the novel by Richard Stark, illustrated by Cooke.
  • Jonah Hex #50 (DC Comics, December 2009) Artist.

Backup stories as penciller

  • Legion Worlds #2 (DC Comics, mid-2001) 8-page back-up story
  • Detective Comics #759-762 (DC Comics, July to October 2001) 4-part "Trail of the Catwoman" back-up story (8 pages in each issue), featuring Sam Bradley, that leads to Catwoman
    Catwoman
    Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...

    #1.
  • Batman: Gotham Knights #23 (DC, November 2001) A Batman Black and White backup tale
  • Just Imagine Stan Lee with Chris Bachalo creating Catwoman (May 2002). Cooke drew a short back up story written by Michael Uslan and inked by Mike Allred.
  • X-Statix #1 (August 2002) Doop back-up story
  • Marvel Double Shot #3 (December 2002) "Who Let the Dad Out?", an eleven-page Ant-Man
    Ant-Man
    Ant-Man is the name of several fictional characters appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Ant-Man was originally the superhero persona of Hank Pym, a brilliant scientist who invented a substance that allowed him to change his size...

     story
  • JSA: All Stars #3 (DC Comics, 2003) Doctor Fate
    Doctor Fate
    Doctor Fate is the name of a succession of fictional sorcerers who appear in books published by DC Comics. The original version was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, and first appeared in More Fun Comics #55...

     back-up story

As writer

  • Gotham Knights #33 (DC Comics, September 2002). Writer of the back-up story "The Monument", with artist Bill Wray.
  • Solo #1 (DC Comics, 2004). 11-page story "Date Knight", featuring Batman and Catwoman, with artist Tim Sale
    Tim Sale (artist)
    Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...

    .
  • Superman Confidential #1-5, 11 (DC Comics, November 2006-07, 2008). "Kryptonite," Books 1-6 written by Cooke with art by Tim Sale.

Comic book covers

  • Batman Beyond
    Batman Beyond
    Batman Beyond is an American animated television series created by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration with DC Comics as a continuation of the Batman legacy...

    #4, 23 and 24 (DC Comics)
  • Weird Western Tales
    Weird Western Tales
    Weird Western Tales is a Western genre comic book title published by DC Comics which ran from June-July 1972 to August 1980. It is perhaps best known for featuring the adventures of Jonah Hex until #38 when the character was promoted to his own eponymous series...

    #1 (DC/Vertigo, 2001)
  • Batman: Gotham Adventures #45 and #50 (DC Comics, 2001)
  • Batman Gotham Knights #12 (DC Comics, 2002)
  • Justice League Adventures #7 (DC Comics, 2002)
  • Rawhide Kid
    Rawhide Kid
    The Rawhide Kid is a fictional Old West cowboy in comic books published by Marvel Comics. A heroic gunfighter of the 19th-century American West who was unjustly wanted as an outlaw, he is one of Marvel's most prolific Western characters...

    #4 (Marvel, 2003)
  • Bad Girls #1-5 (DC Comics, 2003)
  • Toronto Comics Festival 2005 (Free Comic Books Day)
  • Elk's Run Bumper Edition
    Elk's Run
    Elk's Run is a comic book limited series created by writer Joshua Hale Fialkov, artist Noel Tuazon, and colorist Scott A. Keating. It was published in book form on March 27, 2007 by Villard...

    (Speakeasy Comics
    Speakeasy Comics
    Speakeasy Comics was a Canadian publishing company of comic books and graphic novels. It was founded in August 2004 by Adam Fortier, and ceased operations on February 27, 2006.-History:...

    , 2005). Collects Elk's Run #1-3.
  • Spellgame #1-3 (Speakeasy Comics, 2005)
  • Red Menace
    Red Menace (comics)
    Red Menace is a six issue American comic book limited series published in 2007 by Wildstorm Productions.The setting of this story is Los Angeles in 1953 at the time of Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee trials.-Plot summary:...

    #1 (variant cover) (WildStorm Comics, 2007)
  • Toronto Comics Festival 2007 (Free Comic Books Day)
  • Season of the Witch
    Season of the Witch
    Season of the Witch, also known as Hungry Wives, and Jack's Wife, is George A. Romero's third horror film. Filmed in 1971 and released in 1972, the film is about a housewife who becomes involved in witchcraft...

    #2 (Image Comics 2005)
  • Painkiller Jane
    Painkiller Jane
    Painkiller Jane is a fictional character, a comic book heroine created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada for Event Comics in 1995. Originally a five-issue mini-series, the character went on to star in numerous crossover titles with the likes of the Punisher, Vampirella, and Hellboy. Recently, the...

    #3 (Dynamite, 2007)
  • The Comics Journal
    The Comics Journal
    The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...

    285 (2007)
  • The Spirit
    The Spirit
    The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...

    #1-13 (DC, 2007–2008)
  • Jonah Hex
    Jonah Hex
    Jonah Woodson Hex is a Western comic book antihero created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is horribly scarred on the right side. Despite his poor reputation and personality, Hex is bound by a personal...

     
    #33, 50 (DC Comics, 2008)
  • The Flash Volume 3 #7 (DC Comics, 2010)
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