
Mourning the loss of the great #DarwynCooke? Donations can be made to the @cancersociety and @heroinitiative. pic.twitter.com/VfR1tO0eds
— David Hyde (@superfanpr) May 14, 2016
Since the announcement yesterday that Darwyn Cooke had sufferred from aggressive cancer, then the subsequent news of his passing away this morning, the comic book industry has been talking about one man. And lots of people have tributes to give and stories to share. Here are a few
Gail Simone, on Darwyn giving her a Sophie’s Choice dilemma,
So, later that same day, Darwyn comes up with his huge art portfolio, and he says, “Gail, you have to choose.”
What? Choose what?
Here’s what he did. He had drawn me a gorgeous, gorgeous drawing of Black Canary, just her head and shoulders, on a huge piece of artboard, bigger than a page of comic art (which as most of you know, is much bigger than a comics page, it gets shrunk down for printing). It was simple but stunning, and he’d drawn it just for me. It’s glamour style, like a Lana Turner headshot or something.
He’d drawn that just for me.
OR.
I could choose ANY original page of art from New Frontier.
and signs off with this story,
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.
Darwyn, Marsha, @jpalmiotti @AmandaRantsAlot @FrankTieri @bendefeo & co are a crew that welcomed me into the industry when I was no one…
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
Came to be that I would go to cons to hang out with them. At all the dinners and such, I was determined never to geek out on Darwyn and …
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
play it cool. Even when we talked about doing something in All Star back in the fall I kept cool. "That'd be great." So as to be …
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
professional. But I would like to geek out now. Darywn, hanging out, you're always a dark and hilarious asshole (& I mean that with the
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
greatest affection – cheers) . But what your art has always betrayed (for me) is a deep sense of joy, and even wonder at our capacity
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
– however small – for heroism. You bust my balls when we hang out, playing the cranky cynical guy, but then you're always up to give some
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
bit of hopeful advice. So thank you for sometimes playing the bad guy, but being the hero. Lots of love to you and Marsha both.
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
And yeah, #fuckcancer.
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) May 13, 2016
Jimmy Palmiotti:
Amanda and I are devastated. We lost a best friend, and the world lost one of its greatest talents this morning. He fought a great fight up until the last minute and was surrounded by friends and family. Although we know his art will live on forever, we will miss his warm smile and generosity to everyone around him each and every single day of our lives. He loved his life, loved his friends even more, and celebrated both to the extremes every chance he got. The lucky few closest to him understood that Darwyn always felt he was living on borrowed time, a sentiment more of us understand a little bit more right now because of this loss. There is a joy and honesty to his work that only a few artists of our generation can even come close to and knowing him the way we did, we understood this joyfulness came from the man himself. Darwyn was a best friend, a mentor, and a brother to Amanda and I. Our hearts are broken.
Rest in Peace, Darwyn.
https://twitter.com/jpalmiotti/status/731127910745165824
https://twitter.com/jpalmiotti/status/731198999345152002
https://twitter.com/JVGray/status/731158958250020864
https://twitter.com/jpalmiotti/status/731201674770026496
https://twitter.com/jpalmiotti/status/731379956308168704
https://twitter.com/jpalmiotti/status/731509623329542144
Ethan Daniel Van Sciver: RIP Darwyn Cooke.I’m at a loss for words. This was cruel.
George Pérez: RIP: Darwyn Cooke. You will be greatly missed.
Rob Liefeld: R.I.P. Darwyn Cooke – Thank you for the inspiration. You will be sorely missed.
Darwyn's Harley on my desk today, keeping spirits up. pic.twitter.com/9ZFGOslYN5
— Paul_Dini (@Paul_Dini) May 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/brubaker/status/731383455385194496
https://twitter.com/brubaker/status/731383870839394304
https://twitter.com/brubaker/status/731502061603291137
Creator Darwyn Cooke is in our thoughts today. Great man, longtime friend of #TCAF, master of comics.
darwyncooke.ca pic.twitter.com/mlr3lx8XHM— TCAF The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (@TorontoComics) May 13, 2016
His superhero comics were great, of course, but the Parker novels were on a whole other level. Master classes in cartooning. #RIPDarwynCooke
— Will Pfeifer (@willpfeifer) May 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/jamieESrich/status/731338214447833091
https://twitter.com/jamieESrich/status/731338826296131584
Darwyn Cooke was one of the artist who inspired me to chase my dreams of being a comic artist. He will be missed pic.twitter.com/RfJUYp03FG
— Jason Fabok (@JasonFabok) May 14, 2016
Had the pleasure of meeting Darwyn a handful of times. Comics has lost a giant creative voice. We're poorer for it. https://t.co/argdr0WWBR
— Filip Sablik (@FilipSablik) May 14, 2016
AfterShock was fortunate to have Darwyn Cooke help launch our company with this beautiful cover. We will miss him. pic.twitter.com/eJKmGxr825
— Mike Marts (@mikemarts) May 14, 2016
Darwyn always showed me so much support including his wonderful intro to Essex County. One of my favourite cartoonist.
— Jeff Lemire (@JeffLemire) May 13, 2016
Very, very sad news about Darwyn Cooke. We’ve lost a master ##DarwynCooke
— David #A19 NYCC Baldeón (@david_baldeon) May 14, 2016
Sadly it's now been confirmed that Darwyn Cooke lost his battle against cancer this morning. #DarwynCooke https://t.co/bb7r9jjdSF
— Lew Stringer (@lewstringer) May 14, 2016
What would turn out to be Darwyn Cooke's last book, The Twilight Children, just came out this week.
— Rich Barrett (@RichcBarrett) May 14, 2016
The best way to honor Darwyn Cooke is to do what he did – use your gifts to make the world a better place every day. pic.twitter.com/bxEIYuB33c
— Arune Singh🇺🇸🇨🇦 (@arune) May 14, 2016
The best way to celebrate the passing of an artist is to sit with their work and enjoy it one more time. Try Darwyn cooke's new frontier
— BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (@BRIANMBENDIS) May 14, 2016
If you don't think it's an honor to know a man like Darwyn Cooke, you're delusional. Guys like him come along once a generation. Maybe.
— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) May 14, 2016
Just look at Darwyn Cooke's art – each piece makes you feel something and tells you a story. A true master. pic.twitter.com/nlNY4JDiC9
— Arune Singh🇺🇸🇨🇦 (@arune) May 14, 2016
When I first met Darwyn Cooke, he asked me what I was drinking. Vodka tonic, I replied. "Double vodka tonic, for the lady." Classic Darwyn!
— 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧 🔮 (@beckycloonan) May 13, 2016
The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke is an absolute masterpiece. Consume it in any format available! pic.twitter.com/q2j8jxoeTJ
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) May 13, 2016
Darwyn Cooke's work belongs in that great tradition of classic north american cartooning. He hangs with the all time masters, you know?
— Michael Cho (@Michael_Cho) May 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/GWillowWilson/status/731130728897904641
Incredibly upset to hear about Darwyn Cooke's bout with cancer. Warm thoughts his way, people…https://t.co/19fA41rkhx
— Scott Morse (@crazymorse) May 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/RichTommaso/status/731497665108807680
If you don't know– & you probably do– the Darwyn Cooke Parker adaptations are masterpieces, & should be on every comic fan's bookshelf.
— LAYMAN (@themightylayman) May 13, 2016
Don't know what to say beyond just adding my voice to the chorus of love for Darwyn Cooke and his transcendent cartooning.
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) May 13, 2016
Darwyn Cooke's Wonder Woman is always smiling. pic.twitter.com/M7BwWigbLl
— Joe Caramagna – NYCC A9 🍩🏒 (@JoeCaramagna) May 13, 2016
Wishing Darwyn Cooke and his family the very, very best. https://t.co/XGMymm6XFw
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) May 13, 2016
Just learned that Darwyn Cooke is battling cancer. An excellent man, a terrific artist & storyteller. Love to him & his family #fuckcancer
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) May 14, 2016
Dunno what I'd do without the encouragement of Darwyn and Eddy Biukovic. #fuckcancer
— Cliff Chiang (@cliffchiang) May 14, 2016
Life sure likes to kick you in the balls sometimes, huh? Pray for my friend #FuckCancer pic.twitter.com/qJa0ITHvmq
— Frank Tieri (@FrankTieri) May 13, 2016
Sad news. Directing my thoughts and good vibes to Darwin and his family. #DarwynCooke #FuckCancer
— Fábio Moon (@fabiomoon) May 13, 2016
Really sad about the news about Darwin. One of the best artists in comics history. All my love and support. #fuckcancer
— Rafael Albuquerque (@rafaalbuquerque) May 13, 2016
Just heard about Darwyn Cooke's cancer…just horrible. Best to him, Marsha, his family. Darwyn's a fighter, hope this can somehow be beat.
— Evan Dorkin (@evandorkin) May 13, 2016
A testament to Darwyn's greatness– a year ago, when DC ran his month of variant covers, every single 1 looked like a book I wanted to read
— Kyle Higgins (@KyleDHiggins) May 14, 2016
Love and thoughts to Darwyn and his family. pic.twitter.com/YF5xmKicin
— Jeff Lemire (@JeffLemire) May 13, 2016
For those who are looking to revisit the best of his work, there is a ComiXology sale on his DC work, including New Frontier, right here, and his Parker volumes right here.
And his Amazon page can be found right here.
My favourite Darwyn Cooke story is one I reported in Lying In The Gutters in 2005 and repeated on Bleeding Cool in 2011. Darwyn Cooke was a man possessed of righteous fury, whether over the quality of a comic, a none headed decision by a comics publisher or a bar fight defending a young woman’s honour. He fought the good fight.
But my favourite example has to be when he believed that a rejected pitch he and his crew had made to Marvel Comics for a line of All-Ages titles, was used to inform their subsequent Marvel Age line of titles without Darwyn’s involvement.
True or not, during Wizard World Los Angeles, Darwyn Cooke walked up to now-Marvel EIC, then-Senior Editor Axel Alonso, picked up a pint of Guinness and threw it over Axel, with fellow editor Nick Lowe having to restrain Axel from following suit.
The story spread like wildfire. Another Marvel colleague amused by the incident told me that, after Darwyn shortly signed with DC Comics afterwards, that this was the first exclusive comic book contract he had seen signed in beer.
Miss you Darwyn. Thoughts and prayers to Marsha and the rest of his family.