Prompted by these covers that he has done for Criterion, to be released in January. Movies I probably wouldn't watch, but it's nice to just look at the box set covers.

Good stuff. He's perfect for that sort of thing.

Some friends of mine let it slip yesterday that they're getting me the Absolute New Frontier for Christmas. I was surprised, but rather pleasantly so.

I can't wait for the "New Frontier" animated film -- if they manage to keep the look of Cooke's art it should be amazing!

Cooke is probably my favorite current working comic book creator. At least the one that gets me the most excited about comics.

His New Frontier is by far the most impressive thing I've read in quite awhile! Can't wait for his Spirit!

He also did the way cool intro to the Batman Beyond series...

Jamie

Darwyn Cooke may be the best thing to happen to comics since the staple!

Yes! I knew someone of your great tastes would be in agreement with me Eryk that Darwin Cooke is like the oxygen that I breathe in that it gives me great pleasure and reinforces my will to live!

Honestly, New Frontier and now the Spirit are beyond unbelieable. Now, for Eryk and others, if you can find it and haven't read it, you MUST get his issue of SOLO (its #4 or #5 I think, have to check at my parents house). It contains some of his best stuff so far!

Darwyn Cooke on The Spirit here .

He also had a few words on single-issue stories which are interesting given the debate on arcs vs singles:

I think a lot people miss single-issue stories, the ability to sit down and read a comic and walk away from it feeling something and it being a closed matter.

I also think, from a professional point of view, the writers have really taken to the format of writing longer stories because you don’t have to think as much. You only have to come up with one plot and you drag it out over six issues for a trade. It’s a far easier way to make a buck. And I’m not afraid to say that.

FC, thanks for the interview link. Cooke's a fascinating guy. I will say again that I had never been a Spirit fan before, but Cooke's first issue just blew me away. So fun, so clever, so beautiful to look at. I am always in awe of creators who can make almost every issue a masterpiece. I know Eisner was one, and Cooke is a fitting heir.

I was definitely impressed by this:

Q: It’s been said before, but it just seems to me with the mainstream superheros, the big two just seem to be focusing in on one audience that keeps getting older and older and demanding certain types of stories and it’s a smaller and smaller audience.

A: They have no way out of this box. The commitment it would take for them to reclaim mainstream ground, it’s insurmountable. We’ve basically got a cottage industry here now where the people who create the product are creating it for themselves or their friends. It’s created in a way so it’s inscrutable to anybody else. And it doesn’t reflect any social trends. There’s nothing of interest to bring a consumer in.

Hey Fat Cramer! Great thread! You've combined two of my ultimate favourite subjects - cool comic book creator Darwyn Cooke and the Criterion Collection (the best DVD company on earth)!

I noticed a few weeks ago that he was designing the covers for some of their upcoming titles and I was blown away. They're known for having some of the most beautifully artistic DVD covers of any DVD company so to see Cooke adding his talents to their mix is a great step for both of them.

That site you've linked to doesn't have what I think is the best of his new covers though. This simple, snazzy work of art for 'Green for Danger' -

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=375

Love it!

For those not in the know, the Criterion Collection is a DVD company devoted to releasing older or little-known or foreign films that deserve more attention in the US (and the West) or re-releasing some well-known films that have never received the DVD treatment they deserve. They're a little bit more expenisve than the average DVD but deals are to be found on the internet and they are well worth the rent or buy. There are some *AMAZING* movies in their collection.

Here are some great websites for anyone who's interested in learning more about the Criterion Collection company -

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=375

I hope he does more Criterion covers! Thanks for the links Blacula.

Superman Confidential has Cooke writing, with Tim Sale on the art. The approach is interesting in that it's Superman who is sort of bumbling and uncertain - not just Clark Kent. Lois strikes me as very Katherine Hepburn in this and it suits her well. Luthor takes the back stage to villain Anthony Gallo, a casino operator. The kryptonite talks (sort of). All-Star Superman is a lot more fun, but I disliked the Lois story. Confidential has a far better Lois portrayal for my tastes.

The core of Cooke's Superman Confidential seems to be good, old-fashioned crime/investigative reporter-type story, which suits me just fine. I enjoyed the Johns/Busiek Superman story for similar reasons, although this one is even better because it's Lois in the lead, as it should be. It reminds me of an updated, more hard-edged version of the old TV series, with Lois and Jimmy off snooping into something fishy.

Cooke's portrayals of Superman are interesting. In New Frontier, he was the good soldier in a bad war, but not a total dupe (he was conspiring to keep Batman under cover, after all). In confidential, he's very young, inexperienced, and therefore somewhat bumbling.

What's in common to both versions, perhaps, is that Superman never stops trying to do the right thing, even if he doesn't always succeed. He admits mistakes, he learns, he never stops. He's not infallible, he's indefatigable. I think that's a nice take on the character.

That was a fantastic interview, FC. Thanks for the link.

I find myself agreeing with Cooke on a lot of points, especially the lack of a "wish fulfillment" factor in today's books.

There's a lot to like in the Superman Confidential story, but I don't find myself as wowed by it as by The Spirit or New Frontier.

I do agree that that Cooke does a great job with Lois, both in this and in New Frontier.

Living in Nova Scotia doesn't make him dead!

just a little chili.

More Cooke goodies: DC will be reissuing his Batman: Ego in June - from Comics Worth Reading

For more modern work with classic flavor, in June comes BATMAN: EGO AND OTHER TAILS (200 pages, $14.99). It’s mostly Darwyn Cooke work, but it also includes stories by Paul Grist and Tim Sale. It collects BATMAN: EGO, CATWOMAN: SELINA’S BIG SCORE, and stories from SOLO #1 and 5 and BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #23 and 33.

I did read in some interview he gave that he was disappointed with Ego, one of his earlier works. Still, I'll probably pick this up even though I already have the Catwoman and Solo books.

(Not Cooke news, but Johanna also mentions "The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen" Showcase volume in July - sure to please fans of the wacky.)

My store has a copy of Ego, and I got to check it out yesterday.

His art's fine, but the story is a bit pretentious for my tastes.

Cooke's back cover for the Toronto Comic Festival comic (Brian Lee O'Malley did the front cover):

You have no idea how excited it makes me to open up the board and see a post to the All Darwyn Cooke Thread!

Looks cool.

Nifty.

They've announced Cooke as a guest in San Diego this year.

I'd love to get another sketch from him, but I doubt lightning will strike twice in this case. He's way too popular.

Just read Superman Confidential #4, and it was actually really cool. I think I need to go back and re-read the earlier issues.

The talking Kryptonite reminds me a lot of the villain from New Frontier, however.

I re-read First Frontier yesterday, for the first time since it was released.

BLOODY AMAZING!!!!

Gets better with every read doesn't it?

A first look at New Frontier DVD...

Excited and...reserved. I take issue with those complaining about the "complainers."

You only get one chance to do some things right and this is one of them. Frontier was epic. If 70 minutes can do "epic" then fine, but I find it hard to believe.

Just knowing there was thought of cutting the Wonder Women scenes is enough to put a fan of the work on edge. Who was making that decision? Certainly not someone who had any understanding of the purpose of the work. Cutting the Wonder Women and Lois scenes (though there were a couple Lois scenes I thought odd) would not only have turned the film into a testifest but would have taken away major exposition from Superman. Most of what he was in Frontier was seen I thought, through those two characters.

My biggest concern would be marketing making creative decisions. That bodes ill for minor characters and teams. Can you imagine Frontier having the same impact without the opening scenes?

I don't.

Most of the complainers have decided it won't be any good simply becasue of it's length. They aren't just having reservations: They are stating that it can't possibly be any good now, which they can't possibly know.

Cooke on leaving the Spirit, his plans for the future, and the bankruptcy of the direct market...

By the way... Cooke writing a futuristic fairy tale with giant robots... I'm totally there!

Regarding the Comic Festival Book that Cramer displayed the cover of. Cooke has a four page story in it which is a metaphorical comic book elegy.

I couldn't figure out who the architect was, but he identified the subject as <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Alex Toth</span></span>, one of his artistic idols. I felt kinda dumb re-reading it

Cooke's pic of Power Girl for the cover of The Comics Journal

She looks more gorgeous there than she has in the last 15 years. Of course Cooke would get it right when so many others have failed utterly.

TVshowsondvd.com has a look at the box art for the single-disc and two-disc regular release of the "New Frontier" movie. Yup, a two-disc set, too! But no word on what's on the second disc yet.

But if the movie is half as good as the two-disc box looks, I'll be a happy camper.

Comics Worth Reading has a contest to win one of 3 New Frontier DVDs. (I'm probably diminishing my chances by posting here, but that's my generous spirit. )

Ohmigod, that was sooooooo good! I got the 2-disc set... haven't watched the extras yet, but the main event was so awesome! It was just exactly what I wanted it to be.

The New Frontier comic came out today. I have to say... the story with Wonder Woman and Black Canary taking on the New Frontier/DCU version of a well known real world chauvinist was very entertaining indeed.

Cooke announced at Megacon that he will be doing a Jonah Hex story sometime this year.

Other than that, there's a new project that is still hush-hush right now.

Until I hear otherwise, I'm going to believe that this a secret Cooke Legion project! Yay!

Still a great fan of all things Cooke, I read his new crime story, Parker the Hunter. This is based on Donald Westlake's character Parker, a thief and all-around criminal when necessary.

It's a bit odd, but you really do end up by sympathizing with Parker. He's heartless and totally self-centered, but he's a straight shooter (of the criminal variety), says what he means and means what he says. And when somebody does him wrong, he simply restores the balance - um, usually by killing the person. But he lets you know he's going to kill you and he's quick about it!

The artwork is beautiful, just a few monotones, black, white and gray-blue. This story takes place in the 1962 and Cooke really captures the feeling. I don't know if there's anything anachronistic, but I doubt it. The cars, the furniture, the women's dresses - all perfect.

I'm really looking forward to getting this. For whatever reason I thought it was only available in hardcover, and more of a paperback kind of guy. So now that I know its in TPB, I'll definitely be buying it the next time I make a TPB order.

From what I've seen, the art looks tremendous as always. I'm still a huge fan of all things Cooke and I will go out of my way to buy his work no matter what the story is about.

I believe the last Cooke comic I bought was his Jonah Hex issue, which was absolutely fantastic.

It may be still only in HC; that's what I got, big spender that I am!

My Comic Book Review Month pace took a brief pause this week because I purposely slowed things down and immersed myself in Darwyn Cooke’s Parker: the Hunter, which FC mentions above. It’s a comic adaptation of Donald Westlake’s classic first Parker novel (under the pen name Richard Stark). I actually went out of my way to pace myself and really drink this in—and boy am I glad I did. It is an absolute masterpiece.

Seriously: when you read reviews of movies and books and stuff and critics say “it is a Triumph!” you never really know what that means, right? I do now—because this is a triumph! If this cost $100 I would still recommend it to every Legion Worlder.

I’ll be up front and say I think Cooke is a genius. I absolutely love his work and find his art just incredibly appealing; I’d probably buy anything he produced. But I think he really outdid himself here. His panoramic views of New York City are just breathtaking. His depictions of people are terrific. And his pacing is so tight and deliberate it sucks you right in—the entire ending sequence from the railway to the construction sight was so suspenseful I thought I was watching a great noir movie from the 40’s. Hell, it was better than that.

Where Cooke really excels is the inks/shadows he applies to set the mood and atmosphere. I kind remember the last time I felt so overwhelmed by it (an in a great way).

I’ve never read any of Donald Westlake’s novels before but I’m thinking maybe its time I did. I know Ed Brubaker says that Parker is his favorite of all fictional criminals in all mediums. I know I’ll be getting all of Cooke’s adaptations.

One bad thing is I saw the “only okay” Mel Gibson movie Payback about 10+ years ago which I didn’t realize is an adaptation of this as well. That meant I had a rough outline of the plot. It was only because of Cooke’s immense skill that the plot became basically secondary to my enjoyment—I was much more interested in a master unleashing his talent upon the readers.

I’m not putting this one away anytime soon. I’ll be browsing through it constantly I suspect.

Note: Somebody (read: Cobie) bug me until I pick this up.

I will do! It will restore your faith in modern comic books. I promise.

I snagged the Parker: The Hunter book off of eBay, a gently-used copy that cost me just over $12 including shipping. This purchase, of course, was prompted by Des's glowing review above. Can't exactly expect him to eat up all my recommendations without a little quid pro quo, right?

That said, I haven't read it yet. But I'm already struck by a couple of things:

1) I was surprised this wasn't a full-color comic as Des makes no mention of it. It's kind of a monochromatic darkish blue throughout. This looks to be used to good effect, however, and suits what is the noirish feel the story must have. It certainly gives the book its own distinct look and seems to work well with Cooke's style.

2) The size is smaller than expected, closer to that of a mid-sized paperback prose book than to a standard comic book dimension. This looks to enhance its feel as more of a book read than a comic read. This isn't to suggest the art is minimilistic or undersized itself but definitely gives it a different feel from what you'd expect. This puppy has over 200 pages and the size emphasizes thatyou're getting a lot of story and art for your money. This is literally a graphic novel, possibly moreso than any comics work to claim itself as such and the format bears that out.

Anyhow, I plan to read it sometime soon when I have the time and space to give it the proper attention. Looking forward to it!

Definitely thrilled you picked this up Lardy and can't wait for your review!

You're right that both the colors and size are really used to full effect within and enhance the noirish style of the storyline. Cooke seems to have though about EVERYTHING possible in the presentation of this work, using every thing he could to enhance the style and substance.

Just got Jonah Hex #50. Can't wait to read it.

Last night, I read Book One of Parker: The Hunter. By Book One I mean the GN's literally broken down into three or four chapters, and Book One's about the first 50 pages. Wow! This is already a tour de force! I know it helps that Cooke already had what is obviously some superior source material to work with, but WOW!

What is really a sign of Cooke's great talent is all the information and fluidity of storytelling he puts into a copious number of pages that have no dialogue or captions. The first 27 pages have only two, I think, with any captions or dialogue. But a LOT is happening in those pages. It's a masterful sequence detailing Parker charging into New York by foot like a man possessed. Silently, we see him go about his business and get himself ready for what he needs to do using some criminal techniques. Throughout most of the sequence he's a faceless form of nature until Cooke finally gives a full-page reveal of the man looking in the mirror towards the end of the sequence.

It's thoroughly-involving, mostly-silent sequence of pages that are packed with information--probably the best silent pages I've EVER seen in a comic! Cooke deserves an Eisner for that alone!

The rest of Book One is equally engaging as we learn a lot more about this force of nature we've been watching and exactly what he's so driven about. Overall, it took me about an HOUR to read book one, and it was about half-dialog-less! Granted I read these a little slower than the average bloke, but if you read this the right way, absorbing all the detail, I don't think it should take you a whole lot less time.

This is some honest-to-god comic noir that I'd put even above Brubaker and Philips' stuff on Criminal at this point. Yes, Cooke has the benefit of adapting existing material, but this is already a seminal work of art--and I've still got over 150 pages to go!!!

I agree--this is hands down the best "comic noir" I've ever read. Glad you love it, Lardy! I knew you would. There's just no denying the sheer brillance of Cooke in everything he does, but this especially.

In all fairness, like you, the article in Criminal piqued my interest in this project many months ago. I'd gone so far as to look it up on eBay and bid on an auction for it. I ended up losing that auction and kind of forgot about it for awhile before I saw you reviewing it here on Legion World. I'm glad you picked it up and your review here prompted me to revisit getting it!

How about that opening sequence, eh?

Even the widescreen shot of the city--spectacular! New York has never looked that incredible in a comic before.

The opening sequence was brillant. There is only one thing better: the closing sequence! Wait until you get to that...

So I finished reading it last night, and it was FANTASTIC! If I wasn't particularly a Darwyn Cooke fan before the Parker book, I definitely am now! Darwyn is on the upper echelon of talent currently working in the comics industry for sure. It's not just anyone who could adapt a crime novel like this into comic format and make it a superlative work of art. Darwyn Cooke is not just anyone, my friends!

I've never read The Hunter or any of Westlake's/Stark's other novels, but I'm willing to bet this is about as faithful an adaptation as could ever be done. For one, Cooke conveys so much character information largely just in the numerous silent panels. I can tell he has to have read Westlake's descriptions very studiously and realized that the devil's in the details. So many other filmmakers and comics adaptors would have left those details completely out or on the cutting room floor. So much of The Hunter is not in the actual plot but in the mood, the style and the approach Parker takes to everything he does. Like I said, those first 30 pages describe what I'm talking about perfectly.

Another thing is Cooke does not sugarcoat the character and his actions in the least. I suppose there's a part of you that roots for him and understands his desire for vengeance, but at the same time this is an absolute bastard! Make no mistake: this is definitely a bad, BAD guy, and he does some awful things to some people, including one that is kind of incidental and offhand that I found pretty shocking, especially the way Parker kind of shrugs it off.

I haven't seen "Payback", the Mel Gibson film that is based on this book, but I'd be willing to bet you that it doesn't go as far toward the dark side as this one does. If it leaves out the scene I'm thinking of, then it definitely doesn't.

A true noir has total bastards for protagonists, and this one does indeed. Unfortunately, the women of noir turn out to be turncoats, whores or victims (or all of the above), and The Hunter certainly does nothing to break this mold. It is what it is, and the haphazrd violence toward women here is pretty shocking. Definitely not a product of the politically correct era. But that's noir for you.

Brubaker's Criminal tends to have more sympathetic leads and meatier roles for its females. It's excellent stuff but a little more PC and watered down compared to Parker. That's not intended to be entirely a criticism of Criminal, by the way, just an illustration of different shades of an already dark (by definition) genre.

I definitely recommend Parker if you have a taste for the dark side. It's a revenge story and is not terribly complicated but, again, the devil's in the details. The details here are some gorgeous art by Darwyn Cooke which, more importantly than its beauty, displays a tour-de-force of his mastery of the comics medium.

Y'know, I looked Parker up and found that Westlake wrote a whopping 28 Parker novels! Cooke is said to be adapting a total of four of them including The Hunter...which of the other three he's adapting, I have no clue. For me after reading this adaptation, it's hard to imagine even one more book because this was such an iconic revenge story the way it's presented. I mean, how does one top that? Do the rest of Westlake's Parker novels live up to the sheer balls of this one? It seems like they'd all be pale reflections! But if Darwyn's such a fan that he wants to adapt THREE MORE, there must be quite a wealth of material there for him to mine!

I'm excited about where my discovery of Darwyn Cooke's material will lead me next! I bought a complete set of New Frontier last year but haven't read it yet. Long story short, I got the DVD on a bargain and figured I should read the comics first (which I got for less than $20 including shipping on eBay). I haven't consumed either yet but figure the comics will be on the agenda soon.

What else? How good was his run on The Spirit? Selina's Big Score? Batman: Ego? I know there's a couple Jonah Hex stories, but I figure I'll get to them when I eventually start collecting the TPBs. What are the best of the best as I slowly start finding what I missed? (I already own the stories he did on Catwoman with Brubaker, so that one can be left off.)

Wow--I had no idea there were 28 Parker novels! Like you say, that's almost hard for me to believe given how perfect The Hunter stands on its own. But to mirror your subsequent follow-up, if Cooke wants to go there, I'm going with him. Can't wait for the next one.

You also bring up a great point about the treatment of women in The Hunter. The scene you refer to--is this where Parker basically calls his former wife a whore and when she kills herself, he cuts her body up into pieces to make it look like a serial killer got her in the park? Because, yeah that was pretty brutal! And Parker was absolutely nonchalant about the whole thing, showing he was all business. It really let us know right off the bat who he was and he this was a guy you could root for, but really not relate to. Cooke did it perfectly too, capturing Parker's all business attitude but also conveying a small sense of smoldering anger throughout the entire opening sequences. It's only when he finally attacks Resnick in his penthouse that we see a pissed off Parker and its a frightening thing to behold.

Also, great comparison on Criminal regarding the females. Not something I've ever thought of before but absolutely the case as you point out. I also don't think its a bad thing, but is interesting.

As for where you go from here on Cooke: you might as well start with the best of the best, and that my friend, is New Frontier. You're going to love it, because its simply genius. I've reread it a number of times already in recent years and I can confidently say its the best superhero work from DC Comics (and honestly, I'd say all comic book companies) within the last 10 years.

But don't stop there--I'd follow-up on the Spirit as well. Be warned though, Cooke's 12 issues are terrific, dense and full of greatness but once he leaves, the quality on the title took a nosedive. So stick with Cooke and you'll be good. What is great about the Spirit is each issue will take you about 20 minutes to read, that's how much is in each issue.

The Jonah Hex issues are terrific but if you're already getting the TPB's, you can wait because the TPB's will have other great stuff from other creators too.

I can't remember Selina's Big Score. Was that in the Bru/Cooke Catwoman run? Or did I somehow miss that? Maybe it was a one-shot I'm forgetting about?

As brutal as that was, there was an element of understanding about what he did. I mean, he loved her (as much as a guy like Parker could love someone), but she did betray him. The reader learns the other half of the story, but as far as Parker ever knew, the betrayal was just a flat-out slap in his face that came from nowhere. So I can understand his lack of emotion, to an extent, with what he did.

No, I was thinking about the girl from the beauty shop who was just a completely innocent bystander. Though he didn't mean for that outcome, it didn't exactly throw him off his game. Just kind of collateral damage is how it came off. Now, that was harsh.

It was a full-length OGN Cooke did that took place before the events of the ongoing catwoman title he and Brubaker launched. It was published a year or two after he left Catwoman and, IIRC, got rave reviews.

The awesomeness of New Frontier cannot be exaggerated.

Huh. I don't think I've ever read Selina's Big Score. That's awesome! A whole Cooke story I never knew existed--can't wait to pick it up!

And as for the beauty shop girl--yeah, that was pretty harsh! I'd forgotten about her.

Which reminds me Eryk to remind you to get Parker: the Hunter! It's level of quality rivals New Frontier (though its style and subject matter is completely different).

Even worse was that moment where he contemplated her legs as she lay presumably unconscious. :shiver:

WARNING: I cuss using the F-word in the following post, because when somethin's THIS good, ya just gotta! Apologies!

As Edie and Cobie saw in my posts last week, I recently read DC : The New Frontier for the first time. Truthfully, I'm a bit at a loss for words! I mean it was so awesome, it's hard to distill my reaction other than to say I enjoyed every page! Here's a few random thoughts:

-I was surprised that New Frontier was an actual story from start to finish. I imagined from bits I'd heard that it was a reimagining/stripping down/revisitation of the Silver Age (and it certainly was), but I wasn't expecting a big storyline to run throughout for some reason. I was surprised asnd delighted, though.

-Favorite issue, bar none, was issue number one, especially the Losers/Land that Time Forgot portion. WHOA! That alone may have been one of the most exciting and well-crafted stories I've ever read in this medium. I really found myself wanting to read more stories by Darwin in this vein--a feeling I had several more times before the series ended!

-As I said elsewhere, Darwyn did for the Challengers of the Unknown what no other writer or creator has done for me before--make me absolutely LOVE them! I can't say I've read all that many Challs tales, but nothing has ever captured them in such a way as to make them interesting to me before. Gawd, I want a Challs series by Darwyn ASAP!!!

-DC's signature Silver Age heroes: Barry, Hal, J'onn...all perfectly captured by Darwyn in such a way that you can't help but wonder if even the most gifted writers like Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison could learn something from him. Wow! I always thought Darwyn was known for his artistic gifts, but the man can fucking write characters, man!

-Loved his take on the Big Three and even liked that they were mostly subordinate second-tier characters behind the others. Loved especially the more activist and subversive take on Wonder Woman. Heck, loved that she wasn't some tiny wisp of a thing, too!

-Gawd, the art was so gorgeous! There was a kind of Kirby influence throughout but this was still Darwyn thru and thru. The man can fuckin' DRAW in a style that is both retro and timeless at the same time. What a talent!

You know what? Darwyn needs to have his own DC series where he can tell any damn story he wants to wiuth any character he chooses, and I'd buy that puppy up in a red-hot minute! One issue a war storie, the next a western, the next a romance, then a Creeper story, a Phantom Stranger yarn--whatever the hell he wants to do! And it would be THE FUCKIN' BEST THING EVER!!!

Anyone who refuses to ever read New Frontier should be IMPRISONED FOR LIFE!!!!

(Strangely enough, I think I STILL prefer his Parker GN slightly! )

Oh, yeah...btw, more DC Darwyn goodness to come. As part of a celebration of its classic war comics, a "Weird War Tales" one-shot:

Full article

Kind of what I was asking for, huh? Can't wait! I'm definitely getting WWT and may check out a few of the others. I hope Darwyn does full art on this thing!

EDIT: It's likely Darwyn's doing one-half of the book based on the article.

See--we told you how awesome it was! I've reread at least 3 more times and it only gets better. I've commented at length on NF in various threads and my reactions mirrorred yours in many places.

I will buy anything Cooke does.

Love that his tastes cross all genres and tones. Love that he dedicated each issue to various legendary creators (for example, the final issue was dedicated to Jack Kirby).

PS - I'm an Ace fan for life now. Now that is a man's man.

PS - I rank this as the best DC miniseries / event EVER in the history of the company. Hell, I rank it ahead of all of Marvel's as well.

Thematically it works great as a follow-up to Robinson's Golden Age as well, even though continuity doesn't jive. I think its superior to that *great* work as well.

I've stopped reading it. Now I only gaze longingly into various pages from my copy of the Absolute Edition.

Ace was always cool, but Prof was the man as far as I'm concerned.

NF also made me get a crush on Carol Ferris for the first time.

I've spent literally entire flights gazing at NF, particularly the double-page spread of the DCU doing "The Right Stuff".

Cooke has a talent for dialogue that isn't wasted: it enhances the characters speaking it, furthers the plot and elevates the tension (I'm going form memory so it might be off):

"These boys deserve to know why they're going to die" - Blackhawk

"Amen to that, brother" - Green Arrow.

"Two glasses."

Man, now my memory is just flowing with all the greatness!

The Ray Palmer / Chief / Prof. Haley / Adam Strange etc. gathering of great minds.

Larry Trainer & Capt. Adam showing off their bravery pre-superhero.

And of course, NF captured the elusive 'spirit of the Silver Age' in a way almost nothing does anymore. Creation. Exploration. Science & humanity's ability to out-think its way out of problems. Bravado but without assholes. Whenever I'm down about comics, NF and Cooke bring me right back.

Crap. Now I'm going to have to dig it out and re-read it!

Some of the best Aquaman scenes ever, and he's barely in the thing.

The effect the presence of Robin has on Batman - never said outright, but shown brilliantly.

Barry Allen becomes cool again right here.

Yeah, I'll probably reread it soon, as well. After all, much of it was read while on vacation with my kids dancing around me and hootin & hollerin'! Just imagine how enjoyable it will be with some peace and quiet!

How about King Faraday and Barry's 'forgiveness'? CLASSIC!

King Faraday in general! This made me a big fan for life! So much so that I incorporated him into the 21st Century Legion Reboot & I have been doing for several years.

He's the ultimate 1950's "company man".

Lardy, you already mentioned the Losers & The War that Time Forgot. Just incredible. How about that depiction of a T-Rex though? Horrifying yet "I'm a 6 year old again" awesome.

I remember Tamper Lad commenting at length on LW in years past on another amazing scene: the death of Rick Flagg & the love of his life. Just incredibly moving.

And of course, Hal. Once Cooke used Hal in this way there was no debate any longer: Hal was the premier GL in the DCU and he will be for a long time again now.

I was just about to post this for Cobie. Looking forward to WWT, and a few of the other should be good, but WWT is a must buy.

As far as NF goes...The adaptation to movie isn't too bad either, especially since Darwyn was involved. Listening to him talk about the movie and book is awesome in and of itself. He absolutely loves and gets these characters.

Yeah, the animated feature is pretty faithful. I had bought the NF series on eBay and the animated movie both last year. I had refrained from watching the movie until I'd read the series, so I just watched that last week, too. Oddly enough, they didn't show the Losers segment/LTTF segment but did allude to it. They also worked the big heroic moment of that story into the final battle and transferred it to another character to give that character a different death than he's originally had. Obviously, there were nips and tucks but the story and look were basically all Darwyn. Most of the very best moments were there.

Definitely eye-poppingly AWESOME! Oh, GAWD, yes!

I think they should do the Loser's segment as it's own movie. A little padding (extended story telling from Darwyn, and you could get a full feature out of it.

Yeah! They could show us exactly what happened to Sarge!

You've inspired me to reread NF - again.

I checked up on Darwyn's dedications in New Frontier, which is very telling of his influences. NF stands completely on its own and parallels the spirit of the Silver Age--it contained many older concepts but was new. It went it's own way. That is pure Cooke.

Book One - Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman and Alex Toth

Book Two - Gardner Fox, Carmine Infatino, Johnny Craig, and Bernard Krigstein

Book Three - Bill Finger, Dick Sprang,Joe Simon, Jack Davis

Book Four - John Broome, Will Eisner,Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood.

Book Five - Julius Schwartz, Archie Goodwin,
Gil Kane, Russ Heath.

Book Six - Jack Kirby

(Very telling that Kirby has a book singly dedicated to him)

Anyone else read Batman: Ego or Selina's Big Score? I remember the reviws for SBS being VERY enthusiastic in various trusted websites!

Also, did Spirit 1-13 plus the Batman/ Spirit one-shot comprise all of Darwyn's Sprit work?

I just re-read the first four chapters of New Frontier!

It's amazing how you can tear up one minute with reading the fate of the Losers, then tear up a few pages later at the sight of Hal Jordan meeting Chuck Yeager!

Wonder Woman telling off Superman in Southeast Asia! And the only version of J'Onn J'Onzz that I've ever read that I've really loved! And Batman in the church scaring the kid!

I love this book so much!

Okay, ENOUGH. I will now reread NF as well so I don't feel left out!

Lardy, you are correct, those are the Cooke Spirit stories. They are also excellent and each one takes a solid 20+ minutes to read. It's really the only non-Eisner Spirit stuff that's ever been really good.

I've got to read Batman: Ego! Can't believe I've never done so before--and delighted there is undiscovered Cooke material out there!

For the record, Parker: The Hunter = Ordered!

Yay! Prepare to have your face melted by awesomeness!

Looks like the next volume is coming out in October.

FUCK YEAH!!!

I reread V. 1 of New Frontier. The whole thing with the JSA and HUAC - was that the inspiration for Marvel's mutant registration story?

NF was even more awesome than I remembered. Wonderful the way all those classic characters were woven together, and how Cooke managed to distill their essence without the 50s hokiness. It's sort of like the Secret History of the DCU.

Dunno, but it's worth noting that Paul Levitz originally came up with the idea during his 70s JSA run.

Guess what arrived in the mail today?

See you in two days! After your face has been completely melted off by awesomeness!

Read it! It definitely kicks ass!

I'm traveling this week (posting from the Sioux Falls, SD airport right now) so I brought along my Parker: The Hunter GN to just look at and Marvel at on my flights.

It's really just incredible. The flights are too short to reread it, so I've just been flipping through looking at the composition and marveling at Cooke's talent.

His shots of NYC are so good they almost make me want to pinch myself to see if I'm dreaming.

Book Two of the Parker series, The Outfit, came out today and accompanied me home! Though I'm excited to read it, I'm not sure when I'll be able to do so. Today's out because I'm half asleep after working and have to be back early again tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll be all jet-lagged from having worked 9 days straight without a day off. Then, I'm going to visit my mom for four days this weekend and won't have any time to read (trust me). Then, it's back to work straight through probably another 6-7 days as 'punishment' for the 4-dayer.

Ugh! A Cooke Parker novel deserves my undivided, rapt attention, so it may be a couple of weeks. Also, I KNOW it's gonna be so good, I'll have that empty feeling of not being able to anticipate reading it any more once it's read! Damned either way I suppose...

The only solution is for Darwyn to be chained to his drawing board and be forced to be more prolific!!!

Like Chief L., I got this book and put it aside until I had a good chunk of time to savour it. Well worth the wait! It was even better than Book One.

Parker takes on the mob, with the help of a few acquaintances, on a cross country series of heists, culminating in a face-to-face confrontation with Mr. Big (or one of the Mr. Bigs).

You get a better idea of Parker's character in this second volume; his discipline and focus, his particular standard of right and wrong.

The book shines with its variety of story-telling techniques - mostly the standard panels in their muted, restricted colours, but Cooke also uses magazine newspaper articles, cartoons and text pages to develop the tale. The wordless, small panel action scenes alternate with denser text, including some explanation of how some capers work. The art can be incredibly moody, somber and dark like Parker himself. Cooke manages to visually communicate the tension felt prior to confrontations.

Time for a second reading, and a third just looking at the incredible city scenes.

The bad news: we have to wait until 2012 for Book Three.

^Still haven't read it, Cramey, but I'm excited to hear you think it's even better than the first! I'm just waiting for the perfect time to read it when it can have my undivided attention. I'm just so fatigued from work lately that I'm always a little sleepy when it comes time to get some comic reading done. Days off are spent recovering and catching up with the wife and boys. There's also been a fairly good amount of TV to watch lately as well. This ain't no ordinary book, so it deserves my full, focused attention when I can give it.

Still looking forward to it. I'll hopefully have a good opportunity to read it in December or January. The good news is, the longer I put it off, the less time I'll have to wait for Book Three!

Finally read Parker: The Hunter

Why didn't you guys tell me this was so good.

Darwyn deserves any award he can win...even if he's writing and drawing the entries for the dictionary.

His simple, yet more expressive than 99% of other artists out there is unbelievable. Evry character has character that you can feel just by looking at them on the page.

Go buy this, get it from the library, trade your kidney, whatever you have to do to get a copy to read.

One of the recent House of Mystery issues had a short story by Darwyn Cooke in the middle featuring the 50's sci-fi character that hangs out at the House and it was really cool! Totally 1950's sci-fi type stuff that was really trippy.

Just like his Question short story in his Solo issue years ago, Cooke knows how to jam-pack a short story with some punch. I expect his Vigilante back-up will be equally as good.

I totally wish there was an ongoing Strange Adventures anthology comic with 2-3 stories per issue, and Cooke could contribute regularly. He's shown length of a story doesn't matter, that an 8 page story is oftentimes better than a 120 page TPB if the quality is there.

I definitely would like to see more sci-fi driven stuff from Cooke. This reminded me of his awesome rendition of the Challengers of the Unknown.

!!will post image later, it's screwed up and I've got to run!!

From Mike Holmes' "True Story" comic strip, in which Holmes illustrates stories that readers send in. Darwyn Cooke guest starred in and illustrated this one.

Hear, hear. Loved the ending where all of them banded together for the final battle. Hell yeah!

From Mike Holmes' strip "True Story":

That's great!

Cooke fans who missed the Shade #4 have really got to find a way to get this issue. It was nothing short of spectacular with Darwyn taking a solid James Robinson story and enhancing it into a typical Cooke masterpiece.

The story focuses on the Shade during the Golden Age right after his criminal career began. He enters WWII by engaging in some Nazi spies at home, and in the process has a story with some pretty central development for the Shade.

But the real enjoyability comes from Cooke depicting two Golden Age heroes: the original Vigilante (one of my favorites actually, especially his look) and Madame Fatal, who at long last gets a modern story since his/her series ended in the 40's. 

Madame Fatal is, of course, the only transvestite superhero in comics history up until like 20 years ago. Robinson has teased him before but we get him in all his (her) full glory. Cooke's art allows it to really work, showing the Madame to be actually not all that bad to look at for an older woman...who is actually a man in disguise.

Vigilante by Cooke is just awesome. Seeing it actually made something click for me for the first time. Vigilante is really the Shadow in a cowboy motif in terms of his look. It never dawned on me before because it works so well.

Really terrific stuff. And if anyone is curious, the series has been great in general.

Just got and read through Selina's Big Score.

Cooke is from another time. Seriously. he has such great sensibilities when it comes to this kind of story. A big crime caper. Tough guys, smart guys and a dame...who happens to be Catwoman, which does not really play into the story all that much. Just around the edges to set a few things up.

Highly recommended.

Minutemen is currently my FAVORITE comic. Cooke is KILLING it. It's on fire.

He's doing a great job of dealing with the adult subject matter in an adult way without exploitation or shock value. The panels have a great energy and flow.

He's an excellent story teller. The funny thing is this book seems so on the cutting edge of modern as well as classic.

BAM! MINUTEMEN!

I haven't been reading Minutemen, but that seems like an excellent description of what makes Cooke's stuff awesome in general!

Minutemen has been very good, as expected, because everything Cooke touches is pure gold.

I'm one of those people that wishes Before Watchman did not exist, as I feel its pretty criminal for them to be doing it against Moore's wishes considering the history of the franchise and how it was originally promoted as creator-owned with DC subsequently screwing Moore. (And whether he signed a contract or not, it's still wrong).

So with that in mind, I realize that Cooke doing this Minutemen series...really could have been done without the Minutemen. Honestly, they really don't bring *all that much* to the table here, other than outright stating things that were only once implied (which is annoying). Cooke could have easily done this series with the Seven Soldiers of Victory or the All-Winners Squad or whoever. And all of those would have been totally awesome because Cooke really is just that good.

So yeah, the series is great. But it still didn't need to be the Minutemen in my mind.

Meanwhile, I'm criminally behind on my reading of the Parker OGNs and I need to rectify that ASAP.

PS - anyone who missed Cooke's issue of the Shade that featured the Vigilante and Madame Fatale, you owe it to yourself to find it! Fantastic!

Parker: The Score is probably my favourite of the 3 Parker GNs so far. It's a multi-player heist story with a big target: a mining town and its payroll. All the different team members have distinct personalities and looks, which lends a richness and authenticity to the story. With that many people, things will go wrong (someone had to get involved with a woman!), but Parker manages to stay a step ahead of the game.

It's a beautiful book about a cold and violent man and, as the other volumes did, it really captures the spirit of the early 60s. I kept hearing Herb Alpert when I was reading it...

Minutemen #6 of 6

(I thought this ended with 5 The story seemed to be capped off as well.)

Cooke is incredible. However, this issue takes some lumps with the story twists at the end. I would rather have it end at issue number 5 than find out all this mess happened. I am curious to know what others might think of these plot twists.

Overall, I think the Minutemen excelled when Darwyn added something new like fleshing out the Silhouette and writing from the Nite Owl's perspective. Overall I think it suffered from the moments it revisited elements of the previous Watchmen story. Mothman's alcoholism for example, I thought was over the top.

This series coulda been a four parter IMO.

I give this one a four because much like Allred ... ok Darwyn Cooke is still great fun.







I am glad it's over though, which is not how you're supposed to feel about a comic book. I think I am just burned out on the Before Watchmen marketing craze. I saw an ad for a new "Dollar Bill" comic and I said ... Absolutely not. Even if it wasn't Dollar Bill, I'm just not interested.

Before Watchmen is certainly a retelling, not new stories with these characters and their likely hundreds of stories they could tell that weren't highlighted in the original Watchmen.

Silk Spectre was cute. Ozymandius was gorgeous if light. and Minutemen was the best of the bunch. But these characters seem caged in IMO.

I finally read The Score myself today, at long last. I've had the book since it was released, but I guess I was saving it for whenever felt like the right time. I guess today worked because I was getting a little TOO caught up on my monthlies (it's a bit of a mental thing with me ). Plus, the last dozen or so comics I read were a string of "meh" reads, so a surefire bet like Cooke's Parker was a guaranteed palate cleanser.

Gotta agree with Cramey: this is probably the best of the three Parker books to date! Even though this one was less about Parker than the other two and more about 'the score' (appropriately enough!), it was a heist story unlike any I'd ever seen or read, as far as the scale and sheer audacity of the target. I mean, with a twelve-man crew basically taking on a whole town for their score, the stakes were higher and the potential for complete disaster greater than pretty much any tale told in that genre that I've ever experience!

I should qualify this, however, by admitting that I'm not exactly a big fan of the heist genre and haven't even seen--or even desired to see--a single "Ocean's" movie. So I'm no expert on how the audacity and awesomeness of The Score compares to the best of the heist genre.

This would really make for an outstanding movie that I would pay to see, especially if the filmmakers were to adapt the story almost exactly like Cooke did. I haven't seen Jason Statham's recent Parker film, but the previews don't feel anything like Cooke's adaptations, which are said to be faithful to the Stark books. So my expectations of it are very low.

Lots of cool characters in this one! Grofield really stands out, of course, but many of the others have their moments.

I LOVE Cooke's Parker adaptations!!! While I'm glad we'll get another one this year, it's sad knowing it'll be the last one Cooke plans to do. One of these days, I'll just have to track down Stark's Parker books, so I can get more Parker fixes!

The only comic book news out of SDCC that interested me was announcement of a new Parker book: Slayground (due in December).

Official Press Release:

San Diego, CA (July 20, 2013) – Darwyn Cooke’s acclaimed Parker series from IDW continues to expand with the classic Slayground. In this newest graphic novel, Parker is put to the test against crooked cops and sleazy gangsters after a heist goes south and he finds himself trapped in an amusement park closed for the winter, and embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse… a game that slowly starts to favor the mouse.

“A boarded up amusement park was an inspired setting for Parker,” said writer/artist Darwyn Cooke, “and Westlake made the most of it. A great story that I’m enjoying the hell out of adapting.”

Since Darwyn Cooke is my favourite Black Canary artist, and Black Canary my favourite of whom he draws ...

I really wish he would do a Silver Age Birds of Prey 4-10 parter!






His Zatanna is super crackin' too!





(Sadly this is the only Shayera by him I could find. And it is JLU Shayera. )

Special guest stars










even ..




Maybe a trip to Earth 2

I really loved New Frontier, and Cooke's style was the PERFECT fit for the story!

As anybody preordering their books knows, October will have several Darwyn Cooke variants! The list:

Action Comics #37
Aquaman
Batgirl
Batman
Batman & Robin
Batman/Superman #17
Catwoman
Detective Comics
Flash
Grayson #5
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Harley Quinn #6
He-Man: The Eternity War #1
Justice League
Justice League Dark
Justice League United #7
Sinestro #8
Supergirl (w/ Comet, Krypto and Whizzy! )
Superman
Superman/Wonder Woman #14
Teen Titans #5
Wonder Woman

I would love to see him do a story with the Postboot or Adventure Legions. I think he would fit them very well.

When I saw those covers, my first thought sadly was "these aren't even remotely close to modern DC. But they should be." :Shake:

Just read the first installment of Cooke & Sale's "Superman: Kryptonite", and I loved it! This is maybe the most awesome Lois Lane I've ever read, even more than the Phil Jimenez/Joe Kelly Lois from that Wonder Woman issue in the early 2000s.

Once I finish this story, a re-read of "New Frontier" is in order.

Is that the one from Superman Confiential? What a great story that was.

Hmm... if it's the one I'm thinking of, I remember thinking it was only so-so. Maybe I should reread it though.

Do it, EDE, do it, I think it would be so much fun if we both commented on it at the same time.

And thanks for the endorsement, Cobie. Now I'm even more excited about finishing it.

Sad news reported today that Cooke's in Palliative (i.e. end of life) care after a bout with "Aggressive" cancer.

Completely stunned.

I read that palliative does not necessarily mean end of life..

"Palliative care is provided by a specially-trained team of doctors, nurses, social workers and other specialists who work together with a patient’s doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment."

Palliative Care

Granted it does not sound good. My thoughts go out to him and his family, hoping for the best.

"Not Curative" is the key part. In other words they aren't treating the cancer, just the symptoms (i.e. pain management). Granted it may be different in the States, but up here Palliative Care is where you go to be made comfortable before the end (assuming he's home in Canada right now).

We call it Hospice Care here in the States.

The link I provided states that palliative care can be in conjunction with curative care. Hopefully that is the case here. But with the "aggressive cancer" that does not sound likely.

Re-reading the announcement from Marsha Cooke "It is with tremendous sadness that we announce Darwyn is now receiving palliative care following a bout with aggressive cancer." It does sound like end of life.

SHIT! He's one of my favorites....

Aw no.

Really sad news. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

He's gone.

Awww... crap.

Aw jeez, this one really hurts.

This really sucks. I'm kinda torn up by this. He was by far my favorite creator.

When "celebrities" or artists die, I usually kind of shrug and acknowledge it and move on. But I felt like I knew Darwyn through his work and interviews. He was my kind of creator and someone I would follow no matter what.

RIP. Gone way too soon.

He was as far as a creator could get from being a hack, one of the few active iconoclasts working on mainstream superheroes. This is a terrible loss all around. R.I.P.

To this day, New Frontier still represents the best in what modern comics can be. I feel like I've been chasing after something as cool as it since the first time I read it.

I hate that I'll never get to see the Cooke take on the Silver Age Legion that I always wanted to see.

Just read about his passing while catching up on Flipboard. A sad day indeed. RIP

I'm especially sad that we'll not get to see new projects from him. He had a previously announced new series coming out from Image. If he completed any work on it, I don't know. In any case we'll never see his fully realized vision on that series or another brilliant Parker adaptation or anything else imagined or unimagined by his fans.

Nothing I've read of his ever let me down. Even his Before Watchmen work on Minutemen was well worth the price of admission within an "event" we overall wish hadn't happened.

Meanwhile, hacks like Rob Liefeld are still alive... <facepalm>

Incredibly sad and surprising news. He had such a unique style and he really understood the spirit of comics.

Go here:

http://www.newsarama.com/29295-darwyn-cooke-passes-away.html

I agree with all that has been said here. To build on Fat Cramer's comment, he really understood the Spirit of comics. I spent some time yesterday looking at the beautiful clean layouts of my Cooke Spirit issues, and posted an image on my Facebook page. Incredible work.

Yeah, his Spirit run is pretty amazing. Got to go back and reread that soon.

RIP Mr. Cooke. The small silver lining is that he did not suffer for too long.

I can't say I'm well versed in Darwyn Cooke's works. I've never read the New Frontier but I own the movie.

I will say I'm still thankful for the Catspaw headsketch he did for me at Boston Comic Con 2011.

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=758433&GSub=90046

I can't decide which sequence of New Frontier is my favorite.

Wildcat versus Clay
The Flash in Motion
The Martian Manhunter watches TV
The Boy Wonder meets Superman
Zatanna scolding Billy Batson for giving himself an ice cream headache.
The montage as the 1960s begins with Kennedy's speech.
The Kirby-ness of the CHallengers of the Unknown.

For me, it's easily the Land That Time Forgot.

It had easily the best Hal Jordan ever.

This is terrible news. I'm in shock. What a loss!

Agreed 100%.

For me:

Batman fighting the cultists
Wonder Woman standing up to Superman in Vietnam
The invisible airplane (great in the comic book, even better in the movie)

I gotta go with Hal Jordan becoming the Green Lantern when inside the alien. The psychedelic colors really pop in that sequence.

I can't find my copies of Wolverine & Doop.

And I thought I owned a HC copy of Selina's Big Score.

I just ordered his just-released Twilight Children TPB from Vertigo. It's currently available at In-Stock Trades for just $7.49. I was always gonna get it after it was released, but the timing was extraordinary. I don't know if anyone here read the series, and I never saw any reviews. In any case it seems a steal for the price (the individual issues were all extra-sized and cost $4.99 a pop!) and knowing it is graced with his art.

Re: Twilight Children - I read the first issue and decided to wait for the trade. Classic Cooke artwork, but the story seemed to get off to a slow start.

Loved Twilight Children! Very oddball and offbeat story, which is clearly the doing of Hernandez's sensibilities, but still really fun. Darwyn's work is magnificent as always, and he gives the sleepy Mexican town a lot of character, and when needed, 'pop'.

I still have a backlog of some Cooke stuff I own but haven't yet read. Specifically, I have Spirit Vol. 2 and the Batman: Ego and Other Tales TPB (which includes Selina's Big Score). So with the addition of Twilight Children, I'll have a bit of a Darwyn Cooke fix that's "new to me". Plus, New Frontier is really do for a personal re-read.

Any of you who never checked out Darwyn's four adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker are missing out! I think they are my personal favorite works of his that I've read. But then, I love me some noir, so that is a big reason.

I am checking them out of my library. At least the ones they have. Picking up Slayground, Selina's Big Score, and Trail of the Catwoman tonight

Personally, I think Slayground is the weakest of the Parker adaptations, possibly because it's the only one of the four that isn't book-length (there's a backup story). But that's far from an indictment--it's still really good!

I still have the last Parker novel to get and read and I can't wait. I agree they are seminal work of his. I also love noir and these are just about as good as anything ever done in any medium.

I also still have Ego & Other stories to get, and then a handful or random issues here and there to complete my collection of all his stuff (think a random X-Force issue and the Wolverine / Doop mini). It's kind of nice to have a "new to me" pile of Cooke stuff, like you mention!

I've been feeling down about his passing. So maybe a reread of New Frontier (for like the 7th time :)) is in order for me too.

When my wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I really couldn't think of anything (which is normal for me). And then it occurred to me what the perfect gift would be: a TPB by Darwyn. And so, among 2 other OGNs I'll get around to reading and reviewing eventually, she got me Ego and Other Stories, which I couldn't wait to devour in January.

As expected, I absolutely loved it. Classic Cooke from start to finish, it was wonderful to see his focus purely on Batman, Catwoman and that section of the DCU. It was also nice to get a sense of these stories within Cooke's own publishing chronology, to see him make the shift to superhero stories, to getting comfortable with Selena and then shifting over to Batman and then to eventually get really creative and stylistic.

All of the smaller, back-up stories were wonderful. But the main two stories, Ego & Selina's Big Score, were tremendous. Ego might not be in the top 5 Cooke stories of all time, but I'd buy a Batman story of that caliber any day of the week and thought it was a great insight into Bruce Wayne--very much in the vein of the animated series and yet also so Cooke. Selina's Big Score, on the other hand, was truly fantastic from start to finish, and was a fantastic crime story that foreshadowed Cooke's Parker stories, while also letting him give Selina some nice shine.

This was kind of a personal buy for me. Over a year ago, I was really started to feel not just disheartened by comics, but almost bitter. As if rather than giving me any joy at all, they were causing me the opposite. It's hard to explain why I felt that way. I know following various comic book creators on twitter only left me disliking most of them rather than getting excited about their work--the complete opposite effect it was supposed to have. Before DC Rebirth, I had totally given up on both DC and Marvel and my total devotion to Image and the independents had grown cold. And then my Uncle, who was as critical to my love of comics as my father was--reading old issues of the Fantastic Four to me when I was still 6 or 7--passed away in Autumn 2015 after 15 years of alcoholism. Though he did make peace with my Dad, and be extension, the rest of the family, it was a heavy blow that at first didn't seem that way and crept up on me over a period of months. Then came Dev and Lash passing away. And then, even though it was a creator and not someone I knew, I felt like Cooke's death was yet another personal blow to me. He was my favorite living comic book creator, and just someone whose art made me still think comic books mattered. I really was upset when he died, and I'm sure it was also mourning Lash and Dev and my Uncle, but I thought about just quitting reading comics.

Luckily I didn't. Through some miracle, DC's Rebirth got it right, got my father to start reading comics again after a 20+ year absence and then got me to start reading them again. By Christmas time, when my wife asked me what I wanted, I thought it was a good choice--I felt I owed it to myself to include some Darwyn Cooke work that I hadn't read within this new found love and enthusiasm for comics. I'm glad I did. It was a highly fulfilling read.

There's a few other random Cooke stories I don't own and haven't read, and I plan to get them all. But slowly. I like knowing there is still more to go.

Today was not a good day for me. After holding my demons at bay for months, they struck back with a vengeance this morning. And you know what turned out to be the tonic I needed to pull myself back together?

Re-reading The New Frontier.

I am grateful to the higher powers above that there are still a few rare gems in my superhero comics collection that can both renew my faith in the genre and lift my spirits.

And if any of you haven't yet read Cooke's afterword in the New Frontier Volume 2 trade, I recommend searching for it. I just did a search, but couldn't find it on the web. Hopefully someone else will have better luck.

Gods bless your soul, Mr. Cooke.

Yeah, I unequivocally love that book.

I need to track down a lot of the other stuff discussed in this thread that I've never read.

Just read that Afterword in my own copy and yeah it is great. May the spirit of true heroes never die.

I have the Black Label edition of New Frontier on loan from the library. Coming in at more than 500 pages, it's got deleted scenes, creator commentary (originally done for an earlier edition before Cooke's passing,) sketches, promotional material...everything but the kitchen sink! Highly recommended!

Sounds super-awesome!

Must have! Got the original 2 volumes, but this edition has so many extras, it's hard to resist.

I did get the "Martini Edition" of Parker, which does have some cool extras but not as much as that New Frontier. It's oversized and sort of fits nowhere on the shelf, but great for breaking out the Herb Alpert music and drifting into the '60s.

Cramey, count me in as another Herb Alpert fan!