In Memorium: Darwyn Cooke!!

Within a twenty-four hour span late last week an official announcement from his family that he was undergoing an aggressive form of treatment was then immediately followed by their sad update that Eisner Award-winning Canadian comic book writer, artist, cartoonist and animator Darwyn Cooke, best known for his work on the comic books Catwoman, DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit and Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter had succumbed to his battle with cancer. Cooke joins a short list of entirely too young creators that we've lost far earlier than would normally have been expected: Mike Parobeck, Dave Stevens, Mike Wieringo, Dwayne McDuffie and now Darwyn Cooke at 53 years of age. He was not quite a year younger than myself, and I'm a twelve year cancer survivor. What a huge bummer!

Before he was able to break into comics, he had worked as a storyboard artist for Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, and in 1999 he animated the main title design for Batman Beyond. He then worked as a director for Sony Animation's Men in Black: The Series for a year. I am very greatful to have had a chance to see and meet him at shows on a couple of occasions. The Catacombs expresses its sincerest condolences to his family, friends and fans.