In 1985, Cooke left his family on his own for the first time in order to show his samples at DC Comics' New York City offices. His father, however, did not think that comics were a good avenue for a career.Ĭooke attended George Brown College, but was expelled after a year. He attributed the ability to develop his own style as a byproduct of limited entertainment choices, allowing him to focus on deconstructing the comics that inspired him. Cooke also recalled tracing panels of Will Eisner's The Spirit as a teenager. The following week, Cooke purchased Detective Comics #439, featuring the story 'Night of the Stalker,' and had found his calling. He discovered comics as a child, but did not become passionate about them until he was a teenager.Ĭooke's desire to be an artist crystallized at 13 years old after reading a reprint of Spectacular Spider-Man #2, with Cooke purchasing markers and boards the day after reading the comic and attempting to copy John Romita's artwork. Cooke's grandmother saved some of his earliest drawings, at 5 years old, of Batman and Robin in crayon on construction paper, with Cooke keeping them after her death.

Ĭooke's interest in creating comics began after watching Batman starring Adam West. Cooke's father was a construction worker and later ran a union. His work has been honoured with numerous Eisner, Harvey, and Joe Shuster Awards.ĭarwyn Cooke was born in Toronto on November 16, 1962. Darwyn Cooke (Novem– May 14, 2016) was a Canadian comics artist, writer, cartoonist, and animator who worked on the comic books Catwoman, DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit and Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter.

Darwyn cooke batman art