The Copacetic Comics Company Darwyn Cooke

Darwyn Cooke

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
The Hunter	Darwyn Cooke	IDW Publishing	Parker	$22.22 ($24.99 list)
Read more and comment...	The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke OK, technically the title is, Richard Stark's Parker in "The Hunter," and it is not really by, but is rather adapted and illustrated by, Darwyn Cooke. And, to make matters even more complicated, for those of who don't already know, Richard Stark is really "Richard Stark," the most important pseudonym of the famous mystery writer, Donald Westlake, who penned the original novel which Cooke here adapts. That said, this is a new and much anticipated work by the highly esteemed Mr. Cooke, who has made quite a name for himself in the comics world – and deservedly so – over the past decade. Not everyone knows that he first dipped his toes in the comics water in the mid-1980s, but found the temperature at that time not to his liking and decided instead on a career as a graphic designer. He later turned his sights on animation, and, finally, found his way back to comics at the turn of the century, bursting into the consciousness of the comics world with Batman: Ego. He secured himself a place in the nascent 21st century comics pantheon in 2004 with his seminal recreation of the dawn of the Silver Age, DC: The New Frontier. He then initiated the revival of Will Eisner's The Spirit, taking a stunning eleven-issue turn which showed him pointed in the direction that led him here to this graphic adaptation of the classic crime series featuring Parker. He is not the sort fellow you'd like to meet in the flesh, but on the page is a different matter. Cooke captures it all in bold brash brushstrokes that produce a two-toned cocktail that is one part Toth and one part Kirby, well shaken. Cooke's graphic savoir faire shines once again as he visually replicates Westlake's measured sentences and clipped dialogue in page after page of fine comics which place the reader right in Parker's shoes, and will have you believing it's 1962 in no time, for better and for worse. Parker is a cypher for the pent up male rage that was in strong supply during those years leading up to 1964 (and seems, evidently, to be making a bit of a comeboack as of late) after which the gradual change in social mores created new – or, at least, newly acceptable – avenues of release.
Solo #5	Darwyn Cooke	DC	Solo	$4.49 ($4.99 list)
Read more and comment...	This time around, Solo, a bi-monthly title that takes a hands off approach in showcasing some of comics' finest contemporary creators and which is hands down the most copacetic comic book title currently being published by DC, presents Darwyn Cooke, who has turned in a bravura one-man-band performance that will be turning the heads of comics fans and pros everywhere. With the seven pieces created specifically for this issue (along with an amazing framing sequence) Cooke displays a finely nuanced understanding of the semiotics of art styles, of the language implicit in the subtle (and not so subtle) variations of style that identify and, at least in part, define the terms that make up the lexicon of comics. Cooke shows off his wide range of techniques and demonstrates an understanding -- and appreciation -- of the inherent expressive capacities of a panoply of comics styles that few have equalled; only Art Spiegelman, Dan Clowes and Bill Sienkiewicz -- each in their own distinct fashion -- come immediately to mind. Darwyn Cooke is a post-modern pen-and-ink mix-master!
DC: The New Frontier - Volume Two	Darwyn Cooke	DC	DC: The New Frontier	$17.99 ($19.99 list)
Read more and comment...	This is it! The second and concluding volume in the classic, definitive treatment of the genesis (and exodus, for that matter) of the Silver Age superhero. We've done plenty of raving about this series before, so rather than repeat ourselves here, we'll refer you to our previous comments on New Frontier. All we've got to say at this time is: No self-respecting fan of superhero comics will want to miss this series, and now that it's completely in print in two handy TPBs, there's really no need to put it off any longer.
DC: The New Frontier - Volume One	Dave Stewart, Darwyn Cooke	DC	DC: The New Frontier	$17.95 ($19.95 list)
Read more and comment...	What was the best superhero comic book series of 2004 is now set to be the best superhero trade back collection of 2005. It's hard to sing this work's praises without lapsing into a sort of rabid, gushing fanboyese, but we'll try. With The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke -- with the very able assistance of Dave Stewart -- has flawlessly executed his vision of a classic American masculinity and completely delivered the goods. The series is, technically, a piece of historical fiction, as is takes place primarily during the decade long gap between the Golden Age and Silver Age of superhero comics -- roughly 1946 to 1956 -- before bringing us to the edge of the "new frontier" as defined by President Kennedy. This period is known, in comic book collector circles at least, as the Atomic Age. Cooke works to imagine the "real" lives of the superheroes during this historical era where superheroes were – with the notable exception of the holy trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman – absent from the American scene. In so doing, the story captures that transition from the values of the WWII generation to that of the generation that follows: Not the "Greatest Generation" but not yet the "Baby Boomers" either, this was the generation that fell in the gap, but nevertheless managed to change the direction of our culture. The New Frontier presents us with the Super Hero -- specifically, the DC superhero -- version of this generation and this period. But it is more: Like its excellent (and now criminally out of print) predecessor, The Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules by James Sturm, Guy Davis, R. Sikoryak and Craig Thompson, The New Frontier is a work of metacomics. At precisely the same time that it is a swashbuckling adventure yarn, it provides a psychological deconstruction of the adventure narrative. At the same time that it presents us with vision of a time when men were men and women were women, it asks us to ask what this means. At the same time that it is a flat out masterpiece of graphic narrative it is an homage to the heroic comics creators of the Atomic Age: Jack Kirby and Alex Toth first and foremost among them, but also, close behind, Wally Wood, Johnny Craig, Bob Powell, Joe Kubert and many more. When you read this book you really can have your cake and eat it too. And the colors, oh, the colors: the color is alchemically integrated into the very fabric of the meaning of this work. How messrs. Cooke and Stewart managed to collaborate at such a deep level on what has to be one of the most intuitive of tasks -- that of breathing the life of color into the strength of pen and ink lines -- will probably remain forever a mystery; but what a glorious mystery it is. Simply put, DC: The New Frontier is a prime example of something that is unbelievably good -- you just can't bring yourself to believe that anything could be as good as they say until you finally experience it yourself. That said, the caveat must be made that readers lacking a grounding in the conventions of superhero comics might have difficulty plugging in. But, hey, we say that even then it's worth the try, if you're willing.DC • 192 pages • full color
The Spirit: Volume Two	Darwyn Cooke	DC		$22.22 ($24.99 list)
Read more and comment...	And then there's this: the second -- and final -- hardcover volume collecting Darwyn Cooke's masterful, updated reading of Will Eisner's classic character, that may very well end up being the last word, particularly in the stunning finale, in which Cooke does his best to explode the good girl - bad girl divide and reveal the psychological roots of noir. As an added bonus, there is also the "Summer Fun" issue that features short takes on The Spirit by a host of of other top talent including Kyle Baker, Gail Simone, Chris Sprouse and Karl Story.
The Spirit #12	Darwyn Cooke	DC		$2.99 ($2.99 list)
Read more and comment...	While Darwyn Cooke originally planned for a two-year stint on The Spirit, circumstances conspired to cut his run short at the halfway mark. The evidence of this final issue -- an exigetical adaptation of Eisner's original Sand Saref story (the same story Frank Miller's upcoming movie is also using as it's core text) -- bears out that this is all it took for Cooke to bore right to the core of not just the character of The Spirit but of the spirit of the noir sensibility itself. Through his masterful employment of Eisner's late style (which Eisner himself used to portray the past; i.e. his own childhood during the depression out of which so many heroes emerged to collectively shake the country out of its torpor) in conjunction with his own, Cooke has managed to delineate how the fatalistic noir sensibility is connected to a personal feeling of discontinuity, particularly the sense of disconnection with childhood self: the "paradise lost" that Denny Colt's pre-sexual relationship with Sand represented. It is the trauma of sexualization (that is metaphorically represented in The Spirit #12 -- as it is in so many other myths -- by the death of the father) that separates childhood from adulthood and it is the "something" that is lost at that moment that the hero (here, The Spirit) is forever trying to recapture; but these attempts are always failures and it is the final resignation to the permanence of this "failure" to regain the "paradise" of unsexualized childhood that colors the noir sensibility. This quest to capture the sense of childhood innocence is amplified by the choice of medium: the fact of the story being told in comic book form implicitly links it to the very childhood innocence that the comic book symbolizes and so transforms this issue into a near perfect symbol of Paradise Lost. The Spirit #12 is not just a tough act to follow, it's impossible. retail price - $2.99 copacetic price - $2.99
The Spirit #12	Darwyn Cooke	DC		$2.69 ($2.99 list)
Read more and comment...	While Darwyn Cooke originally planned for a two-year stint on The Spirit, circumstances conspired to cut his run short at the halfway mark. The evidence of this final issue -- an exigetical adaptation of Eisner's original Sand Saref story (the same story Frank Miller's upcoming movie is also using as it's core text) -- bears out that this is all it took for Cooke to bore right to the core of not just the character of The Spirit but of the spirit of the noir sensibility itself. Through his masterful employment of Eisner's late style (which Eisner himself used to portray the past; i.e. his own childhood during the depression out of which so many heroes emerged to collectively shake the country out of its torpor) in conjunction with his own, Cooke has managed to delineate how the fatalistic noir sensibility is connected to a personal feeling of discontinuity, particularly the sense of disconnection with childhood self: the "paradise lost" that Denny Colt's pre-sexual relationship with Sand represented. It is the trauma of sexualization (that is metaphorically represented in The Spirit #12 -- as it is in so many other myths -- by the death of the father) that separates childhood from adulthood and it is the "something" that is lost at that moment that the hero (here, The Spirit) is forever trying to recapture; but these attempts are always failures and it is the final resignation to the permanence of this "failure" to regain the "paradise" of unsexualized childhood that colors the noir sensibility. This quest to capture the sense of childhood innocence is amplified by the choice of medium: the fact of the story being told in comic book form implicitly links it to the very childhood innocence that the comic book symbolizes and so transforms this issue into a near perfect symbol of Paradise Lost. The Spirit #12 is not just a tough act to follow, it's impossible.
The Spirit #1	Darwyn Cooke	DC		$2.50 ($2.99 list)
Read more and comment...	Speaking of born again spirits, here is the much anticipated return of the one and only Spirit. Created 66 years ago (can you believe it?!) by the legendary Will Eisner, Denny Colt is back courtesy of Darwyn Cooke (DC: The New Frontier), who, with the able assist of J. Bone on inks and Dave Stewart on colors, is recreating the Spirit & Co. (including a revamped Ebony!) for both the 21st century and the DC Comics universe (see the Batman and Spirit one-shot, also by Cooke & Co., but with script by Jeph Loeb). The series starts off in full stride with "Ice Ginger Coffee," a completely self-contained adventure (as Cooke promises all issues will be in this nice interview feature) that brings The Spirit straight away into the war against crime and the battle between the sexes; right where he belongs.

Mon - Thu	11 - 5
Fri & Sat	11 - 7
Sun	12 - 4