Cooke wrote several books adapting Donald Westlake's classic pulp character in comic-book form. 'An entertainer.'Ī limited-edition bookplate shows the Parker character at Toronto’s City Hall. 'That's the kind of creator he thought he was,' his friend Michael Cho says. Cooke that he was an auteur he'd reply, 'I'm more like John McTiernan,' the director of Die Hard, one of his favourite movies. His dynamic illustration, panel design and thoughtful approach to writing transcended mere nostalgia, whether he was telling hard-boiled stories of anti-heroes or exploring heroism through superheroes. (When the Justice League: The New Frontier animated movie adaptation came out, it was nominated for an Emmy.) Cooke the first of his 13 Eisner Awards, the industry's most prestigious accolade, and he won many of its others – Reubens, Harveys and several Shusters, the Canadian comics awards named for the Canadian co-creator of Superman.

The six-issue comic book series, named for the JFK's 1960 Democratic nomination acceptance speech, would win Mr. His masterworkĭC: The New Frontier (2004) sets the origins of the Justice League and the characters of the DC Silver Age into a powerful narrative set in the America of that era. Kennedy's Camelot – with its Cold War tensions, social upheaval and cool aesthetics – that held an enduring fascination for him.

The cause was lung cancer.Īlthough he was a proud Canadian, it was John F. DC COMICS/THE CANADIAN PRESSĪfter working for more than 30 years in animation, comic books, graphic design and illustration, which included characters from Batman, Wonder Woman and Lois Lane to Wolverine, Parker, the Spirit and The Watchmen, the virtuoso Canadian artist and storyteller died at his home near Tampa, Fla., on May 14 at the age of 53. Darwyn Cooke: 'He made everything old new again,' friend and fellow artist Michael Cho says.

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