darwyn cooke’s ‘absolute dc: the new frontier’ has just been released in a deluxe hardcover slipcased edition that is a wonder to the eyes because it’s his seminal work. cooke’s rendering style reminds one of the work of comic illustrators frank robbins, jack kirby, alex toth and bruce timm. i also recognize cooke drawing inspiration from charles & roy eames, saul bass’ mid-century modernist graphic designs and typography with some george nelson 1950s’ home furnishing designs thrown in too. but cooke’s synthesis of all his influences is not straight pastiche—it is his own expressive style, which is a passionate and charming homage to the great atomic age cartoonists and graphic & furniture designer’ imagination and aesthetic sensibilities. not only does cooke have great facility rendering illustrations, but also he cut his teeth on animation storyboards. so, he has a knack for pacing and incorporating the precise action into the layout of a comics page. plus, he deftly creates the perfect composition of a comic panel, rendering furthermore, the key dramatic moment required for the image to resonate with the viewer. (below partial line art from the ‘absolute dc: the new frontier’ slipcover box.)
i am not an advocate of superhero comics (other than it offering a colorful visual aesthetic and cooke’s writing is a little too light & literal for my taste to be of profound substance), rather i will always go out of my way to endorse superlative cartooning though. and, cooke makes it a treat to view his pared down iconographically, cartoony, costumed characters. he also tends to lean toward darker, pulpy subject matter and narrative. anyways, cooke’s cartooning is so polished that the attention falls squarely on it rather than on his writing, which is serviceable. (below, cooke created detective slam bradley.)
cooke begins a run as the illustrator & writer of ‘the spirit’ (a 1940-50s newspaper strip created by will eisner), which is an on-going comic series set in central city, a german expressionist/film noir mileau. so, if you’re curious to experience cooke’s work for the first time, ‘the spirit’ rivival should offer a taste of comics’ storytelling dynamics, which is a distinct medium & experience from reading prose, viewing photography or watching film even though comics utilizes devices from all three. (below is the cover to ‘the spirit‘ no. 1.)
recently, the criterion collection commissioned cooke to do five covers for their 4-dvd box set release of ‘monster’s and madmen.’ cooke does a faithful homage to the sensational catch phrases and colorful graphics of late 1950s b-movie posters. (below are two of the five commisions.)
looking at cooke’s line art is a similar to looking at a great photograph, with all the prerequisite elements of lighting, mood, color, texture, shadow, composition and narrative… the difference being that cooke conjures his cartoony imagery (but still conveys a sense of the realistic) from his imagination and inspiration and renders it with a pencil and pen on paper. since cooke has built a nice body of work over the last couple of years and is currently available, one has a wide variety to chose from and enjoy the simple pleasure of gazing at cooke’s cartooning… it’s all there for those who know where to look.
darwyn cooke’s ‘absolute dc: the new frontier’ has just been released in a deluxe hardcover slipcased edition that is a wonder to the eyes because it’s his seminal work. cooke’s rendering style reminds one of the work of comic illustrators frank robbins, jack kirby, alex toth and bruce timm. i also recognize cooke drawing inspiration from charles & roy eames, saul bass’ mid-century modernist graphic designs and typography with some george nelson 1950s’ home furnishing designs thrown in too. but cooke’s synthesis of all his influences is not straight pastiche—it is his own expressive style, which is a passionate and charming homage to the great atomic age cartoonists and graphic & furniture designer’ imagination and aesthetic sensibilities. not only does cooke have great facility rendering illustrations, but also he cut his teeth on animation storyboards. so, he has a knack for pacing and incorporating the precise action into the layout of a comics page. plus, he deftly creates the perfect composition of a comic panel, rendering furthermore, the key dramatic moment required for the image to resonate with the viewer. (below partial line art from the ‘absolute dc: the new frontier’ slipcover box.)
i am not an advocate of superhero comics (other than it offering a colorful visual aesthetic and cooke’s writing is a little too light & literal for my taste to be of profound substance), rather i will always go out of my way to endorse superlative cartooning though. and, cooke makes it a treat to view his pared down iconographically, cartoony, costumed characters. he also tends to lean toward darker, pulpy subject matter and narrative. anyways, cooke’s cartooning is so polished that the attention falls squarely on it rather than on his writing, which is serviceable. (below, cooke created detective slam bradley.)
cooke begins a run as the illustrator & writer of ‘the spirit’ (a 1940-50s newspaper strip created by will eisner), which is an on-going comic series set in central city, a german expressionist/film noir mileau. so, if you’re curious to experience cooke’s work for the first time, ‘the spirit’ rivival should offer a taste of comics’ storytelling dynamics, which is a distinct medium & experience from reading prose, viewing photography or watching film even though comics utilizes devices from all three. (below is the cover to ‘the spirit‘ no. 1.)
recently, the criterion collection commissioned cooke to do five covers for their 4-dvd box set release of ‘monster’s and madmen.’ cooke does a faithful homage to the sensational catch phrases and colorful graphics of late 1950s b-movie posters. (below are two of the five commisions.)
looking at cooke’s line art is a similar to looking at a great photograph, with all the prerequisite elements of lighting, mood, color, texture, shadow, composition and narrative… the difference being that cooke conjures his cartoony imagery (but still conveys a sense of the realistic) from his imagination and inspiration and renders it with a pencil and pen on paper. since cooke has built a nice body of work over the last couple of years and is currently available, one has a wide variety to chose from and enjoy the simple pleasure of gazing at cooke’s cartooning… it’s all there for those who know where to look.
2 comments:
i never realized he was as versatile as he is...the criterion covers really pique one's interest
yes, it’s kinda the reason why i decided to do a write-up because his stuff has been popping up everywhere. i don’t know anything about those movies from criterion, but those cooke covers are nice. anyways, just go to the criterion website and you can copy jpgs of those five dvd covers.
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