iFanboy Video Podcast

iFanboy #135 – Darwyn Cooke at San Diego Comic-Con 2009

Show Notes

In early 2008, iFanboy and Darwyn Cooke sat down for a chat that ended up surprisingly lucid despite the early morning hour and the heavy doses of alcohol mere hours before.

Darwyn Cooke still claims he was ambushed by the video camera at that first interview, so this year, he proclaimed, any sit down would be on his terms. And what were those terms? It was another early morning for the iFanboys and an on-set liquid breakfast was not only encouraged, but required.

Ron Richards and Darwyn Cooke sat down for a freewheeling discussion covering such subjects as Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter, Jonah Hex, digital comics, the death of illustration, Batman’s death, and Gordon the Intern’s tattoo.

It’s one of iFanboy’s most feisty interviews yet!

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Comments

  1. Catching the show Tuesday nights as I unwind has got to be one of my favorite things about living in PST.  Thanks again, gentlemen.  It’s always a treat.  Will it be more convention coverage next week? 

  2. This is it for San Diego coverage.

  3. I have gotten to where I look forward to the Ifanboy shows just as much as I look forward to my comics on Wednesday. Thanks guys!

  4. I love iFanboy interviews with Cooke. They’re always entertaining.

  5. Darwyn Cooke…TESTIFY!

    I agree with everything Darwyn had to say about the comics industry and digital comics. I think I would like see more discussions about these topics here. Darwyn was right in saying the industry tends to be insular and I think we as fans don’t help by keeping it that way to some degree.

    Thanks to the iFanboy guys for bringing us another great interview.

  6. Avatar photo JFernandes (@jdfernandes) says:

    Darwyn interviews are always a blast to see.  Great work on all the SDCC coverage as usual, guys.

  7. Umm, does Revision3 block now foreigners, because I can’t watch the shows via stream anymore. So, I download them, which is fine, but this particular episode has encoding errors in the Xvid (avi) version. The sound is speed up (funny). If I opt to slow down the video in general, then the sound is normal and the video to slow. And while I could hear the interview, I really like to watch the episode as it’s intended.

    I checked if it’s my system, it isn’t. I got all the required codecs and tested different video players. Doesn’t work. So, I assume it’s an error in the encoding process.

  8. "I’ve heard some dumb questions in my life, but that takes the cake." CLASSIC.

  9. Fantastic interview. Cooke’s views in expanding outside the existing market were very interesting, and it’s good to see creators thinking about this.

  10. darwyn is class! he made a great point about batman!

  11. Hahahaha. That last bit with the Gordon the Intern was the best.

  12. Great interview and I’m a big fan of Darwyn Cooke. He brings up loads of good points but I still don’t like the idea of digital comics. I don’t even like reading a preview on my computer screen let alone a whole graphic novel.

    Anyway, I’m really looking forawrd to Darwyn’s new creator owned thing.

  13. Oh Ron, don’t blame the booze for your silly questions 🙂

    Love Conor’s drunk driving ad.  "When I get drunk with girls, I make sure I have a cab ready" haha, don’t take advantage of them, Kilpatrick!  No means no!

    Crazy Gordon!  A guy did that at the Geoff Johns Blackest Night party at Isotope in July.  I don’t think I could do it, but more power to ya.

  14. there’s a difference between girls and escorts

  15. Wow Gordon’s tattoo looked incredible, it may be a dumb question but where is the image from. Is it a sketch Cooke had done? Is it from one of his books? I’s love to see that image off of Gordon’s body, it looked fantastic!

     Any help would be much appreciated.

  16. @Ron – I thought that was a pretty reasonable question.

    @Gordon – You just upgraded that tattoo from awesome to awe-inspiring. 

  17. Darwyn-fuckin-Cooke muthafucka. Fuckin bastard fucker fuck!

  18. ?

  19. I never would think of Darwyn being that funny. Ron, you got "Cooke-d"…see what I did there? Eh? Eh? Okay, wasn’t funny, but it was an enjoyable interview, for sure.

  20. @s30 – I take it you weren’t a big fan of Parker: The Hunter. Or you were a huge fan? I can’t really tell anymore. These kids with their muthafucka this and muthafucka that. I can’t make hide nor hair of it. In my day we just called ’em sons a’ bitches and left it at that.

  21. darwyn cooke- always an inspiring and insightful chat. he’s a great guest.

    [vadamowens- im not explaining it. thats uncool.]

    Gordon, you are da bomb…! Did you get the Darwyn signature tatooed?

  22. yeah conor, great drunk driving add!

  23. @stuclach: fine i’ll explain. watch the interview again. did he not say ‘fuck’ like fifty fuckin times? im not complainin about it, just commenting is all.

    …and i have tirretes or however you spellit.

  24. @s30 – Thank you for explaining.  It is much clear to me now.  Yes, he seems fond of the word fuck. I can see why. It is a very versatile word.

    You suffer from tourettes syndrome while typing? That is fascinating. I suffer from sarcasmitis that primarily manifests itself when I type on the internet or interact with students outside the classroom.

  25. tourettes! there ya go!

    sarcasmitis? that’s when your sarcastic over and over again, right?

    i’ve ordered parker, can’t wait. recently got and read absolute new frontier [druel].

  26. @s30 – Yes.

    I love new frontier, as well.  Darwyn needs to draw a GL ongoing. 

  27. yeah, something like the spirit! yeah, he should do will eisners ‘the spirit’, but in modern ti– oh wait…

    lol i agree.

  28. @stuclash

    "I can’t really tell anymore. These kids with their muthafucka this and muthafucka that. I can’t make hide nor hair of it. In my day we just called ’em sons a’ bitches and left it at that."

    I’ve never laughed at a random comment on a website like I laughed at that.  Well done.

  29. @AMuldowney – Thank you. You should hear me in class.

  30. Is it me or is this guy always drunk

  31. @sahdmasood – I doubt he’s drunk (it was apparently pretty early in the morning), though it is possible.  I think he is just the kind of guy who likes to cut through the shit and tell you how he feels with no pretenses.  I like it.  I know a Chinese professor who will just blurt corrections/admonishments out during faculty meetings and he is the ONLY thing keeping me awake.  Guys like that are fun to have around.

  32. No one was drunk, we shot it at 9am. Was alcohol consumed? Mayhap.

  33. Again, even with everything off, I couldn’t hear jack!  O.o

     I know, these posts are tiring, and I know it seems like it’s only my problem, so this will be the last of it.  I love Darwyn, I just wish I could actually hear the convo! 🙁

     Maybe the boom guy is too far away?

    Anyways, sorry.

  34. @michael22 – I had no problem hearing this (aside from the acknowledged technical difficulties) and haven’t had audio problems on any of the recent podcasts.  Have you tried a different set of speakers, headphones, or a different computer?  You have probably tried all these things, but no one else seems to be having problems, so it is likely on your end.

  35. @michael22: This definitely sounds like you’ve got a hardware issue.

  36. Tattoo Darwyn’s signiture fucking ftw!!

  37. I forgot about the tattoo! That was when I knew I was out of my league.

  38. Hey, this made the Boing-Boing website. Congrats!!

  39. Excellent interview guys. I enjoy watching any footage of Darwyn Cooke I can come by. I understand that Digital Media is becoming bigger and bigger, and that comics will soon be available on that medium. I do however hope that those of us who still prefer to not read my comics from a computer screen the size of my palm. My eyesight ain’t what it used to be, I’ll tell you that. As much as I’ve enjoyed the comic con coverage, I am looking forward to getting back to watching the three of you discussing the topics on that funky looking couch with the cushions that apparently one of you likes to sit on all the time, although I can’t tell quite why. Anyway, keep up the good work!!!

  40. I litterally gasped when I saw that this was a Cooke episode.  My enthusiasm dropped when I noticed the low running time of 24 minutes.

    However, it was a great interview and Cooke can pack so much into so little.  He had great comments about alot of things.  You can tell he loves comics so much, and it’s great to see that he’s willing to go outside to share that love.

    I agree with him that comics in the direct market is almost too incestuous in that there is no sense of the greater.  That bit about killing off Bruce I NEVER thought of before, but, to someone who’s coming in to the shop because of TDK would probably have been very surprised. 

    Good stuff guys, and Gordon, nice work on that tattoo choice.  And congrats on the sig.  Ron, no drinking before noon!  LOL.

  41. Cooke definitely seems to have a better grasp on the future of the medium than most.

    Nice tat, Gordan.

  42. I love Darwyn Cooke. 

  43. @Gordon: I’d like to introduce you to a little thing called "carbs."

  44. To be fair, it’s possible that Me, Ron, and Conor ate Gordon’s carbs.

    It’s very possible.

  45. Highly probable actually.

  46. Did you know that I have the Snow Town simble from Fell tattooed on my ribs and I always wanted to have Templesmith and Warren Ellis sighn it and have it tatooed as well.  How would you know that you ask?  Well, know you do.  Anyway, its good to know that I am not the only self mutilating comic freack out there. Gordon, high five my man. 

  47. I actually got to chat with Mr. Cooke today for about 15 minutes following a session about his art at Dragon*Con.  I mentioned that I expected him to drop more f-bombs during the discussion based on this interview.  He laughed and said, "Fuck, fuck, fuck."  I thanked him.  I then asked if any of the audience questions during the session had replaced Ron’s as the "stupidest fucking question anyone has ever asked him" and he laughed and told me that after watching this interview he has decided to try to tone down his language a bit in interviews and sessions.  He also said it was easy for him to slip into that mode when talking to "Ron and the rest of those guys" (paraphrasing) because he feels like he is just hanging out.

    He also said that he LOVES the idea of Wednesday comics and the execution in both Kamandi and Metamorpho, but he wishes that it had been priced at $1.00 and agreed with me that it should be available in grocery stores and at newsstands.  He also mentioned that he is interested in doing a strip in the next volume.

    Based on that session, this interview, and the little chat I had with him, I feel justified in saying that Darwyn Cooke is the single coolest person on the planet. EVER. If only I had a tattoo for him to autograph.

  48. Great show guys. Darwyn is always a great guest and an amazing creator. Love his stuff.

  49. Can we get a Darwyn Cooke Fantastic Four series, please…?

  50. best part about this interview:

    Darwyn: "What the fuck are talkin to me about twilight for?!?"

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