DC: The New FrontierWith various DC stories under his belt, 2004 saw Cooke dive into what would become his magnum opus, DC: The New Frontier. There's a reason Catwoman's look has remained largely unchanged in the 15 years since. He proved that it's possible to celebrate a character's sex appeal without being crude or exploitative. Cooke is also notable for redesigning Catwoman's costume, resulting in a look that was both sleek and functional. His brief Catwoman run allowed him to hone his art style - one that showed a clear BTAS influence but also with a dynamic quality and a noir flavor all its own.

Cooke's experience as a storyboard artist on Batman: The Animated Series served him well. This series captured both Selina's allure and her complicated sense of morality as she settled back into life in Gotham. Their collaboration began in the form of a backup story in Detective Comics before transitioning into a new ongoing Catwoman series. Cooke teamed with writer Ed Brubaker in 2001 to deliver a new take on Selina Kyle. And no creator deserves more credit for revamping Catwoman during this critical period than Cooke. Luckily, Catwoman led the charge in the early 2000's to move away from the Bad Girl mentality and focus on stories featuring strong, confident female leads who were defined by more than an ability to flaunt both their chest and their backside to readers at the same time. Catwoman was hardly exempt from that problem. You couldn't throw a rock without hitting a comic featuring at least one scantily clad, ridiculously proportioned femme fatale on the cover. CatwomanThe '90s was a bad time for superhero comics for various reasons, one of them being the regrettable 'Bad Girl' phase many books went through. Cooke may be gone, but these stories will remain to delight and inspire new generations of readers. In honor of Cooke's tremendous career, we're looking back at his five most memorable and influential works.

Darwyn cooke catwoman