Clumsy Catwoman by Darwyn Cooke

This is the first of three illustrations in my sketchbook from the late, great Darwyn Cooke, whom we lost in 2016, far too early. This is probably unlike any sketch you're going to find from Darwyn (aside from the Hulk/Spidey sketch later on in my "ouch" sketchbook). He decided to offer up an uncharacteristically slapstick and bumbling vision of the character for which he's probably best known: the redesigned Catwoman.

Roughed out in pencil and finished in marker, it still shows off the memorable and iconic Catwoman look, but it represents a distinctly un-Catwoman-like moment. Cats don't always land on their feet, so it would seem. That one can see Darwyn's striking style here while it also diverts away from that style is a dichotomy I'll always treasure.

Again, acquired at a con in Toronto in 2002.