I was down about Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson, but they were in their 90's. That's a good, long life full of major accomplishments, including legendary EC horror/SF comics adaptations and Twilight Zone episodes, respectively. Some of the others who have died this year also made the most of their lives. Yes, Prince was also young, but he was a household name in the 80's. And I was upset about Scott Weiland, but his death was inevitable, as much trouble as he'd always had with drugs. But even though he was only in his 40's or so, he also made the most of his life, putting out music that millions of people, myself included, still love.
But cancer doesn't give a shit about what you've done with your life. Darwyn Cooke accomplished a lot, but he's not a household name. He got his start, ironically enough, about 25 years ago on my all-time favorite cartoon show, Batman: The Animated Series, and then Superman's animated series. So I was a fan of his before I even knew who he was.
In comics, he influenced the character design for Catwoman that is still used today... even on Gotham's young Selina Kyle. His career really blew up when he was given his own original series, DC: The New Frontier, which was also the basis for DCU's first Justice League animated movie. I need to watch it again.
Darwyn also gave new life to the Parker series in ways that movies had not. Payback was good, but why change the character's name to Porter? And they made a Parker movie with Jason Statham, but it has the exact same plot as Payback. I haven't seen it yet. I have most of Darwyn Cooke's Parker books on Humble Bundle. I've only read the first two. I need to read the others. And now I certainly need to read the three Kindle comics of his that I bought on sale for $0.99 each: Jonah Hex #50, Batman/The Spirit #1, and Secret Files & Origins: Green Lantern 2005. Those are mine to keep, even if I don't have them in physical copies.
But anyway... RIP, Darwyn Cooke. He's no longer in pain, which is probably the only consolation when someone dies of cancer.