Dave Cooper (born 1967) is a Canadian

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, oil painter and animator.

Biography

Cooper was born in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

in 1967 and moved to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

at the age of nine. He began his career in the 90s, making underground comics for Seattle's Fantagraphics Books. His periodical ''Weasel'' won both the underground

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

and the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

in 2000. His psycho-erotic graphic novel ''Ripple'' sported an introduction by

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

, (years later he would be a guest star on

Pig Goat Banana Cricket ''Pig Goat Banana Cricket'', also abbreviated as ''PGBC'', is an American animated television series created by Dave Cooper and Johnny Ryan for Nickelodeon. The show follows the interwoven adventures of the titular quartet. It premiered on Jul ...

) At the turn of the century, Cooper morphed into an oil painter, showing alternately at galleries in Los Angeles and New York City. He also had a large retrospective of his comicbook artwork in Angouleme and Paris in 2002. Monographs of his paintings included introductions by comedian

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...

, and filmmaker

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

. Around 2008, Cooper turned his attention to the field of animation, ultimately getting two of his original kids TV shows greenlit — ''Pig Goat Banana Cricket'' for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

and ''The Bagel and Becky Show'' for

Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...

/BBC (based on the book Bagel’s Lucky Hat) despite not being involve the latter show’s production. His short adult film, ''The Absence of Eddy Table'' was released in the fall of 2016 and has since won a number of awards internationally. In the summer of 2017, Cooper returned to oil painting, embarking on ambitious new works for his largest gallery show to date — 70 paintings for Paris 2020. Concurrently, he completed his largest single commission for a Madrid museum—a 13'-wide nod to Bosch's ''

The Garden of Earthly Delights ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' () is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panels painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was between 40 and 60 years old. Bos ...

''. In 2019, a French publisher will release a 300-page English/French retrospective of Cooper's work, ''Pillowy, the Art of Dave Cooper''. Also in 2019, Cooper joined the board of directors of Ottawa's cutting-edge artist-run centre Saw Gallery. Cooper lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Awards

, Best New Series, 2000 — ''Weasel'' *

, Outstanding Artist, 2000 — ''Weasel''

Selected works

* ''Suckle'' (1997) * ''Weasel'' #1–5 * ''Crumple'' (2000) * ''Dan and Larry'' (2002) * ''Ripple'' (2003) * ''Overbite (Weasel 6)'' (2003) * ''Underbelly (Weasel 7)'' (2005) * ''Bagel's Lucky Hat'' (as Hector Mumbly, 2007) * ''Bent'' (2010) * ''Ripple'' deluxe re-release (2017) * ''Mudbite'' (2018) * ''Dog Head #1'' (2024) ISBN 978-2-492646-41-6

References

External links

*
Dave Cooper on Fantagraphics Books

davegraphicsyeah.wordpress.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Dave Alternative cartoonists Artists from Ottawa Artists from Nova Scotia Living people Showrunners of animated series 1967 births Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Artist Canadian animators Canadian comics artists Canadian comics writers Canadian graphic novelists Canadian humorists 20th-century Canadian painters