Whenever Denys Cowan is mentioned within comic book circles, most people immediately start talking about Milestone Media, the groundbreaking company that Cowan and his childhood friend Derek Dingle would co-found along with Michael Davis and the legendary Dwayne McDuffie.
But Cowan was contributing to comics long before his Milestone days. He began his career at the tender age of 14 as an intern at Marvel Comics for the late great artist Rich Buckler. (Ths was when you could apprentice under someone, learn the ropes and eventually get work.) Cowan has drawn classic characters for books like Black Panther, Powerman and Iron Fist, and his first big DC Comics project with Denny O’Neal when they collaborated on the first run of The Question in 1987.
Over 30 years later, Cowan’s career has come full circle. In 2018, he collaborated with Bill Sienkiewitcz and Chris Sotomayor on a collecter’s edition poster for the Black Panther movie. Then he worked with the team again when Jeff Lemire asked them to return to The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage (2019).
A portion of this interview is up now at SYFYWire, but our conversation was so much fun, I thought I would share it almost in its entirety here. In this longer discussion, he answers many of the questions you asked on social media, he talks about what it’s like coming back to Vic after all this time and he answers that one burning Milestone questions that we ALL have!. Now, I will caveat this and say that conversation happened well before the planet shut down from the COVID 19 pandemic, but I still think most of it holds true.
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Thoroughly enjoyed your back-&-forth with Denys! Nicely done
Thank you so much for listening!
I met Denys at Denver Comic Con (now Denver Pop Culture Con) in 2018. He was wonderful.
He first noticed my special Milestone Media shirt when I asked a question at their Reunion Panel and the next day, I went to his table on the merch floor. I had recently purchased virtually all of the Milestone Media (most VF/NM) and I brought a few of them with me to show him. He was so impressed and signed several of them for me. I also got to sit with him at his table for several hours. We chatted while he drew commissions, met with fans, etc. I even got to watch the booth for a very short time and had people, both when Denys was there and gone, asking me questions like I worked there…lol. I felt so special – like one of the crew. 🙂
I also got to meet and chat with Christopher Priest and when he was closing out his booth, he gave me a signed, large hard card print of the Black Panther Complete Collection Volume 1 Image he was using for an ad display. I in turn purchased art from both of them, which they also signed. The whole experience was amazing!! My grown son who made his way to Deny’s booth at some point was like…”What are you doing behind the table?” LOL!! It was awesome!!
I wasn’t writing then, but now, as I look back, I think I may write a Milestone Media focused article soon and, of course, I will include this crazy awesome exchange!!
These guys are true artists and wonderfully nice men.
Oh wow! That’s great! And yes, they are very nice. Can’t wait to see what you write!
great interview. I love his final advice. Own your own and I will add, accept the fiscal challenges of owning your own.