Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I preordered Darwyn Cooke’s illustrated The Hunter by Richard Stark as soon as I saw it was available.
Since you read my blog, my guess is you will [or did] as well.
IDW has a page devoted to the new edition to keep fans in the know.
If you’re a Darwyn Cooke fan, and you should be if you read comics, then you’ll probably want to check out this interview at CBR.com. Darwyn talks about his work on an upcoming issue of Jonah Hex as well as his sequel to his critically acclaimed adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Hunter.
Check out Geoff Boucher’s great LA Times review of Darwyn Cooke’s adaption of Richard Stark’s The Hunter by clicking here. I can’t wait to pick up my copy. When reviews are universally this good, how can you go wrong?
Chris Mills made my day when he posted the cover above to Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s novel The Hunter. If anyone is more excited about Cooke’s plans to adapt Stark’s work than me, it’s probably Chris Mills. He is not only an author himself, but also an expert in the crime genre… and do I have to remind any ZONErs how much I dig Chris’ character Gravedigger?
Richard Stark’s Parker The Complete Collection by Dawyn Cooke gets my highest rating. If you’re a fan of great crime fiction, then this is for you!
The groundbreaking and multiple award-winning graphic novels by Darwyn Cooke, collected in their entirety for the first time in one softcover volume.
Collecting the four Parker graphic novels (The Hunter, The Outfit, The Score, and Slayground) as well as two shorts (The Man with the Getaway Face and The Seventh). These stories encompass all Darwyn Cooke’s sequential stories of Parker.
Darwyn Cooke created the art above for Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition which collected Darwyn Cooke’s first two Parker books, The Hunter and The Outfit…
…in a tremendous, special, oversized hardcover edition — with an additional 65-pages of content — encased in a beautiful slipcase!
Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter graphic novel debuted in July 2008 to instantaneous popular and critical acclaim. It made the New York Times bestseller list and won coveted Eisner and Harvey awards. The second graphic novel, The Outfit, was released in 2010 and was met with similar response, and won the 2011 Eisner for Best Writer/Artist.
The Hunter and The Outfit tell the story of Parker, Richard Stark’s classic anti-hero, as he returns to New York to settle the score with his wife and partner in crime after they betray him in a heist gone terribly wrong. After evening the field and reclaiming his prize, the Outfit decide to do some score settling of their own… and learn much too late that when you push a man like Parker, it had better be all the way to the grave.
Also contains the short stories The Man With the Getaway Face and The Seventh.
I had ordered a copy of The Martini Edition when it was published in 2011, but it arrived damaged. When I returned it for a replacement, I was sad to learn The Martini Edition had sold out.
Until now. (Actually April 28, 2020.)
IDW is reprinting Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition. It’ll have a different cover but the same contents. I’m betting this edition will sell out quickly. I’ve put in my pre-order. If you’re interested, I wouldn’t wait long before doing the same.
Darwyn Cooke’s two graphic novel adaptations of (Donald Westlake aka) Richard Stark’s Parker novels have been resounding successes with fans and critics alike. So it only made sense that a third adaption, Slayground would be coming at Christmas.
Recently Cooke, the estate of Donald Westlake and publisher IDW announced…
For the first time, the Parker novels will be published in a deluxe, hardcover format, and with Cooke designing the series, as well as providing stunning color illustrations to accompany Westlake’s (AKA, Richard Stark’s) crime classics! The first book, The Hunter, will arrive in the first half of 2014. Additional editions will be released in chronological order thereafter.
I can not wait!
Source: Sequential Highway
I seldom run a straight press releases, but IDW’s announcement below is an exception:
San Diego, CA (July 20, 2013) – Darwyn Cooke’s acclaimed Parker series from IDW continues to expand with the classic Slayground. In this newest graphic novel, Parker is put to the test against crooked cops and sleazy gangsters after a heist goes south and he finds himself trapped in an amusement park closed for the winter, and embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse… a game that slowly starts to favor the mouse.
“A boarded up amusement park was an inspired setting for Parker,” said writer/artist Darwyn Cooke, “and Westlake made the most of it. A great story that I’m enjoying the hell out of adapting.”
Based on the influential novels by Richard Stark, AKA, Donald Westlake, Parker is a coldly calculating master criminal, one with a very rigid code. The IDW adaptations by Darwyn Cooke of The Hunter and The Outfit have received multiple Eisner and Harvey awards. The Score, released last year, is nominated for an Eisner Award at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con International. Slayground will be the fourth Parker adaptation in the popular and much lauded series.
Darwyn Cooke’s distinct style has made him a premier writer and artist in the comic book industry. A former animator, Cooke entered mainstream comics in 2000 with his critical hit Batman: Ego for DC Comics.
Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, was the acclaimed author of the Parker series. He was a three-time Edgar Award winner, as well as being named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, that prestigious societies highest honor.
THAT is awesome news.
I knew Cooke was working on Slayground, but I had no idea I could expect it for Christmas.
[Of course, if you’re looking for a great crime comic to read NOW, you can’t do better than theFREE webcomic Gravedigger by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett.]
If you enjoy excellent crime fiction and/or great comics, then you’re probably well aware of Darwyn Cooke’s adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker novels. So far there have been three – Parker: The Hunter; The Outfit and The Score.
Originally, the plan was for Cooke to adapt four of the Parker novels, but Cooke’s graphic adaptations have been so well received, and Cooke’s having such a blast, there will now be at least five! Next up is The Handle which Cooke says he choose because “it’s an incredibly visual book. It concerns a casino on an island.” The release date is scheduled for 2013 and I’d put my order in now if I could!
Darwyn Cooke recently spoke about his take on Parker at ComicCon and CBR.com was there.
That’s the cover to the third Darwyn Cooke grapic novel adaptation of Richard Stark’s Parker series. The first two, [Hunter and The Outfit] set the bar high, but I have no doubt that The Score will, uh, score big with fans when it’s released in May.
Earlier today I posted about Hunter: The Martini Edition which will combine The Hunter and The Outfit into an oversized 9×13 package with 65 pages of additional material [344 total page count] for a very reasonable $75.00 price tag. At Wondercon, today, the cover of the edition [shown above] was previewed. In addition, Scott Dunbier, the editor of the project said that Hunter: The Martini Edition will…
“contain both of the graphic novels that Darwyn did — both of them were pretty widely acclaimed. It’ll have a number of illustrations, sketchbook material, a lot of cool little extras. One of the best is, it’ll actually have an original eight-page story that will only be available in this Martini Edition.”
Now, more than ever I think that IDW should print up an edition of extras for those of us who have supported the books from the start.
[Via CBR.com]
If you missed out on Darwyn Cooke’s two best-selling, award-winning adaptations of Richard Parker’s Stark novels, you’re in luck. This July, IDW is publishing them together in a deluxe format they’re calling Parker: The Martini Edition. The new edition will combine The Hunter and The Outfit into an oversized 9×13 package with 65 pages of additional material running the total page count to 344. It is set to retail at $75.00.
While I’m happy that the books are doing well enough to warrant the special treatment, it bugs me that fans who bought the original editions from the start will miss out on the bonus materials. I understand that in order to make the “special edition” special, bonus materials are needed. I guess it’s a catch-22, but wouldn’t it be nice if IDW published a “bonus materials only” special for folks who had supported the books from the start? They could even do it in the same format as The Man with the Getaway Face and I’d love it. Plus it would be another revenue source to help support the production of the next Cooke/Stark Parker graphic novel.
Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s classic crime novel The Outfit is now available. In case you’re late getting in the game, The Outfit is Cooke’s follow-up to his award-winning adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Hunter. Stark aka Donald Westlake gave his blessing to the original plus three additional adaptations. In honor of the release of The Outfit Darwyn Cooke sat down for an in-depth interview with Tucker Stone for the Comics Alliance. Here’s a taste:
Palance was Westlake’s only visual reference. When I changed Parker, the idea was always to use plastic surgery as a metaphor for his emotional regression. He’s meant to look like a rawer, more stripped down version of himself… His jaw, and most importantly, his eyes, are the same. The rest is meant to reflect a man drained of things like remorse and compassion. A loveless, unadorned man.
I’ve got two more of these books to do. My plan is to finish the fourth one for my 50th birthday… I can tell you that it’s not wearing on me, working on this character. I can see him being a part of what I do for a long time. Maybe not constantly, but he’s going to be there.
Again, this is the benefit of having a few exchanges with Donald. One of his concerns was that I understood that Parker doesn’t operate out of anger. He never commits a violent act out of anger. He does it because it’s the expedient thing to do. It’s the practical thing, a survival mechanism.
I could continue to pull interesting quotes from the interview, but why not just read it. You’ll get insight into Cooke’s process in adapting the Stark novels, his [and Stark’s] take on what makes Parker tick, which crime movies were influences [and which modern crime classic Cooke thinks is over-rated], and so much more. Congrats to Tucker Stone and Comic Alliance for a great read and thanks to Darwyn Cooke for bringing Parker back.
CBR.com also has a nice little interview with preview art from Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Outfit.
Newsarama recently ran a six page preview of Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Outfit. It’s the sequel to Hunter [also an adaptation of a Stark novel] and it…
…won the 2009 Diamond Gem Award for Original Graphic Novel of the Year, is nominated for a 2010 Eisner and was a New York Times bestseller.
If that doesn’t make you want to check it out, nothing will.
Richard Stark fan? Check.
Darwyn Cooke fan? Check.
Crime stories fan? Check.
Comic Book fan? Check.
Loved Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s Hunter? Check.
Okay. If that’s the case, and you have two bucks and are going to attend WonderCon next week, then you may be one of the lucky folks who can pick up an…
…exclusive prelude to The Outfit, the second of Richard Stark’s Parker novels that Cooke is adapting… This 8″x12″ preview book offers one entire chapter of The Outfit and will be included in the finished graphic novel, coming in October.
What’s that? You won’t be able to attend WonderCon? Well, don’t fret because…
…the preview will be available in comic stores everywhere in July at the same low price and large size.
Be sure and let your local comic shop manager know that you’re going to want a copy. Check.