After he evens the score with those who betrayed him and recovers the money he was cheated out of from the syndicate, Parker is riding high, living in swank hotels and enjoying the finer things in life again. Until, that is, he's fingered by a squealer who rats him out to The Outfit for the price they put on his head... and they find out too late that if you push Parker, it better be all the way into the grave! Darwyn Cooke, multiple Eisner-Award winning creator of such works as DC: The New Frontier and Selina's Big Score, now follows up The Hunter with the forthcoming release of The Outfit, the second of four planned adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker novels.
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Cooke garnered all sorts of acclaim (including the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Adaptation) for translating Donald Westlake’s ruthless antihero Parker (the Parker novels were written under Westlakes pseudonym Richard Stark) into comics form with The Hunter, and here he returns with an even stronger follow-up. The crime syndicate that professional heister Parker so royally pissed off (they pissed him off first, to be fair) in the last book finds him languishing in Miami Beach with a surgically transformed face. The syndicates attempted hit goes wrong, and Parker shifts back into his relentless vengeance gear (he never smiles, but you get the sense he’s happiest brawling and shooting his way through impossible odds) as he calls in a few favors from his underworld associates and goes after the head of the outfit. Cooke leans less heavily on large chunks of Stark’s prose here than in the first book and flexes some serious cartooning muscle, from the stylishly visualized early-60s milieu to the sweet timing of the wordless action sequences to a virtuosic series of mini-heists, each drawn in a different style that highlights Cooke’s considerable range, impeccable linework, and diligent grasp of graphic design. Even the deceptively simple coloring—just a few shades of blue that slash grim crags beneath Parker’s glaring eyes and swirl plumes of cigarette smoke in the dark—exudes pure noir silkiness. It’s a credit to both the source and Cooke’s considerable skill, but straight-up crime fare (comics or not) doesn’t get much more gratifying. --Ian Chipman
Review
Darwyn Cooke pulled off the perfect crime last year with The Hunter, his graphic-novel adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by the late, great Donald E. Westlake (an author who, just like his heist men, decided it was best to use an alias and wrote under the name Richard Stark). The Hunter earned Cooke an Eisner Award and a Harvey for best cartoonist, and, this week, the Nova Scotia artist becomes a true repeat offender as IDW Publishing delivers Cooke's second hardcover Westlake adaptation, The Outfit, which follows the bloodied path of Parker, a career criminal with a penitentiary stare and brass-knuckles heart. --Geoff Boucher --Hero Complex/Los Angeles Times
The Outfit marks the second entry into Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel adaptations of Richard (Donald Westlake) Stark's Parker novels. And much like Cooke's original adaptation of The Hunter, The Outfit stands as yet another incredible accomplishment that continues to prove why Cooke is one of the premiere graphic storytellers in the comics medium.
Darwyn Cooke is a man who fully understands how integral art is to the comic making process. Few artists have the skill required to pull off what Cooke manages to do in The Outfit. Cooke can, and does, go pages without a single word balloon, narration or thought bubble. Instead, Cooke's artistic skill in capturing the nuances of facial expression and body language do a lot of the storytelling heavy lifting.
Cooke even incorporates numerous ingenious page layouts to build character backgrounds without resorting to unnecessary exposition. The Outfit is a graphic novel that you can hand to someone not well verse in the medium and show them what makes storytelling through the use of images and words so unique and special.
But there are a select few instances where Cooke's art comes off as relatively hard to follow. Because of Cooke's stylistic choice to be minimalistic with background dressing and color--The Outfit once again utilizes the two-tone color scheme first introduced in The Hunter--the action sequences can be tough to comprehend. Luckily, The Outfit is not the type of story riddled with shootouts and fist fights. Rather, it's more about the character interaction, playing right into Cooke's strengths as a storyteller.
So far I've only touched on the art of The Outfit, but I really don't want to undersell Cooke's script work here. The dialogue and narration of The Outfit is just as sharp as it was in The Hunter. But the real standout sections, script-wise, come in Book Three (of 4), where Parker reaches out to his network of con buddies and gets them to pull various scores on some the Outfit's criminal organizations. Not only do each of these heists sport wildly different page layouts, but the actual dialogue and narration detailing how each was pulled off is a refreshing style change midway through the book.
Surprisingly, even the seven-page prose entry detailing the heist of Club Cockatoo felt oddly fitting within the confines of a graphic novel. Cooke even adds a classy extra layer to this prose piece by giving the byline to Richard Stark. Consider me shocked that the highlight chapter of The Outfit is the one without a trace of Parker in its pages.
But it is worth noting; The Outfit is not a standalone, jumping on point for the Parker Graphic Novel series. This book references characters and plot threads set up in The Hunter while simultaneously moving them forward. Without first reading The Hunter you will be lost and confused with The Outfit. Maybe that can be considered a misstep by Cooke; failing to reach as wide an audience as possible on the merits of this story alone. But I don t think that was ever considered or intended. Cooke is staying true to Richard Stark's delivery of the original novels, The Outfit making up one part in a series. Therefore, The Outfit lacks a concrete beginning and end, acting more as a stepping stone heading towards the inevitable conclusion.
It should be perfectly clear that Cooke has near limitless respect for Richard Stark's original source material and has crafted a loving graphic novel tribute to it here with The Outfit, much like he did with The Hunter. Darwyn Cooke's Parker adaptations might be the best work of his long, prosperous career. They prove that he is capable of not only creating amazing original work (See also: DC: The New Frontier), but can also distill the core essence of someone else's masterstroke and adapt it to a new medium without any loss in translation. --Erik Norris -- Crave Online
The Outfit marks the second entry into Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel adaptations of Richard (Donald Westlake) Stark's Parker novels. And much like Cooke's original adaptation of The Hunter, The Outfit stands as yet another incredible accomplishment that continues to prove why Cooke is one of the premiere graphic storytellers in the comics medium.
Darwyn Cooke is a man who fully understands how integral art is to the comic making process. Few artists have the skill required to pull off what Cooke manages to do in The Outfit. Cooke can, and does, go pages without a single word balloon, narration or thought bubble. Instead, Cooke's artistic skill in capturing the nuances of facial expression and body language do a lot of the storytelling heavy lifting.
Cooke even incorporates numerous ingenious page layouts to build character backgrounds without resorting to unnecessary exposition. The Outfit is a graphic novel that you can hand to someone not well verse in the medium and show them what makes storytelling through the use of images and words so unique and special.
But there are a select few instances where Cooke's art comes off as relatively hard to follow. Because of Cooke's stylistic choice to be minimalistic with background dressing and color--The Outfit once again utilizes the two-tone color scheme first introduced in The Hunter--the action sequences can be tough to comprehend. Luckily, The Outfit is not the type of story riddled with shootouts and fist fights. Rather, it's more about the character interaction, playing right into Cooke's strengths as a storyteller.
So far I've only touched on the art of The Outfit, but I really don't want to undersell Cooke's script work here. The dialogue and narration of The Outfit is just as sharp as it was in The Hunter. But the real standout sections, script-wise, come in Book Three (of 4), where Parker reaches out to his network of con buddies and gets them to pull various scores on some the Outfit's criminal organizations. Not only do each of these heists sport wildly different page layouts, but the actual dialogue and narration detailing how each was pulled off is a refreshing style change midway through the book.
Surprisingly, even the seven-page prose entry detailing the heist of Club Cockatoo felt oddly fitting within the confines of a graphic novel. Cooke even adds a classy extra layer to this prose piece by giving the byline to Richard Stark. Consider me shocked that the highlight chapter of The Outfit is the one without a trace of Parker in its pages.
But it is worth noting; The Outfit is not a standalone, jumping on point for the Parker Graphic Novel series. This book references characters and plot threads set up in The Hunter while simultaneously moving them forward. Without first reading The Hunter you will be lost and confused with The Outfit. Maybe that can be considered a misstep by Cooke; failing to reach as wide an audience as possible on the merits of this story alone. But I don t think that was ever considered or intended. Cooke is staying true to Richard Stark's delivery of the original novels, The Outfit making up one part in a series. Therefore, The Outfit lacks a concrete beginning and end, acting more as a stepping stone heading towards the inevitable conclusion.
It should be perfectly clear that Cooke has near limitless respect for Richard Stark's original source material and has crafted a loving graphic novel tribute to it here with The Outfit, much like he did with The Hunter. Darwyn Cooke's Parker adaptations might be the best work of his long, prosperous career. They prove that he is capable of not only creating amazing original work (See also: DC: The New Frontier), but can also distill the core essence of someone else's masterstroke and adapt it to a new medium without any loss in translation. --Erik Norris -- Crave Online
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Julian Wan
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark created one of the earliest villain heroes, Parker. Like Fantomas, Tony Soprano or Dexter Morgan, we know they are clearly one of the "bad guys", yet we follow them along their adventures and hope that they survive their predicaments.
Parker is a very efficient crook. He is an independent, working for himself. He specializes in robberies (armored cars, jewelry, rare coins, etc.). He will kill when threatened or betrayed. When he kills he is remorseless and cold blooded. He own next to nothing and people he knows are just that, people he knows. He does not crave owning things nor the friendship of others. There is no sentimentality. When a fellow crook offers to help him out on a caper out of friendship for having been helped by Parker in the past, Parker notes this - it troubles him because it is seen as sign of weakness.
In this work, Parker is on the run from the syndicate after an earlier run in. Rather than hide away he takes the fight to the syndicate and goes after the head boss.
Darwyn Cooke continues his adaptation of the Parker novels. His earlier turn on "The Hunter" was terrific. He shows how the graphic novel format can capture the dynamism of the action and subtle shifts in tone and expression. He sticks close to the original material making only a few small changes - he compresses the plot from "The Man with the Getaway Face" and makes a tweak at the end. Parker personally goes to the crime boss Karns rather than using the middleman Quill.
Parker is a very efficient crook. He is an independent, working for himself. He specializes in robberies (armored cars, jewelry, rare coins, etc.). He will kill when threatened or betrayed. When he kills he is remorseless and cold blooded. He own next to nothing and people he knows are just that, people he knows. He does not crave owning things nor the friendship of others. There is no sentimentality. When a fellow crook offers to help him out on a caper out of friendship for having been helped by Parker in the past, Parker notes this - it troubles him because it is seen as sign of weakness.
In this work, Parker is on the run from the syndicate after an earlier run in. Rather than hide away he takes the fight to the syndicate and goes after the head boss.
Darwyn Cooke continues his adaptation of the Parker novels. His earlier turn on "The Hunter" was terrific. He shows how the graphic novel format can capture the dynamism of the action and subtle shifts in tone and expression. He sticks close to the original material making only a few small changes - he compresses the plot from "The Man with the Getaway Face" and makes a tweak at the end. Parker personally goes to the crime boss Karns rather than using the middleman Quill.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The only reason I'm not giving a 5 is beacuse it does get slow about halfway through. I loved the Hunter, the first of the series. The highlight of The Outfit is it's presentation. The style of the hardcover is just like it's predecessor, looks like something off my parents bookshelf from the 60's or early 70's. I love the how they used several different classic cartoon/comic styles to tell the stories of the associates of Parker. Worth your time and money if you are a noir fan.
Format:Hardcover
This is the second of Darwyn Cooke's comic book adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker novels with this one using material from the novels "The Outfit" and "The Man with the Getaway Face". After Parker walks off with a hefty chunk of change from the Outfit (a crime syndicate) at the end of the first book The Hunter, a price is put on his head as Parker heads south to enjoy his earnings in the lap of luxury. But even after altering his face with plastic surgery, he's spotted and the Outfit are alerted to his location, Parker decides to gather his criminal friends and bring the fight to the Outfit's boss.
Parker is easily Richard Stark/Donald Westlake's greatest creation. He is an unstoppable, super-efficient career criminal who plans his heists meticulously, selects the most useful members for his team, and has no compunction with killing - but only with no other choice left to him. Parker almost seems like a robot at times - he regards emotion as weakness, and looks upon any kind of extravagance as wasteful, an element that will end the person and send them to jail. And yet he's strangely likeable - or if not that, then fascinating to read as he pulls off daring heists so coolly.
Cooke incorporates different artistic styles to tell the stories of each of Parker's gang hitting the Outfit in different ways even including prose from the source novel to tell certain parts of the story. The styles change the pace of the book, slowing it down while the action ramps up so you've got time to enjoy what happens at just the right speed. It's a great balance.
Cooke's done Richard Stark/Donald Westlake proud by doing such a fantastic job in telling the tale of one of Parker's best adventures with style and panache that only someone as experienced and masterful a comics artist as Cooke could do. It's a great crime caper comic that's terrific fun to read. More, please!
Parker is easily Richard Stark/Donald Westlake's greatest creation. He is an unstoppable, super-efficient career criminal who plans his heists meticulously, selects the most useful members for his team, and has no compunction with killing - but only with no other choice left to him. Parker almost seems like a robot at times - he regards emotion as weakness, and looks upon any kind of extravagance as wasteful, an element that will end the person and send them to jail. And yet he's strangely likeable - or if not that, then fascinating to read as he pulls off daring heists so coolly.
Cooke incorporates different artistic styles to tell the stories of each of Parker's gang hitting the Outfit in different ways even including prose from the source novel to tell certain parts of the story. The styles change the pace of the book, slowing it down while the action ramps up so you've got time to enjoy what happens at just the right speed. It's a great balance.
Cooke's done Richard Stark/Donald Westlake proud by doing such a fantastic job in telling the tale of one of Parker's best adventures with style and panache that only someone as experienced and masterful a comics artist as Cooke could do. It's a great crime caper comic that's terrific fun to read. More, please!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Parker is fun
Have all the Stark books and just had to get these as they are sort of new. Based on the books but with drawings that capture the feeling of Parker pretty well.
Published 1 month ago by Gift Card Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Super job.
I've read all the Parker books, this graphic novel is a wonderful to get people to find this character. Read more
Published 11 months ago by woody
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do Not Miss This Series!
Darwyn Cooke is no underground talent, but his style, passion for design and mastery of the line makes his graphic adaptation of Richard Stark's "Parker" a series that screams... Read more
Published 13 months ago by nic920
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read
This is a great read. I am so glad that i picked this up. If you are trying to get into comics, I would suggest this
Published 18 months ago by Rob Hoy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic piece of writing/art!!
Darwyn Cooke has this unique ability to completely transfer the reader's mind to the landscape he has created. Read more
Published 22 months ago by S. Penrose
4.0 out of 5 stars
Decent read, one notable dislike
Series was recommended to me from guys at the local comic book store and I checked it out; fans of noir/crime type stuff will like this, as I did. Read more
Published 23 months ago by lawgiver4feh
1.0 out of 5 stars
Massive disappointment
I'm a huge fan of Darwyn Cooke's DC work and was one of the few who didn't like his first Parker GN. It's not that I hated it, it was just kind of regular. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Richard C. Meyer
2.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhat Weak
The illustration work is very good, but this is one of the weaker Parker novels so it translates into a weaker outing for Cooke.
Published 24 months ago by J. Smallridge
3.0 out of 5 stars
Week Follow Up
I was really looking forward to this book. Sadly, it is markedly worse than The Hunter. This could be the fault of the source material but I feel that Darwin is also to blame as... Read more
Published on February 16, 2011 by Mark T. Gonzales
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best graphic novels this year -- or any year
This is a magnificent graphic novel -- the intelligence, care and artistry jumps out of every panel. Highly, highly recommended.
Published on November 29, 2010 by Akbar Jones
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