Those were the words Donald E. Westlake used to introduce the world to Parker. A no-nonsense thief who plans revenge just as well as he would a heist, Parker is the violent anti-hero of 24 books Westlake wrote under the pen name Richard Stark. I could do a separate article on the Parker novels alone, but I won't. Instead I'll focus on the thing that's brought the Parker series back into the minds of comic and crime aficionados everywhere: Darwyn Cooke's amazing adaptations of Westlake's work.
Starting with 2009's The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke's three (so-far) graphic novels are a tour de force of artwork, storytelling, and noir that comes together as a collective work of art that, for my money surpasses Cooke's work on the much praised and beloved Silver Age love letter New Frontier.
The Hunter tells the story of Parker, a thief double-crossed and left for dead by his wife and partner. Parker proceeds to cut a bloody path through the criminal underworld in his hell-bent quest for revenge. Parker is a bastard who will kill any and everyone that stands in his way. The unemotional and detached way he kills those that double cross him, especially in The Hunter, can be jarring at first. Just remember this isn't some gentlemen thief with a Robin Hood complex. Parker is as cold as a block of ice.
In The Outfit, Parker emerges from the hospital with a surgically altered face to avoid trouble from the people he pissed off in the previous book. As always, trouble finds its way back to Parker and while Parker was content to let sleeping dogs lie, the criminal syndicate's need for revenge puts him back on the warpath. A direct sequel of the first book, The Outfit has a similar tone to The Hunter, but it's filled with several wonderful heist scenes from Parker and company. There's also a nice section where Cooke's artwork portrays several pages of the Westlake novel, providing exposition in a fun and memorable way.
In The Score, Parker in a story not connected to the previous two takes on his most ambitious heist yet when he runs a crew that robs an entire town. A crazy concept on paper, the team begins to actually pull it off until something goes wrong and one of the crew turns on the others mid-heist. In my opinion The Score has the best artwork of the three, with Cooke's mastery of the color schemes in this one putting it on a whole new level.
Faithful to the source material, Cooke does a masterful job of condensing Westlake's prose into actions and scenes, as well as simplifying some of the supporting cast around Parker in The Score to keep things from getting to confusing. Cooke acts as both writer and artist on the adaptations. This shows, as he lets the artwork breath for itself early on in the story, not letting dialogue or narration clutter the beautiful artwork he's put down.
On par with the beautiful artwork is the equally beautiful coloring. Every book has its own theme color, if you will. The Hunter is filled with the muted blue-gray that matches the dark tones of the story, The Outfit's navy blue presents a lighter but connected color palette to The Hunter, in the same way The Outfit is a connected and lighter sequel to The Hunter. The Score's bright yellow is a stark contrast to the previous ones, but works just as well as the other two.
In short, Darwyn Cooke's adaptations are some of the best books being put out in comics right now. With fantastic artwork, hardboiled crime stories, and a character not like any other. These books are must for fans of crime, noir and comics. If you've read all this and still don't have a desire to pick it up, then I think I'll let Parker explain it himself.
And believe me, you don't want to argue with him.
Article by Matt Johnson
