Darwyn Cooke's Parker: The Outfit Coming October

My pulp novel / crime noir kick does not seem to be ending anytime soon. I stumbled across a first print hardcover of Darwyn Cooke's Parker: The Hunter this week at a local comic shop, and this was one impulse buy I could not resist. Cooke's graphic novel adaptation of the pulp novel classic was unsurprisingly fantastic, as pretty much everything I've heard / read about it guaranteed that it would be a good read. That being said, a review isn't necessary. The accolades and praise heaped upon this novel from the past year pretty well prove that if you haven't read it yet (like me) that's probably because you've had a hard time getting your hands on this oft-sold out graphic novel. I will give you the "reading rainbow" version of a review: Parker is a hardened professional thief who specializes in one time heists, and never takes on a setup with too many risks. When a job falls through, Parker goes against his gut instincts and joins an operation with Mal Resnick, a man he knows will try to double cross him. What Parker doesn't see coming costs him more than just his share of the cut. If you want to read about dangerous men, blonde bombshells, and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing the whole way through, then Parker: The Hunter is worth hunting down.

Since I didn't come here to gush (much) about this tale of heists and betrayal, I do have something else for you curious readers, and that is information about the upcoming sequel! Darwyn Cooke has in fact planned to adapt four of Richard Stark's Parker crime novels, and the second adaptation will be coming out this October. Before we are lucky enough to get our hands on Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit this fall, IDW will be releasing a single issue preview / prequel of the novel. Despite my searching, the  most information I have been able to obtain about this upcoming sneak peak is that it will be released sometime in July and is titled The Man With the Getaway Face. It is designed to entice new readers to join in and pick up The Outfit, while increasing the anticipation of those already eagerly awaiting its release. For those who still need a little motivation to jump on this crime noir bandwagon, here's a round up of all things Cooke / Parker related:

6-page preview of Parker: The Hunter

Several "Best of" lists for 2009 featuring the Hunter: Comics Alliance, IGN, and Comixology!

6-page preview of Parker: The Outfit

More info on the upcoming The Man With the Getaway Face from publisher IDW

Review of The Man With the Getaway Face

Purchase Parker: The Hunter here, or at your local comic book shop!


Alright folks, I'm definitely going to try and make up for lost time and post as much as possible in the next week. I'm not so much lacking in time to write, but time to read. Still REALLY behind on my reading. I believe cuts will need to be made to my list in the near future.