"Cooke has transformed the first volume of the late Donald Westlake's long-running Parker series (written under the pseudonym Richard Stark), about an indomitable outlaw, into a smashing graphic novel, making its ferocious mood and retro aesthetics the stars of the show. Parker belongs to the bottom of the urban jungle's economic strata, but the top of its food chain—anyone who stands between him and his revenge is doomed, whether they're trying to resist him or just happen to be in the way. As the book begins, he's returning to New York City in the Kennedy era with murder in his eyes: double-crossed by his wife and partners, he's come back to kill whoever needs killing to get his money. Cooke has a real affinity for the tough-as-hammers tone of Westlake's story. His Parker doesn't seem to enjoy or dislike slaughter (or anything else); he's just doing what it takes to reach his goal, with a certain dispassionate savoir faire. And Cooke's delicious two-color artwork nails the look of the early '60s, from hairstyles and tiki bars to the illustrative technique that defined the era everywhere except for comics: angular caricatures that capture his characters' motion and expressions with a bare minimum of elegantly rugged lines.
Cooke's a powerful enough cartoonist that his images do most of the heavy lifting here. His version of the story opens with a bravura, nearly wordless 20-page sequence. It's 1962, and Parker is stalking across a bridge into New York City, preparing to scam his way into a new identity. When we finally see his face (a revelation Cooke cunningly delays), his disheveled hair and expression of cold-eyed fury reveal as much about his cruelty and unknowability as any description Westlake could have written. --Douglas Wolk in The Washington Post
It s July and this may well be the book of the year. A must for anyone with a penchant for Chandler-esque heroes and hard boiled storytelling. The great news is that this is just the first of four planned Parker graphic novels by Cooke. Book 2 is out in 2010 I ve no idea when, but I ll be eagerly awaiting it. Something this near perfect will no doubt be worth the wait. --Richard Burton in the Forbidden Planet Blog
There's no question in my mind that The Hunter is one of the best comics I'll read this year. As an unabashed fan of both the Parker novels and of Darwyn Cooke's comics, I've looked forward to it with the same kind of anticipation I imagine a million young women have for a glimpse of the greasy locks of Robert Pattinson. --Tucker Stone in Comixology
It s July and this may well be the book of the year. A must for anyone with a penchant for Chandler-esque heroes and hard boiled storytelling. The great news is that this is just the first of four planned Parker graphic novels by Cooke. Book 2 is out in 2010 I ve no idea when, but I ll be eagerly awaiting it. Something this near perfect will no doubt be worth the wait. --Richard Burton in the Forbidden Planet Blog
There's no question in my mind that The Hunter is one of the best comics I'll read this year. As an unabashed fan of both the Parker novels and of Darwyn Cooke's comics, I've looked forward to it with the same kind of anticipation I imagine a million young women have for a glimpse of the greasy locks of Robert Pattinson. --Tucker Stone in Comixology"
No comments:
Post a Comment