posted
I snagged the Parker: The Hunter book off of eBay, a gently-used copy that cost me just over $12 including shipping. This purchase, of course, was prompted by Des's glowing review above. Can't exactly expect him to eat up all my recommendations without a little quid pro quo, right?
That said, I haven't read it yet. But I'm already struck by a couple of things:
1) I was surprised this wasn't a full-color comic as Des makes no mention of it. It's kind of a monochromatic darkish blue throughout. This looks to be used to good effect, however, and suits what is the noirish feel the story must have. It certainly gives the book its own distinct look and seems to work well with Cooke's style.
2) The size is smaller than expected, closer to that of a mid-sized paperback prose book than to a standard comic book dimension. This looks to enhance its feel as more of a book read than a comic read. This isn't to suggest the art is minimilistic or undersized itself but definitely gives it a different feel from what you'd expect. This puppy has over 200 pages and the size emphasizes thatyou're getting a lot of story and art for your money. This is literally a graphic novel, possibly moreso than any comics work to claim itself as such and the format bears that out.
Anyhow, I plan to read it sometime soon when I have the time and space to give it the proper attention. Looking forward to it!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Definitely thrilled you picked this up Lardy and can't wait for your review!
You're right that both the colors and size are really used to full effect within and enhance the noirish style of the storyline. Cooke seems to have though about EVERYTHING possible in the presentation of this work, using every thing he could to enhance the style and substance.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Last night, I read Book One of Parker: The Hunter. By Book One I mean the GN's literally broken down into three or four chapters, and Book One's about the first 50 pages. Wow! This is already a tour de force! I know it helps that Cooke already had what is obviously some superior source material to work with, but WOW!
What is really a sign of Cooke's great talent is all the information and fluidity of storytelling he puts into a copious number of pages that have no dialogue or captions. The first 27 pages have only two, I think, with any captions or dialogue. But a LOT is happening in those pages. It's a masterful sequence detailing Parker charging into New York by foot like a man possessed. Silently, we see him go about his business and get himself ready for what he needs to do using some criminal techniques. Throughout most of the sequence he's a faceless form of nature until Cooke finally gives a full-page reveal of the man looking in the mirror towards the end of the sequence.
It's thoroughly-involving, mostly-silent sequence of pages that are packed with information--probably the best silent pages I've EVER seen in a comic! Cooke deserves an Eisner for that alone!
The rest of Book One is equally engaging as we learn a lot more about this force of nature we've been watching and exactly what he's so driven about. Overall, it took me about an HOUR to read book one, and it was about half-dialog-less! Granted I read these a little slower than the average bloke, but if you read this the right way, absorbing all the detail, I don't think it should take you a whole lot less time.
This is some honest-to-god comic noir that I'd put even above Brubaker and Philips' stuff on Criminal at this point. Yes, Cooke has the benefit of adapting existing material, but this is already a seminal work of art--and I've still got over 150 pages to go!!!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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I agree--this is hands down the best "comic noir" I've ever read. Glad you love it, Lardy! I knew you would. There's just no denying the sheer brillance of Cooke in everything he does, but this especially.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
In all fairness, like you, the article in Criminal piqued my interest in this project many months ago. I'd gone so far as to look it up on eBay and bid on an auction for it. I ended up losing that auction and kind of forgot about it for awhile before I saw you reviewing it here on Legion World. I'm glad you picked it up and your review here prompted me to revisit getting it!
How about that opening sequence, eh?
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Even the widescreen shot of the city--spectacular! New York has never looked that incredible in a comic before.
The opening sequence was brillant. There is only one thing better: the closing sequence! Wait until you get to that...
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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So I finished reading it last night, and it was FANTASTIC! If I wasn't particularly a Darwyn Cooke fan before the Parker book, I definitely am now! Darwyn is on the upper echelon of talent currently working in the comics industry for sure. It's not just anyone who could adapt a crime novel like this into comic format and make it a superlative work of art. Darwyn Cooke is not just anyone, my friends!
I've never read The Hunter or any of Westlake's/Stark's other novels, but I'm willing to bet this is about as faithful an adaptation as could ever be done. For one, Cooke conveys so much character information largely just in the numerous silent panels. I can tell he has to have read Westlake's descriptions very studiously and realized that the devil's in the details. So many other filmmakers and comics adaptors would have left those details completely out or on the cutting room floor. So much of The Hunter is not in the actual plot but in the mood, the style and the approach Parker takes to everything he does. Like I said, those first 30 pages describe what I'm talking about perfectly.
Another thing is Cooke does not sugarcoat the character and his actions in the least. I suppose there's a part of you that roots for him and understands his desire for vengeance, but at the same time this is an absolute bastard! Make no mistake: this is definitely a bad, BAD guy, and he does some awful things to some people, including one that is kind of incidental and offhand that I found pretty shocking, especially the way Parker kind of shrugs it off.
I haven't seen "Payback", the Mel Gibson film that is based on this book, but I'd be willing to bet you that it doesn't go as far toward the dark side as this one does. If it leaves out the scene I'm thinking of, then it definitely doesn't.
A true noir has total bastards for protagonists, and this one does indeed. Unfortunately, the women of noir turn out to be turncoats, whores or victims (or all of the above), and The Hunter certainly does nothing to break this mold. It is what it is, and the haphazrd violence toward women here is pretty shocking. Definitely not a product of the politically correct era. But that's noir for you.
Brubaker's Criminal tends to have more sympathetic leads and meatier roles for its females. It's excellent stuff but a little more PC and watered down compared to Parker. That's not intended to be entirely a criticism of Criminal, by the way, just an illustration of different shades of an already dark (by definition) genre.
I definitely recommend Parker if you have a taste for the dark side. It's a revenge story and is not terribly complicated but, again, the devil's in the details. The details here are some gorgeous art by Darwyn Cooke which, more importantly than its beauty, displays a tour-de-force of his mastery of the comics medium.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Y'know, I looked Parker up and found that Westlake wrote a whopping 28 Parker novels! Cooke is said to be adapting a total of four of them including The Hunter...which of the other three he's adapting, I have no clue. For me after reading this adaptation, it's hard to imagine even one more book because this was such an iconic revenge story the way it's presented. I mean, how does one top that? Do the rest of Westlake's Parker novels live up to the sheer balls of this one? It seems like they'd all be pale reflections! But if Darwyn's such a fan that he wants to adapt THREE MORE, there must be quite a wealth of material there for him to mine!
I'm excited about where my discovery of Darwyn Cooke's material will lead me next! I bought a complete set of New Frontier last year but haven't read it yet. Long story short, I got the DVD on a bargain and figured I should read the comics first (which I got for less than $20 including shipping on eBay). I haven't consumed either yet but figure the comics will be on the agenda soon.
What else? How good was his run on The Spirit? Selina's Big Score? Batman: Ego? I know there's a couple Jonah Hex stories, but I figure I'll get to them when I eventually start collecting the TPBs. What are the best of the best as I slowly start finding what I missed? (I already own the stories he did on Catwoman with Brubaker, so that one can be left off.)
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Wow--I had no idea there were 28 Parker novels! Like you say, that's almost hard for me to believe given how perfect The Hunter stands on its own. But to mirror your subsequent follow-up, if Cooke wants to go there, I'm going with him. Can't wait for the next one.
You also bring up a great point about the treatment of women in The Hunter. The scene you refer to--is this where Parker basically calls his former wife a whore and when she kills herself, he cuts her body up into pieces to make it look like a serial killer got her in the park? Because, yeah that was pretty brutal! And Parker was absolutely nonchalant about the whole thing, showing he was all business. It really let us know right off the bat who he was and he this was a guy you could root for, but really not relate to. Cooke did it perfectly too, capturing Parker's all business attitude but also conveying a small sense of smoldering anger throughout the entire opening sequences. It's only when he finally attacks Resnick in his penthouse that we see a pissed off Parker and its a frightening thing to behold.
Also, great comparison on Criminal regarding the females. Not something I've ever thought of before but absolutely the case as you point out. I also don't think its a bad thing, but is interesting.
As for where you go from here on Cooke: you might as well start with the best of the best, and that my friend, is New Frontier. You're going to love it, because its simply genius. I've reread it a number of times already in recent years and I can confidently say its the best superhero work from DC Comics (and honestly, I'd say all comic book companies) within the last 10 years.
But don't stop there--I'd follow-up on the Spirit as well. Be warned though, Cooke's 12 issues are terrific, dense and full of greatness but once he leaves, the quality on the title took a nosedive. So stick with Cooke and you'll be good. What is great about the Spirit is each issue will take you about 20 minutes to read, that's how much is in each issue.
The Jonah Hex issues are terrific but if you're already getting the TPB's, you can wait because the TPB's will have other great stuff from other creators too.
I can't remember Selina's Big Score. Was that in the Bru/Cooke Catwoman run? Or did I somehow miss that? Maybe it was a one-shot I'm forgetting about?
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: You also bring up a great point about the treatment of women in The Hunter. The scene you refer to--is this where Parker basically calls his former wife a whore and when she kills herself, he cuts her body up into pieces to make it look like a serial killer got her in the park? Because, yeah that was pretty brutal!
As brutal as that was, there was an element of understanding about what he did. I mean, he loved her (as much as a guy like Parker could love someone), but she did betray him. The reader learns the other half of the story, but as far as Parker ever knew, the betrayal was just a flat-out slap in his face that came from nowhere. So I can understand his lack of emotion, to an extent, with what he did.
No, I was thinking about the girl from the beauty shop who was just a completely innocent bystander. Though he didn't mean for that outcome, it didn't exactly throw him off his game. Just kind of collateral damage is how it came off. Now, that was harsh.
quote:I can't remember Selina's Big Score. Was that in the Bru/Cooke Catwoman run? Or did I somehow miss that? Maybe it was a one-shot I'm forgetting about?
It was a full-length OGN Cooke did that took place before the events of the ongoing catwoman title he and Brubaker launched. It was published a year or two after he left Catwoman and, IIRC, got rave reviews.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: As for where you go from here on Cooke: you might as well start with the best of the best, and that my friend, is New Frontier. You're going to love it, because its simply genius. I've reread it a number of times already in recent years and I can confidently say its the best superhero work from DC Comics (and honestly, I'd say all comic book companies) within the last 10 years.
The awesomeness of New Frontier cannot be exaggerated.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Huh. I don't think I've ever read Selina's Big Score. That's awesome! A whole Cooke story I never knew existed--can't wait to pick it up!
And as for the beauty shop girl--yeah, that was pretty harsh! I'd forgotten about her.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Which reminds me Eryk to remind you to get Parker: the Hunter! It's level of quality rivals New Frontier (though its style and subject matter is completely different).
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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