Parker: The Martini Edition – Last Call finally released

After being delayed for a year and a half, the second volume of Parker: The Martini Edition has finally been released from IDW Publishing.

The Martini Edition – Last Call is a gorgeous, slipcased hardcover volume collecting books three and four (the final two, alas) of Darwyn Cooke’s brilliant Parker graphic novels. It […]

IDW Publishing announces Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition: Last Call

I’m very excited about this. IDW Publishing has just announced Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition: Last Call.

For those of you not familiar with the first Martini Edition, it was released in 2011 and was a massive, and I mean massive slipcased volume containing the first two of Darwyn Cooke’s already-classic comic book […]

Awful news: Darwyn Cooke dead at 53

I’ve been away for awhile for a variety of reasons–haven’t looked at the comments, haven’t checked the site’s e-mail account, haven’t looked at the Twitter feed.

I knew I’d come back, but I hate having to come back for this.

A lot of people asked me why there had been no volume two […]

Grab-bag post and open thread, Memorial Day edition

Has it really been two months since I posted here? Jeez, folks, I’m sorry. I have had a few things going on, like taking a break from crime fiction and breaking a collarbone, but still.

I’ll make up for it a little bit with this jumble of odds and ends, and I hope to […]

Some panels from Darwyn Cooke’s Slayground set to music

Because why not?

The song is pretty cool, and fits. (“The Hell Raisers,” by Syd Dale.)

Inside the new hardcover edition of The Hunter

 

As you may not be aware because I did not give it nearly the coverage I should have, Darwyn Cooke and IDW Publishing have launched a companion line to their highly successful line of comic book adaptations of the Parker novels. They will be reprinting the original Richard Stark novels, each with […]

Noir Magazine features Parker, Reacher…

…and me!

This one’s so hot off the presses, the website isn’t even live.

This is Noir Magazine, a new magazine for tablets. I downloaded it for my iPad today, the day of its debut.

I just got the iPad a few weeks ago. I won it in a drawing of all things, […]

More ComicCon stuff from Darwyn Cooke on Parker

The interviewer is kinda corny, but Darwyn is his usual charming self and you get to see footage of him brush-painting the ComicCon exclusive edition of The Score.

It’s less than five minutes if you’re sneaking this in at the office.

Darwyn Cooke on Before Watchmen and Parker at ComicCon, with bonus violence

Some hiatus, huh? Well, just because I’m somewhat limited at the moment doesn’t mean I can’t throw up a quickie every now and again.

In this interview from ComicCon that Matthew pointed out in the comments, Cooke discusses Before Watchmen and then Parker. If you’re not interested in Before Watchmen (I am, but […]

Like having a scorpion in the room: an interview with Darwyn Cooke on Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score

Introduction

Darwyn Cooke does one in-depth interview for each volume in his series of comic book adaptations of Richard Stark’s [pseudonym of Donald Westlake] Parker novels. (Here are the interviews for The Hunter and The Outfit.) For his new one, The Score, he was kind enough to invite The Violent World of Parker to conduct the interview. “I thought it was time I geared whatever big interview I did more towards Don’s [Donald Westlake’s] fans, rather than my own,” he told us.

For better or worse, he got what he asked for. Nick and I managed two conference calls with Darwyn across three countries, three time zones, and two continents.

There are minor spoilers sprinkled throughout, but nothing, I think, that will affect the enjoyment of the reader of either Darwyn’s great adaptation or its source material. (I did remove one major spoiler, although not for this book.)

Thank you for sitting down with us, Darwyn, and thank you for your immense contributions to the violent world of Parker, and to The Violent World of Parker.

Dear reader: Dig in. I think you’ll find it as fascinating as Nick and I did.

Interview

Nick: [Opening after some green room chatter] Speaking of The Score: How was it this time? How did you find it? How did you adapt to it this time out?

Darwyn: There’s sort of a built-in need to find a way to make each one better than the last. That usually adds to stress and anxiety and all sorts of things you can’t control, but the more I work with Parker, the more comfortable it gets. It’s a pretty easy ride now.

I know how I feel about the character and I know how people have reacted to it, so I feel really free just to go ahead with it? And, in every case with Parker I’m just out to please myself. And that happens to be pleasing other people, so that’s great.

I’m never sitting there worrying about what it is I’m doing. It’s just a very comfortable, really gratifying job now.

We’re like old buddies.

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