Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The all Darwyn Cooke (deceased) thread

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?

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...

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.

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.)

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?

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.

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.

The awesomeness of New Frontier cannot be exaggerated.

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.

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).

Even worse was that moment where he contemplated her legs as she lay presumably unconscious. :shiver:

WARNING: I cuss using the F-word in the following post, because when somethin's THIS good, ya just gotta! Apologies!

As Edie and Cobie saw in my posts last week, I recently read DC : The New Frontier for the first time. Truthfully, I'm a bit at a loss for words! I mean it was so awesome, it's hard to distill my reaction other than to say I enjoyed every page! Here's a few random thoughts:

-I was surprised that New Frontier was an actual story from start to finish. I imagined from bits I'd heard that it was a reimagining/stripping down/revisitation of the Silver Age (and it certainly was), but I wasn't expecting a big storyline to run throughout for some reason. I was surprised asnd delighted, though.

-Favorite issue, bar none, was issue number one, especially the Losers/Land that Time Forgot portion. WHOA! That alone may have been one of the most exciting and well-crafted stories I've ever read in this medium. I really found myself wanting to read more stories by Darwin in this vein--a feeling I had several more times before the series ended!

-As I said elsewhere, Darwyn did for the Challengers of the Unknown what no other writer or creator has done for me before--make me absolutely LOVE them! I can't say I've read all that many Challs tales, but nothing has ever captured them in such a way as to make them interesting to me before. Gawd, I want a Challs series by Darwyn ASAP!!!

-DC's signature Silver Age heroes: Barry, Hal, J'onn...all perfectly captured by Darwyn in such a way that you can't help but wonder if even the most gifted writers like Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison could learn something from him. Wow! I always thought Darwyn was known for his artistic gifts, but the man can fucking write characters, man!

-Loved his take on the Big Three and even liked that they were mostly subordinate second-tier characters behind the others. Loved especially the more activist and subversive take on Wonder Woman. Heck, loved that she wasn't some tiny wisp of a thing, too!

-Gawd, the art was so gorgeous! There was a kind of Kirby influence throughout but this was still Darwyn thru and thru. The man can fuckin' DRAW in a style that is both retro and timeless at the same time. What a talent!

You know what? Darwyn needs to have his own DC series where he can tell any damn story he wants to wiuth any character he chooses, and I'd buy that puppy up in a red-hot minute! One issue a war storie, the next a western, the next a romance, then a Creeper story, a Phantom Stranger yarn--whatever the hell he wants to do! And it would be THE FUCKIN' BEST THING EVER!!!

Anyone who refuses to ever read New Frontier should be IMPRISONED FOR LIFE!!!!

(Strangely enough, I think I STILL prefer his Parker GN slightly! )

Oh, yeah...btw, more DC Darwyn goodness to come. As part of a celebration of its classic war comics, a "Weird War Tales" one-shot:

Full article

Kind of what I was asking for, huh? Can't wait! I'm definitely getting WWT and may check out a few of the others. I hope Darwyn does full art on this thing!

EDIT: It's likely Darwyn's doing one-half of the book based on the article.

See--we told you how awesome it was! I've reread at least 3 more times and it only gets better. I've commented at length on NF in various threads and my reactions mirrorred yours in many places.

I will buy anything Cooke does.

Love that his tastes cross all genres and tones. Love that he dedicated each issue to various legendary creators (for example, the final issue was dedicated to Jack Kirby).

PS - I'm an Ace fan for life now. Now that is a man's man.

PS - I rank this as the best DC miniseries / event EVER in the history of the company. Hell, I rank it ahead of all of Marvel's as well.

Thematically it works great as a follow-up to Robinson's Golden Age as well, even though continuity doesn't jive. I think its superior to that *great* work as well.

I've stopped reading it. Now I only gaze longingly into various pages from my copy of the Absolute Edition.

Ace was always cool, but Prof was the man as far as I'm concerned.

NF also made me get a crush on Carol Ferris for the first time.

I've spent literally entire flights gazing at NF, particularly the double-page spread of the DCU doing "The Right Stuff".

Cooke has a talent for dialogue that isn't wasted: it enhances the characters speaking it, furthers the plot and elevates the tension (I'm going form memory so it might be off):

"These boys deserve to know why they're going to die" - Blackhawk

"Amen to that, brother" - Green Arrow.

"Two glasses."

Man, now my memory is just flowing with all the greatness!

The Ray Palmer / Chief / Prof. Haley / Adam Strange etc. gathering of great minds.

Larry Trainer & Capt. Adam showing off their bravery pre-superhero.

And of course, NF captured the elusive 'spirit of the Silver Age' in a way almost nothing does anymore. Creation. Exploration. Science & humanity's ability to out-think its way out of problems. Bravado but without assholes. Whenever I'm down about comics, NF and Cooke bring me right back.

Crap. Now I'm going to have to dig it out and re-read it!

Some of the best Aquaman scenes ever, and he's barely in the thing.

The effect the presence of Robin has on Batman - never said outright, but shown brilliantly.

Barry Allen becomes cool again right here.

Yeah, I'll probably reread it soon, as well. After all, much of it was read while on vacation with my kids dancing around me and hootin & hollerin'! Just imagine how enjoyable it will be with some peace and quiet!

How about King Faraday and Barry's 'forgiveness'? CLASSIC!

King Faraday in general! This made me a big fan for life! So much so that I incorporated him into the 21st Century Legion Reboot & I have been doing for several years.

He's the ultimate 1950's "company man".

Lardy, you already mentioned the Losers & The War that Time Forgot. Just incredible. How about that depiction of a T-Rex though? Horrifying yet "I'm a 6 year old again" awesome.

I remember Tamper Lad commenting at length on LW in years past on another amazing scene: the death of Rick Flagg & the love of his life. Just incredibly moving.

And of course, Hal. Once Cooke used Hal in this way there was no debate any longer: Hal was the premier GL in the DCU and he will be for a long time again now.

I was just about to post this for Cobie. Looking forward to WWT, and a few of the other should be good, but WWT is a must buy.

As far as NF goes...The adaptation to movie isn't too bad either, especially since Darwyn was involved. Listening to him talk about the movie and book is awesome in and of itself. He absolutely loves and gets these characters.