IDW releases a visually and feature rich package collecting Darwyn Cooke's inspired adaptations of three of Richard Stark's works.
Reviewing something like this release poses a minor problem in terms of fairness and prior disposition towards a creator's work. In this case, I guess you could say I'm predisposed to appreciate—more likely love, in truth—the work of Darywn Cooke. I think that, some narrative stumbles aside, his New Frontier is one of the the most beautifully-rendered works in comics of the last 20 years, and like Parker, represents an artist that has such a clearly-realized design sense and the know-how when to work with an editor (in this case, Scott Dunbier) and publisher able to get his vision on the page.
More than anything else, The Martini Edition isn't Cooke adapting the three works here—The Hunter, The Man With the Getaway Face, and The Outfit—so much as reproducing them as a kind of sampler for longtime fans of the character and newcomers to Richard Stark's (the pen name of Donald Westlake) spare, ruthless criminal antihero. In fact, the first two stories could effectively be read as nearly point-for-point versions of the original texts (The Man With the Getaway Face jettisons a subplot about a bungling chauffeur who might potentially blow Parker's new identity). While I always appreciate an artist or writer taking the time to put their own stamp on adapted material, that's just not really what Cooke seems to be about here, I suspect. With all of the stories, cook employs a simple monochrome, which, when you think about it, feels appropriate for the material. Parker's not a character with a whole lot of flash or embellishment—he lives according to his needs and desires
The first story introduces us to Stark's character in a brutal, single-minded quest for revenge on both the woman and partner that betrayed him, while the second sees Parker taking on a new face and low-return job to stay out of the way of the Syndicate. In The Outfit, Parker decides to take go up against the Syndicate head-on, and this is where Cooke allows himself the most latitude with the source material, presenting sections of the story as news pieces and little vignettes across multiple cartooning styles.
The oversized hardcover is the perfect presentation for the material, I think, blowing up Cooke's distinctive art style along with the additional features included in the release, the best of which being tribute images to the films that were inspired by Parker or somehow have the character's DNA running through them. The actual book is printed on a nice, firm (but not stiff) paper stock that allows the color to really shine. The art is printed on slightly off-white paper, and whether to increase the feeling of seediness in the material or bring out the source colors, it works. The slipcover and binding for the book are both sturdy, and I know this sounds like a very specific concern, but unlike some other collected editions, you can actually readily get your copy of The Martini Edition in and out of its slipcover without any kind of fight.
Simply put, this collection is essential for either fans of crime fiction or Cooke's work, and to my mind it's one of the single best comic releases for 2011.
Parker: The Martini Edition is available now.
Related posts:
IDW Set to Wreck Time and Space In 2012's Line-wide Crossover 'Infestation 2'
Should There Be A Watchmen Sequel? COULD There Be? (we have an intriguing clue!)
--
Discuss this story in our Comics forums! Follow @MTVGeek on Twitter and be sure to "like" us on Facebook for the best geek news about comics, toys, gaming and more!