IDW Publishing and award-winning creator Darwyn Cooke announced an exclusive prelude to The Outfit, the second of Richard Stark’s Parker novels that Cooke is adapting. Cooke’s initial Parker release, The Hunter, has been a critical and popular success, appearing on over 50 “best of the year” lists as well as the New York Times best-seller list.
Titled The Man With the Getaway Face: A Prelude to the Outfit, a limited number of copies debuted at WonderCon, one of the country’s leading comics and pop culture conventions. This 8″x12″ preview book offered one entire chapter of The Outfit and will be included in the finished graphic novel, coming in October. Available for the bargain price of $2.00, the prelude will offer fans an introduction to The Outfit. Darwyn Cooke, was a special guest of WonderCon, and was on hand to sign copies at the IDW booth.
“The Man with the Getaway Face special is a fun and inexpensive way for new readers to check out Richard Stark’s famous master criminal,” commented Cooke. “It’s our hope that this oversized, underpriced kidney punch will pull them in to the violent world of Parker.”
In addition to debuting at WonderCon, the preview will be available in comic stores everywhere in July at the same low price and large size.
“We wanted to do something to make this preview special, something to make Darwyn’s incredible work really pop off the shelves,” said IDW Special Projects Editor, Scott Dunbier. “And at this size and price point, I think we’ve succeeded!”
I own the first book in this series that Cooke adapted and it is outstanding. Richard Stark is a nom de plume for Donald Westlake, the late mystery author. He originally wrote seventeen (17) books featuring the character, Parker, who is an anti-hero in many ways, as he is a thief, but one with a strict code in which he operates within. Later Stark returned and wrote an additional eight (8) books about his man, Parker.
The first were written between 1963 and 1974. The second were written between 1997 and 2008. I guess it’s true, you can’t keep a good man down! I highly recommend both the books and the adaptations by Darwyn Cooke!
