Comics as Gateway: The Mourner

The Mourner
By Richard Stark

I was so impressed by The Hunter that I rushed out to purchase a Stark Novel. I was not able to locate a copy of The Hunter or the second book right away, but I came across a copy of this, the fourth Parker novel at the Regulator Book Shop in Durham, NC.

"The Mourner is a story of convergence—of cultures and of guys with guns. Hot on the trail of a statue stolen from a fifteenth-century French tomb, Parker enters a world of eccentric art collectors, greedy foreign officials, and shady KGB agents. Next, Parker works with a group of professional con men in The Score on his biggest job yet—robbing an entire town in North Dakota. In The Jugger, Parker travels to Nebraska to help out a geriatric safecracker who knows too many of his criminal secrets. By the time he arrives, the safecracker is dead and Parker’s skeletons are on the verge of escaping from their closet—unless Parker resorts to lethal measures."- http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=1127365

The book is available through The University of Chicago Press. They are currently reprinting all the Parker Novels.

The Hunter

The Hunter
By Darwyn Cooke

Adapted from the first Parker novel by Richard Stark,

"The Hunter is one of those rarest of all comic books. It is a perfect graphic novel. It is expert in its writing and art. It is exciting and intelligent. The perfect fusion of compelling, passionate story and crisp, clear drawings. The entire medium should be striving for this level of synergy. It is quite simply put, the kind of book that should be proudly displayed on any book shelf."

RIYL: Payback - starring Mel Gibson, Criminal, Sin City, the works of Elmore Leonard, the works of Donald Westlake (aka Richard Stark)