Category: Crime

I seldom run a straight press releases, but IDW’s announcement below is an exception:

San Diego, CA (July 20, 2013) – Darwyn Cooke’s acclaimed Parker series from IDW continues to expand with the classic Slayground. In this newest graphic novel, Parker is put to the test against crooked cops and sleazy gangsters after a heist goes south and he finds himself trapped in an amusement park closed for the winter, and embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse… a game that slowly starts to favor the mouse.

“A boarded up amusement park was an inspired setting for Parker,” said writer/artist Darwyn Cooke, “and Westlake made the most of it. A great story that I’m enjoying the hell out of adapting.”

Based on the influential novels by Richard Stark, AKA, Donald Westlake, Parker is a coldly calculating master criminal, one with a very rigid code. The IDW adaptations by Darwyn Cooke of The Hunter and The Outfit have received multiple Eisner and Harvey awards. The Score, released last year, is nominated for an Eisner Award at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con International. Slayground will be the fourth Parker adaptation in the popular and much lauded series.

Darwyn Cooke’s distinct style has made him a premier writer and artist in the comic book industry. A former animator, Cooke entered mainstream comics in 2000 with his critical hit Batman: Ego for DC Comics.

Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, was the acclaimed author of the Parker series. He was a three-time Edgar Award winner, as well as being named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, that prestigious societies highest honor.

THAT is awesome news.

I knew Cooke was working on Slayground, but I had no idea I could expect it for Christmas.

[Of course, if you’re looking for a great crime comic to read NOW, you can’t do better than theFREE webcomic Gravedigger by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett.]

I’m diggin’ that crime comics are taking off.  Dead Body Road by Justin Jordan and Matteo Scalera premieres in November.

Dead Body Road is a six issue mini-series that tells the story of an ex-cop named Gage who is killing those he feels are responsible for his wife’s death.  According to Jordan it’s a modern-day western, crime thriller, with noir sensibilities.

Can I put in my order now?

Thanks and a quickloader to CBR.com.

[And if you’re looking for a great crime comic to read NOW, you can’t do better than the FREE webcomic Gravedigger by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett.]

Don’t you dig this Gold Key cover mock-up for Gravedigger?

Chris Mills explains how the faux cover came about:

I had so much fun mocking up that Gold Key Comics-styled Femme Noir cover yesterday, that last night I dusted off the terrific, painted Gravedigger: The Scavengers variant cover by my friend Fred Harper, and knocked out this retro/faux Gravedigger piece. There’s something kinda subversive about seeing the squeaky-clean Gold Key trade dress & logo on this hardboiled title…

Don’t forget that Gravedigger: Hot Women, Cold Cash by Chris Mills and Rick Burchett is available!  It gets my highest recommendation.

Gravedigger by Chris Mills and Rick Burchett is the best web comic going.  Heck, drop the web comic distinction because Gravedigger is one of the best comics of any kind regularly published these days.

If you’re a fan of crime stories, Lee Marvin, or great comics [as in amazing writing and art] then you should be reading this free web comic. [Keep in mind that Gravedigger is not for children since adult language and situations sometimes appear — it is a crime comic after all.]

I’d like to see Gravedigger and the talents of Chris Mills and Rick Burchett reach a wider audience.  So, I’ve come up with the Gravedigger Challenge.

Give Gravedigger a try and if you don’t like it, I owe ya a Coke [or Diet Coke, if you prefer]. If you do like Gravedigger, you owe me nothing.

I would appreciate it though, especially if you like Gravedigger, if you would help spread the word. Send out a Tweet, a Facebook / blog post or, simply tell a friend!

It looks like Bryce Carlson [writer], Vanesa R. Del Rey [artist] and Boom! Studios has a real hit on their hands when they release Hit this September.

Set in Los Angeles in the 1955, Hit tells the story of…

…Harvey Slater, who’s a Hollywood homicide detective by day and an LAPD hitman by night. His life is… complicated. Slater’s a smart detective who isn’t afraid to pull the trigger, so you never quite know exactly how he’s going to handle a given situation. His journey is a personification of how Los Angeles was changing at the time, and how challenging the ever-growing duality really was. Usually there’s booze and cigarettes involved and Slater getting into bed with a woman he shouldn’t.

This will definitely make my pull list!  If you’d like to know more about Hit, check out CBR’s Carlson Puts Out a Cold-Blooded “Hit” at Boom!

Zero by Ales Kot [writer] and Michael Walsh [artist] looks interesting.  Here’s how the advance solicitation describes it…

                         SAVING THE WORLD. ONE MURDER AT A TIME.
Edward Zero is the perfect execution machine – a spy who breaks the rules to get things done. When a stolen device appears in the center of a long-running conflict, Zero comes to retrieve it.  The problem is, the device is inside a living, breathing, bio-modified terrorist and there’s an entire army after it.

iFanboy has more about Zero and Michael Walsh.  I’ve seen enough to put in a pre-order with my local comic shop.  How about you?

That’s the special Eduardo Rizzo cover for Brother Lono #1 created by Brian Azzarello [writer], Eduardo Risso [artist], Trish Mulvihill [colorist], Clem Robbins [letterer] and Rev. Dave Johnson [cover artist].

Yep, that’s the same award-winning creative team that brought us 100 issues of 100 Bullets.  Seems only right that they’d all return to bring us the spin-off series Brother Lono.

If you’d like to see an exclusive preview of Brother Lono, you can thanks to USAToday!