Okay so; I’ve never read a Richard Stark novel. For someone who claims to be a fan of detective novels, especially the noirish ones with a lot of brutality and a sliding scale of morality, I recognize this is a failing.Stark is the pseudonym of Donald Westlake, an author I HAVE read. He wrote two fantastic books about the publishing industry - The Ax and The Hook - neither of which are available on audio, which in itself is a crime. Westlake is known more for somewhat lighthearted mystery and cr...

This particular Parker story is an interesting one because it takes place entirely after a heist. However, there are still plenty of opportunities to witness Parker's guile as he eludes capture by hiding out in a small amusement park that is closed for the season. This key divergence from the "typical" Parker heist formula, as well as the unique and captivating setting, make it a very attractive graphic novel, and explain why a dozen other potential Parker novels were skipped sequentially when c...

Good, but not really up to the same standard as Cooke's previous Stark adaptations. Maybe it's more a function of the story he's working with this time, though I thought the original book had more meat to it than this. But I could be wrong about that; it's been awhile since I read it. Basically, Parker has to hide out in an amusement park that's been closed up for the winter, after his involvement in an armored car robbery goes sour. The only problem is that some crooked cops and local mafia typ...

It's like if James Bond and Danny Ocean had a baby together. I gotta get the actual book series started.

2016 killed so many talented people that it got hard to keep track after a while, and one of its overlooked victims was Darwyn Cooke who died of cancer last spring. Knowing that, I held off on reading this for some time because it’s going to be the last time I get to crack open one of Cooke’s fantastic adaptations of the Parker series and get to enjoy his illustrated interpretations of one of my favorite crime fiction characters.At least it ends on a high note with Cooke’s version of Richard Sta...

Darwyn Cooke’s Eisner Award winning series continues with the fourth installment, Slayground. Following a botched robbery, Parker escapes to an amusement park closed for the winter. Boxed in by gangsters and crooked cops, will Parker be able to devise a successful escape route or has his number finally come up?I received an advanced copy from IDW Publishing and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s iconic character Parker has been nothing short of treme...

The Happiest Place on Earth The 4th and final volume of Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s (Donald Westlake’s) novels before his unfortunate death in 2016. RIP. Now in terms of how this series has gone I have overall positive things to say about it. But this is definitely the weakest of the volumes. Even though it was much easier to get through than The Outfit was, I still know that there wasn’t much to this book. 85% of it is Parker running around, sneaking around, jumping around,

RIP Darwyn Cooke.

A re-read, 3/28/18, after finally reading the novel on which it was based and loving it. Original review, 8/20/16, edited a bit: The fourth and I presume last of the adaptations made of Richard Stark/Donald Westlake's Parker crime novels (since Cooke died this year, RIP). Parker is one of the hardest of "hard-boiled" detectives, and somehow you gotta like that, if not quite like him. I liked this volume least of the four books Cooke adapted, in part because it is just too short, getting at the e...

To think we will have no more cartoon or comic art from the late Darwyn Cooke is hard. He brought such flair to comics storytelling, even commanding my interest in this author whose work I knew nothing about. These adaptations just rock. In this one, a backup story is just as good. Highest recommendation.

4.5 StarsThis was my personal favorite of the Parker graphic novels. I liked the art style a little better with the green tint, and the amusement park setting was really cool. Also, Parker was dealing with guys even worse than he is, so I was able to revel in his wickedness rather than be appalled by it. This had a feel of the Warriors crossed with First Blood. Basically Parker gets trapped in an amusement park with the take from an armored car robbery. Rather than arrest him, some crooked cops

Parker, Grofield and one other guy rob an armoured car in the middle of winter and drive off with the cash. However the new guy is a bit of a nervous driver and winds up crashing the car on the ice, killing himself and badly injuring Grofield. Parker, hearing police in the distance, grabs the loot and makes a run for it, hiding out in a nearby amusement park that’s closed for the season. And then realises that some crooked cops accepting a payoff from the mob have witnessed his escape into the p...

When Darwyn Cooke began adapting Richard Stark's hard boiled crime novels in comics form, I was blown away. 'The Hunter' was familiar territory for me, but seeing him bring Parker to life in his brilliantly economical retro-60's style, I fell in love with how perfect the book was -- it's 6" x 9" hardcover format, the design and materials of the book itself, the style and layout for the dustjacket... everything worked. But above all, Cooke had a firm grasp on the character of Parker. This fourth

Possibly my favourite of the Darwyn Cooke Parker GNs. Parker gets trapped in a fairground after a heist goes bad and has to survive as a third party is after him and his heist money. It's a little home alone but in a fairground in parts and it's pretty great. It's also light on dialogue and told very visually. Fun read.

This is a very economical adaptation of Richard Stark's Slayground--especially since the final dozen or so of its 96 pages are in fact a separate Parker adaptation: the novel The Seventh, compressed into about a seventh of this overall book (which must be deliberate, mustn't it?). The Parker books are as a rule pretty lean anyway, but Cooke really boils them down to their essences. Well, perhaps he boils The Seventh down a tad too much, as about 80% of the original book gets precised in two page...

Darwyn Cooke's adaptations of the Parker novels are must reads for fans of comic book crime noir. His art has a 60's swagger to it that fits perfectly with the tone of the Parker novels. Parker is a cold, tough, hard as nails bastard. Here his car has overturned as they were escaping a robbery and Parker holes up in an amusement park in the dead of winter. He's seen by some local hoods who figure they can make a quick buck by killing him and taking his score. This boils down to a battle througho...

Who does not like a Parker tale in a different medium as I have read before and the economic style of drawing does fit the style Richard Stark used to write his novels but while I have fond memories of the Slayground book I found this comic somewhat not covering the suspense of the original version by its original writer.I like comics but in this instance I found myself a bit shortchanged as I really enjoy the Parker novels and think that perhaps the comics were not meant for me.Slayground is th...

Turning classic novels into graphic novels can be hit or miss. Darwyn Cooke's graphic novels based on the Parker novels of Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) seem to capture the tone and style perfectly. The series takes place in the same timeframe as the novels, and Cooke's style is an eyeful of style details from the late 1960s.In Slayground, Parker is involved in a botched robbery. He escapes over the fence and into an off-season amusement park, abandoned for the winter. He soon discovers it...

First thought I had when I received this book from Amazon was: "Huh? Why is this book so thin?" The reason for this is that this fourth Parker book [as adapted by Darwyn Cooke] - compared to the first three - really has less story to it, and there's only so much of stretching it out that could be done. Thankfully, Cooke doesn't stretch it out, and the result is a low page count (96 pages! - What the...? That even includes the 12-page adaptation of The Seventh)For this reason this adaptation can'...

In this fourth adaptation of Donald Westlake's PARKER by Darwyn Cooke we are treated to material from the novel bearing the same name. Parker and his sometime associate Grofield pull an armored car robbery that goes sideways in inclement weather, forcing Parker to take refuge in an abandoned amusement park in the dead of winter. However, when he is spotted going in, unsavory elements conspire to relieve him of his ill-gotten gains, turning the park into . . . a "slayground." Cooke's rendering of...