In my review for Parker: the Hunter I wondered whether or
not Cooke was going to let loose in his second Parker adaptation The Outfit
much like Parker lets loose after a job. Having read The Outfit for the first
time, I would say Cooke indeed let loose. Once again the plot is simple. Parker
underwent plastic surgery to change the look of his face in order to avoid
being hunted down by the Outfit (the Organization or the Syndicate, it’s all
the same). Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long, just one job, for his identity
to be made known to the Outfit. He decides it’s time to end this nonsense once
and for all and declares war on the Organization and acts out his threat to ask
all his thief friends to hit the Outfit anyway they can.
According to Trent at The Violent World of Parker, Parker: the
Outfit is based on two novels by Richard Stark The Man with the Getaway Face
and The Outfit. It also seems Cooke was less faithful with his adaptation this
go around. I’ll let experts like Trent tell you exactly how faithful he
remained while I concentrate on the comic adaptations.
Taking a free hand with The Outfit was a good call by
Cooke as I enjoyed the second comic more than I did the first which was
excellent. I essentially only have one complaint which is the way Cooke draws
women. Now this was a bigger problem in The Hunter but I forgot to mention it.
Essentially, all his women look the same. Same body type, same face, all he
seems to do is change the hairdos. He adds more variety in the second comic
notably with Alma and the retired-prostitute-turned-motel-owner. We get larger
woman in her forties and an elderly lady in her sixties. It was nice of Cooke
to avoid giving us nothing but magazine worthy babes which, incidentally he
does very well but it gets tiresome after a while.
The colour palette is similar and it keeps it consistent
with The Hunter. The main difference is the blue-grey from the first book is
now a darker blue. Just a slight difference but it was nice. It also gave it a
darker feel which suits The Outfit just fine. Cook uses different art styles
during one of the book’s four chapters whichs depicts different heist being
pulled by friends of Parker (and one of them being pulled by Parker himself and
two associates). It works well because it gives a lot of information to the
reader quickly. This book more than The Hunter is dense. A lot of things happen
and they happen quickly. Cooke puts half a dozen or more panels on at least
half the pages and it’s impressive. Especially once you consider the smaller
than average page size. Using different art styles for the various heist
allowed Cooke to show us a nice variety of jobs while he gets to stretch his
drawings muscles and move the story along. It was a great idea and it very well
executed.
There is a really interesting few pages that end the
third chapter. They bring up the effects of criminals organizing and beginning
to work like a business. It makes them soft. Men like Bronson and Fairfax, used
to be hardened criminals like Parker (well, maybe not as hard as Parker).
Bronson mentions the arrival of a new breed of men in the Organization. There
is a new kind of criminal, white collar criminals, businessmen. Essentially
other people are hired to do the dirty work while these people coordinate the
whole thing from behind a desk.
Another element I liked is Parker’s new face. He’s
uglier. Not hideous but uglier than in book one and it works. He’s not just
crook, now he’s an ugly crook. His new face also seems to go well with his
overly large hands. He’s not deformed but he doesn’t look like you’re average Joe.
There’s a full page spread of Parker in his underwear in the first few pages
and he’s a physically imposing man. You do not want to mess with this guy!
Cooke nails the body language in that page. Parker could have easily looked
silly or weak just standing around in his underwear but it’s clear that he
means business. It’s even more imposing in hind sight since Parker follows
through on his tough look by springing into action.
What I liked the most about The Outfit, and this
is true of the Hunter too, is that Parker has to clean up after nearly every
job he does. Part of being a thief is working with other crooks. Double
crossing and backstabbing are just another part of the job. I find this aspect
of crime fiction much more interesting than showing us the ins and outs of
planning for a job. I really like crime
fiction that depicts the bad elements that naturally come with the career
choice. Sure the payoff can be big but so are the risks. Parker spends as much
time dealing with the outcome of a job as much as he spends time planning his
next job. That’s not always the case but based on the first two Parker comic
adaptations, it sure happens often enough to be a dangerous way of making a
living.
What's attractive about crime fiction is that the reader gets to live out
fantasies of a criminal life and lifestyle. We've all though about how easy it would
be to rob a place but, for obvious reasons, only a small percentage of the
population actually try to do it. Crime fiction gives us a chance to play out
the fantasy. Good crime fiction shows us why it's not a good idea. We'd probably
end up in jail or worse, dead or even worse than that, with Parker hot on our
trail.
I'm happy to say I paid for my copy of Parker: the Outfit. The last thing I need is Cooke and IDW sending out goons to roughen me up.
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