Winners, Losers, and Survivors: A Crime Blog [Slayground vs. Slayground vs. Slayground]

October: Parker Month; Slayground by Richard Stark, Slayground by Darwyn Cooke, and Slayground by Terry Bedford

Slayground is considered the Parker masterpiece of the Richard Stark novels, along with its sequel, Butcher’s Moon. Stark’s fans saw Slayground as a perfect fit for a film adaptation. It finally was adapted into a movie in 1983 and directed by Terry Bedford, and starring Peter Coyote as Stone (Parker). The film is considered one of the worst film adaptations of a Parker novel. Darwyn Cooke also attempted to adapt Slayground as the fourth book of his Parker adaptations. While not bad by any means, it is considered the weakest of Cooke’s Parker comics. Somehow the most beloved Parker novel fails to be brought forth into another medium with the vision Stark and his fanbase intended. I read the original Slayground and its two adaptations and wish to examine what makes the book work so well, and what was lost in translation. 

Winners, Losers, and Survivors: A Crime Blog [The Score]

October: Parker Month; The Influence:

Richard Stark’s Parker The Score by Darwyn Cooke Review

I always say that The Outfit is my favorite Parker comic, but every time I read The Score, I question that decision. I still consider The Outfit to be my favorite, but I am damn certain that The Score is the best heist comic and has one of the best heists of all time. 

Winners, Losers, and Survivors: A Crime Blog

Darwyn Cooke’s second Parker adaptation, The Outfit, is my personal favorite. It retains Stark’s classic style while adding more of Cooke’s artistic vision to the story. It contains both the story taking place in the original Outfit, along with the Parker book preceding it, The Man With the Getaway Face. Parker has his face changed in order to avoid The Outfit: The Mega Mafioso Corporation, running rackets across the US, who continue to pursue after Parker due to the events of The Hunter. Parker’s new identity is revealed by an associate from an armored car heist, Skim Lasker, and Parker has to team up with another associate, Handy McKay, in order to take on the The Outfit by robbing them blind and bringing in new management. This story both concludes the arc started in The Hunter and sets up characters who will return in Cooke’s next Parker adaptation, The Score. 

Winners, Losers, and Survivors: A Crime Blog

October: Parker Month; The Influence:

Richard Stark’s Parker The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke Review

I read this book over the summer on an airplane, then read it again two weeks later. It may not be the best of Darwyn Cooke’s Parker adaptations, but it is still amazing. Darwyn Cooke’s comic adaptation of the Richard Stark crime classic, The Hunter, inspired me to make my movie.