The Outfit is (almost) here!

Folks in the UK have already been treated to the new Parker adaptation by Darwyn, but on this side of the pond, The Outfit arrives this week at your local book or comic store!



a brief break now for a power girl drawing here

...and we're back,

I know I already mentioned this signing at Borders on October 7th, but it bears repeating!

IDW has more than The Outfit debuting at the New York Comic-con, check out their line-up here and note the exclusive dustjacket available at the show. Limited to 500 copies!

A review with a few peaks at some of The Outfit's interiors can be read at Existential Ennui.

Tune in on Monday afternoon for the winner of the french edition of The Hunter in our free postcard contest. Read more here and watch for another contest soon.

And finally, for those of you going to the New York Comic-con, here's the whole IDW booth schedule and some of the panels that will be taking place at the Javits Centre next weekend!


NEW YORK COMIC-CON 2010
IDW EVENT SCHEDULE!

BOOTH #2115

Friday Oct. 8th

12:00 – 1:00 Richard Stark’s Parker - Darwyn Cooke (Special Retailer Event!)

2:00 – 3:00 True Blood - David Messina, David Tischman, Mariah Huehner

3:00 – 4:30 Richard Stark’s Parker - Darwyn Cooke

4:00 – 5:00 Motel Hell - Matt Nixon, Chris Moreno

4:30 – 5:30 Locke & Key - Gabriel Rodriguez

5:00 – 6:00 Kill Shakespeare - Anthony Del Col, Connor McCreery, Andy Belanger

6:00 – 7:00 James Patterson’s Witch & Wizard - Dara Naraghi

Saturday Oct. 9th

11:00 – 12:00 James Patterson’s Witch & Wizard - Dara Naraghi

11:00 – 12:00 Kill Shakespeare - Anthony Del Col, Connor McCreery, Andy
Belanger

12:00 – 1:00 Infestation Debut Event - Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, David Messina, Gabriel Rodriguez

12:00 – 1:00 Wire Hangers - Alan Robert, Sam Shearon, Nelson

1:00 – 2:00 Doctor Who - Tony Lee, Kelly Yates, Matthew Dow Smith, Blair Shedd

1:00 – 2:00 We Will Bury You - Brea Grant, Zane Grant, Kyle Strahm

2:00 – 3:00 Richard Stark’s Parker - Darwyn Cooke

2:00 – 3:00 5 Days to Die - Andy Schmidt

3:00 – 4:00 True Blood - David Messina, David Tischman, Mariah Huehner

3:00 – 4:00 Tribes: The Dog Years – Michael Geszel

4:00 – 5:00 Angel – Scott Tipton, David Messina, Mariah Huehner, Stephen
Mooney, Nick Runge, Elena Casagrande, David Tischman and
friends!

4:00 – 5:00 Eternal Descent – Llexi Leon

5:00 – 6:00 IDW and HBO Present – Bored to Death: Show Creator Jonathan Ames
with artist Dean Haspiel

5:30 – 6:30 Sparrow – Pushead

6:00 – 7:00 Richard Stark’s Parker - Darwyn Cooke


Sunday Oct. 10th

10:00 – 11:00 G.I. Joe – Eduardo Alpente

11:00 – 12:00 True Blood - David Messina, David Tischman, Mariah Huehner

11:00 – 12:00 Kill Shakespeare - Anthony Del Col, Connor McCreery, Andy
Belanger

12:00 – 1:00 Richard Stark’s Parker - Darwyn Cooke

12:00 – 1:00 Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper – Kevin Colden

1:00 – 2:00 Doctor Who - Tony Lee, Kelly Yates, Matthew Dow Smith

1:00 – 2:00 Tank Girl – Rufus Dayglo

2:00 – 3:00 Star Trek – Scott Tipton, David Messina, Federica Manfredi, Elena
Casagrande and friends!

2:00 – 3:00 Felix the Cat – Don Oriolo, Comics Empresario Craig Yoe!

3:00 – 4:00 Richard Stark’s Parker - Darwyn Cooke

4:00 – 5:00 Act-I-Vate Primer – Dean Haspiel and friends!

Also! Check out the Library of American Comics Kiosk in the IDW booth! Meet Creative Director Dean Mullaney, Associate Editor Bruce Canwell, and Museum of Cartoon Art founder Brian Walker!

And! Swing by the YOE! Studios Display to meet comics curating legend Craig Yoe, Don Oriolo of Felix the Cat fame, and a host of their friends!

Furthermore! Don’t miss these IDW Panels!

Friday Oct. 8th – 5:45 – 6:45 Panel Room 3

IDW - Sneak Peek at 2011
Please join IDW Publishing's Chief Creative Officer Chris Ryall and Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, as they talk Locke & Key with artist Gabriel Rodriguez, release some details about the giant event Infestation with some top secret guests, and even work in a big announcements or three, including a new project with Peter David & JK Woodward.

Saturday Oct. 9th – 5:00 – 6:00 Panel Room 1

Darwyn Cooke Spotlight
Darwyn Cooke is the acclaimed writer and artist of DC: The New Frontier, Selina's Big Score, The Spirit for this special spotlight panel. Most recently, Cooke has been concentrating his creative efforts on Parker, a series of graphic novels based on the acclaimed crime writer Richard Stark. The first graphic novel, THE HUNTER, was released last year by IDW Publishing and received glowing reviews from all corners and earned Cooke an Eisner Award. The second graphic novel, THE OUTFIT, is being released at New York Comic Con by Cooke and IDW. Join Cooke and IDW Editor Scott Dunbier as they discuss the world of Parker.

Saturday Oct. 9th – 6:15 – 7:15 Panel Room 7

HASBRO & IDW
Join IDW Publishing's Editor Andy Schmidt with a stable of talented creators from the Hasbro universe, Mike Costa, Robert Atkins, John Barber, and... Fan favorites Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning?! What are they doing here? You'll have to attend to find out. Plus, learn what's in the works for 2011 with TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE, Dungeons & Dragons and the big buzz surrounding the upcoming Infestation event!

Sunday Oct. 10th – 3:45 – 4:45 Panel Room 9

IDW and Yoe! Studios Present: Felix VS Frankenstein!
Join renowned comics guru Craig Yoe and a host of his friends, including Don Oriolo of Felix the Cat fame, for a lively multi-media vivisection of all his current and upcoming projects, Barney Google, Felix the Cat, and Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, to name just a few!


Talk at you Monday!

stuff and such

Good day!

The New York Daily News posted a quick blurb about the forthcoming Outfit hardcover on their entertainment site.

Darwyn did the cover for a new book from Kickstart comics called "Mirror Mirror" as shown on this very blog a couple of weeks back. If you'd like to know more about the book itself, check out this interview with Joshua Williamson who notes "it can't hurt to have a cover by Darwyn Cooke!"



This terrific Power Girl piece was posted on tumblr with one comment reading "Darwyn Cooke is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. If you catch him in a bar, buy the man a drink."

There's still time to get your entry in to win a signed "Le Chasseur" - the french edition of the Hunter. More info in the last blog post or click here.

Over on 4th letter, there's a fun article on favourite comic book panels from the last year. There's a bunch of fun choices, but this one is terrific:


See the rest here.

And a gorgeous Lois Lane illustration here.

Darwyn will be at the New York Comic-Con taking place in Manhattan from October 8th through 10th. Look for Darwyn at the IDW booth, they should have a signing schedule posted at their booth and if I get any info, I'll post it here.

If you're in New York on the 7th, get yourself over to the Borders at Penn Plaza for an early signing event for The Outfit! It's happening at 7pm on Thursday, Oct. 7th.

that's it for now - see you in the funny papers!

postcard contest & a taste of The Outfit

As mentioned in last week's update - I have a copy of the french-language edition of Parker - The Hunter, published by Dargaud and titled "Le Chasseur", that will be given out in a random draw. It's pictured here with Kate (sorry, she's not part of the deal, we need her at the store).



To enter the draw just mail us a postcard!

Strange Adventures (Cooke Contest)
5262 Sackville Street,
Halifax, NS
B3J 1K8 Canada

To be valid for entry, the postcard has to be a real, honest-to-goodness postcard, preferably picturing your hometown or some icon of interest from your area. I'll be accepting entries for the next four weeks and we'll pull a winner from the postcards on October 1st and announce it here. Be sure to have your name and mailing address on the postcard so we can send you the book if you're the winner!

Check out some of the cards already received. Love the one of Reno!


and here's a few shots from The Outfit to sate your hunger - available in a few weeks!










Reserve your copy now at your favourite local bookstore or comic shop! If you'll be in New York for the comic convention, Darwyn and the folks at IDW have a few cool surprises in store for the book's debut.

Appearances, awards, and all things otherwise

Good day, folks,

Darwyn was at FanExpo in Toronto last weekend and will be at Dragon Con in Atlanta this coming weekend. He'll also be a guest at the New York Comic-Con where The Outfit will make its debut!



Darwyn's also the recipient of an Eisner Award for best adaptation of another work for The Hunter. Check out the other Eisner winners here, though they do irk me when they refer to a cartoonist as a "graphic novelist" - gah! What's wrong with cartoonist? It was good enough for Milton Caniff and Hal Foster!

The Harvey Awards were announced at the Baltimore Comic-con and Darwyn was named "best cartoonist" (thanks, Harvey Awards!).

He's also among those nominated for a Scream Award, the pop culture award show put on by Spike TV. You can vote for your favourite artist here.

The folks at ifanboy have the info on an upcoming graphic novel that sports a nifty cover by Darwyn. Go read about it here and gander at the cover below:


and a new contest! I have a copy of Parker: Le Chasseur to give away. This is the french-language edition of The Hunter published by Dargaud.

I'll get the book signed when Darwyn's back home after his convention run. To enter, just send a postcard to:

Strange Adventures (Cooke Contest)
5262 Sackville Street,
Halifax, NS
B3J 1K8 Canada

The postcard has to be a real, honest-to-goodness postcard, preferably picturing your hometown or some icon of interest from your area. I'll be accepting entries for the next four weeks and we'll pull a winner from the postcards on October 1st and announce it here. Be sure to have your name and mailing address on the postcard so we can send you the book if you're the winner!

Thanks for your kind attention - that's all I have for now!

catch that getaway man!

It's out and about in comic book stores far wand wide - The man with the getaway face - and for only two bucks! Get your butt out to your nearest comic store and plunk down some hard currency for your copy. It will hopefully sate your Parker needs until the Outfit is released this October!


and a few more Darwyn illos:

a couple from Jim Clancy's comic art fans gallery





and this great Ghost Rider from Comic Art Community:



and have you mentioned to your local comic book dealer that you want a copy of Weird War Tales #1? Hmmm? have you?
Well, you should. Stories by Darwyn, Ivan (Vikings) Brandon, and Jan (Jeremy Brood, Star Wars) and illustrated by Darwyn, Nic (Vikings) Klein and Gabriel (Black Coat) Hardman. More info here.



It's out in September!

getaway coming soon

Darwyn's adaptation of The Hunter was one of the best-received and most popular graphic novels of 2009; a New York Times best-seller, it has appeared on over 50 "best of the year" lists....but you probably already knew that.


The second book, The Outfit, will debut in the fall, but IDW and Darwyn present the first chapter as a stand-alone preview comic, telling the tale of "The man with the getaway face" which was the second novel in the Parker series. It was made available at WonderCon and will be on sale at your local comic store on July 14th for two bucks! Slam down your hard-earned two dollars and get yourself a king-size comic book that will whet your appetite for The Outfit coming in October!

Darwyn has also decided to change the lineup of Parker novels to be adapted. As mentioned on The Violent World of Parker: "the original plan was to adapt the first four books, but he found himself hungry to adapt two later books in the series, volumes that would “lend themselves to graphic adaptation in unique and exciting ways.” He decided to cut “The Mourner,” which he describes as a good but visually “unspectacular” type of heist. The second book he cut was “The Man With the Getaway Face,” which he reduced to the first chapter of “The Outfit.”

In exchange for those two, he added “The Score,” which tells the tale of one of Parker’s most impressive heists, and “Slayground,” which is the story of the time that Parker got trapped in an amusement park while being hunted by goons. Think “Home Alone,” but with a Parker-style edge."

I think that's a great analogy. Slayground is a terrific, fast-paced story that should be spectacular in comics form.

As noted in the LA Times, if you have one of those spiffy iPads, get the IDW app for a wide selection of comics that you can download for a fee including Darwyn's adaptation of The Hunter.

Speaking of The Hunter, it won darwyn a Joe Shuster award for outstanding cover at the 2010 event!



Darwyn provides the cover and a story in Weird War Tales #1, part of a series of one-shots with a military flavour. Weird War Tales will be released on September 8th of this year and will have three stories; one by Darwyn, another by Ivan Brandon & Nic Klein and the third by Jan Strnad & Gabriel Hardman. The DC Comics website says: "Three sensational short stories from three exceptional creative teams! Whether it's soldiers risen from the grave, horror beneath the sea or battles among dinosaurs, war has never been weirder than this!"

...and now for some Darwyn drawings you may not have seen.... (thanks, tumblr, google & friends!)


Red Sonja from samuraifrog's tumblr


Supergirl from fuckyeahsuperman's tumblr


Princess Leia from thedailyrevolution's tumblr


Death from treiz's tumblr


Dr. Girlfriend from gilmoure's tumblr

Hopefully that will satisfy your daily dose of Cooke illos. Bye for now!

Free comic day wrap-up

Free comic day was an awesome time! Thanks to Darwyn and all the other artists who showed up to do some sketches for folks. Here's a couple of the ones Darwyn did on Saturday for some very happy comic readers:







I hope everyone out there in interwebs world got to their local comic book store and scored some free comics! You can see more of our FCBD event photos at our facebook page here and on our website here.