Richard Starks Parker The Hunter HCMedia Release -- San Diego, CA (July 31, 2009) – In its first week of release, IDW is proud to announce that Darwyn Cooke's The Hunter, an adaptation of Richard Stark's novel, debuted on The New York Times best seller list at number three. The Hunter has earned high praise for Cooke's compelling interpretation of Parker, and has been critically lauded nationwide by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly.

Darwyn Cooke, the Eisner Award-winning writer and artist of such classics as DC: The New Frontier, Selina's Big Score, and The Spirit, brings to life one of the true classics of crime fiction: Richard Stark's Parker. Stark was a pseudonym used by the revered and multi-award-winning author, Donald Westlake.

The Hunter, the first book in the Parker series, is the story of a man who hits New York head-on like a shotgun blast to the chest. Betrayed by the woman he loved and double-crossed by his partner in crime, Parker makes his way cross-country with only the thought of revenge burning in his mind.

Here's what the critics are saying:
"The cartoonist Darwyn Cooke is an extraordinary talent… a wonderfully engrossing graphic-novel…" — The New York Times

"Darwyn Cooke and Donald Westlake pull off the perfect crime." "… a meticulously faithful adaptation…" – The Los Angeles Times

"Artist Darwyn Cooke's brand-new rendering of the first Parker novel, 1962's The Hunter, is joltingly good." – Entertainment Weekly

"…a near-perfect match of artist and character." – The Washington Post

"The Hunter" remains a brutal classic, and Cooke adapts it beautifully." – The Boston Herald

Darwyn Cooke's The Hunter is now available in stores.

About IDW
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. As a leader in the horror, action, and sci-fi genres, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry including: Hasbro's The Transformers and G.I. JOE, Paramount's Star Trek; Fox's Angel; the BBC's Doctor Who; and television's #1 prime time series CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studios; and is the print publisher for ComicMix.

IDW's original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.