#Donald Meland

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

uh... happy pride?

[serene-cinders]

They put his ass on ozempic I’m fucking crying

[comicsiswild]

Scarlet Spider (2012) #12

[samasmith23]

One thing I always loved about Kaine’s Scarlet Spider solo series by Christopher Yost was it’s diverse supporting cast, which included among others Dr. Donald Meland & Officer Wally Layton, who are a gay married couple!

From Scarlet Spider (2012) #3 by Christopher Yost & Ryan Stegman.

[lesbiansybelle]

"Turns out that Kaine is every bit the hero that I am. Wherever he is, I hope my brother has found peace."

Amazing Spider-Man #1 (2014)

[scarletspider2the2ndpower]

“A Good, Ol’ Fashioned Rodeo,” Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2/2012), #16.

Writer: Christopher Yost; Penciler: Khoi Pham; Inkers: Terry Pallot and Victor Olazaba; Colorist: Antonia Fabela; Letterer: Joe Caramagna

[phantom-le6]

Film Review - Parker

To conclude my run on Jason Statham films for the present, we now take a look at the 2013 film Parker…

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Parker is a professional thief who is asked by his mentor Hurley to take charge of a job with a crew he doesn't know, consisting of Melander, Carlson, Ross, and Hardwicke. They succeed in robbing the Ohio State Fair, but Hardwicke alters part of Parker's plan, resulting in an unnecessary death. Angry about the killing and a stickler for adhering to his word, Parker refuses to participate in a jewel robbery they ask him to join. Needing Parker’s share of the Ohio loot to finance the bigger job anyway, Melander tells Hardwicke to kill him and they leave him on the side of the road. Parker survives and is picked up by farmers. After escaping from the hospital, Hurley directs Parker to New Orleans, where Hardwicke's brother tells him the crew are in Palm Beach, Florida.

Hurley tries to convince Parker to take his own money and leave the issue alone to protect him and his daughter Claire (who is also Parker's girlfriend) from retribution brought by Hardwicke's uncle Danzinger, a mob boss in Chicago. Parker refuses, stating that he wants the money from those who wronged him due to principle. Danzinger's hitman tries to capture Claire, but she escapes. Parker goes to Palm Beach and masquerades as a rich Texas oil baron named Daniel Parmitt looking for an expensive house. Real estate agent Leslie Rodgers shows him a supposedly vacant home recently purchased by someone named Rodrigo, which piques his interest. Leslie is a struggling divorcee, who asks Parker on a date, but he declines. When she checks his credit, she finds his identity (obtained from one of Hurley's connections) is phony.

Desperate for money and a way out of her mother's condo, Leslie offers her help. When Parker tells her the next job is a jewel heist, Leslie says there is a jewel auction nearby. The hitman finds Parker and attacks him in his hotel, but Parker throws him from the balcony and escapes. A cop comes to Leslie's condo asking about Parmitt and the altercation, since she showed him houses. During the conversation, Leslie finds a bleeding Parker on her porch. She gets the cop to leave, promising him a list of the places she showed "Parmitt". Despite his injuries, Parker insists on carrying out his revenge against Melander's crew that night.

Melander and his crew enter the auction to set up speakers rigged with fireworks. Later, after the fireworks have gone off, they enter as a fire team and steal the jewels, escaping by boat. Parker waits for them at their house, having broken in earlier to plant guns and damage their weapons' firing pins. When they return, he prepares to attack, but Leslie also arrives and is captured by Melander. With the help of one of his planted guns and the bent firing pins, Leslie and Parker manage to kill the entire crew. Parker then leaves Leslie with the intent of fencing the jewels and promises to provide her with her share when he can. He subsequently kills Danzinger in Chicago, mails Leslie her cut a year and a half later and sends money to the farmers who saved him.

Review:

For the second time in this Jason Statham run, we’re getting into literary adaptation territory.  The character of Parker apparently comes from a novel series by the late Donald Westlake, and while the character has undergone prior adaptations, Westlake would not allow any adaptation to use the name Parker unless they agreed to adapt the entire novel series.  Granted, this is from Wikipedia, so taking a pinch of salt with this, but if true, that makes this film a first in that it is the first adaptation of these novels not held to Westlake’s caveat, due to the agreement regarding the film rights being made with his widow after his passing.

That little factoid aside, this is another film I’m having to come at just as a film due to not knowing the source material.  On that basis, the film is a decent action piece, and I think Statham is able to act more in this than in some of his other films.  The action scenes are plentiful but not excessive, and they have some added realism due to the director Taylor Hackford not wanting the Parker character to sail easily through the fights.  It’s not often that dedicated action films do this, at least according to Hackford’s commentary on the blu-ray, but again, I’m taking that with a pinch of salt.  This is because I think sometimes people in film and TV can rush to assume all films or TV shows in a certain genre are a certain way, but haven’t actually explored that media.  This can certainly be true of science fiction franchises like Marvel or Star Trek, who are both misjudged and, based on some podcasts I’ve recently heard, at least one of them has alumni mis-judging the other.

Getting back to Parker, the film also has some recognisable names in its cast beyond Statham.  The main ones are Michael Chiklis, who I mainly know as Ben Grimm from Fox’s original Fantastic Four films, as well as his role in Batman-based TV show Gotham, Bobby Cannavale of MCU fame (Paxton from Ant-Man and its first sequel), Nick Nolte and Jennifer Lopez.  Lopez provides the female lead for the film’s second half, and she does well, as do most of the cast.  The premise is also an interesting one, namely that of a thief with a sort of code, though it’s a far cry from anyone acting in the manner of a Robin Hood.  Parker is clearly a thief of the criminal variety rather than an outlaw hero, but he does have redeeming elements that allow us to accept him as a protagonist.

If I have a criticism on this film, other than Statham showcasing a lack of ability to do accents well, it’s that the film fails to make passages of time more explicit.  On the director’s commentary, Hackford notes a number of instances where time is shown as passing through Statham’s facial hair, the weather and other visual hints, but for me, this is insufficient.  We should have something to tell us how much time has passed, as we do nearer to the end of the film.  This feeds into an increasing trend I’ve noticed in more recent films of failing to impart sufficient information to audiences via the film itself.  This is a good film, but could have been a great film with a bit more direct communication.

Looking at this film by itself, I would say it comes in at about 8 out of 10, and I will leave any judgements on its adaptational accuracy to those who have read the Parker novels.

[agdistis-sanctified]

Donald: The stress of your recent activities has caused you to go into a depression!

Kaine: Depression? Isn't that just a fancy word for feeling bummed out?

Donald: Kaine, you ignorant slut!

[fyeahspiderverse]

I feel it the second I wake up. My name is Kaine, and something horrible is happening. Not her. Not him. Not that. Not even the monster inside of me.

Prey.

Will you shut up?

Kaine! Are you ready to go? Where’s your hat?

I told you he wouldn’t wear a hat, Wally.

This.

Scarlet Spider Vol 2 16: “A Good, Ol' Fashioned Rodeo”

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

some silly AU doodling...

I thought it would be fun to send them to the renaissance festival... especially since I cannot send them to the rodeo due to the timing of specific events in-universe 😅 and hey, an excuse to put Kaine in a skirt 😂😂

Also I thought it would be fun(ny) if either Donald or Wally went all the way in on the costume theme. I picked Donald because he had a fancier shirt at the rodeo in the comics LOL but the idea of Wally being extremely dressed up is also very funny to me... instead he looks like a square. because he is a square.

oh yeah here's one without the dog so you can see wally's socks:

i have a scene where kaine ends up at the petting zoo w/ aracely, petting a bunny, and i wanted to sketch it but the sketch turned out bad so i'm not posting that

[proofthatihaveaheart]

“...it’s a rodeo.”

Scarlet Spider (2011) #16

written by Chris Yost art by Khoi Pham

[comicsiswild]

Scarlet Spider (2012) #12

[traincat]

“I’m not Spider-Man. I’m not a hero. But maybe I don’t have to be a monster.”

Scarlet Spider v2 #2

[lesbiansybelle]

"we need you. not some super hero. we need you"

[scarletspider2the2ndpower]

“Into the Grave: Part 3,” Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2/2012), #23.

Writers: Christopher Yost and Erik Burnham; Penciler and Inker: David Baldeón; Colorist: Chris Sotomayor; Letterer: Joe Caramagna

[businesscasualcyclops]

dare i say, mood?