As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently discovered the world of Parker. Of all possible inspirations for Tabasco Lang, be it from books, movies or comics, there is no single character who resembles him more than Parker.
Parker, hero (or rather, anti-hero) of the series of short novels by Richard Stark, is a “heister by profession, an institutional robber who stole from banks or jewelry stores or armored cars” rather than a hired gun, but in all other respects, he is the character that Tabasco was born to spoof. Let’s see how Stark himself describes Parker, and tell me these descriptions wouldn’t suit Tabasco equally well:
“His hands, swinging curve-fingered at his sides, looked like they were molded of brown clay by a sculptor who thought big and liked veins. His hair was brown and dry and dead, blowing around his head like a pour toupee about to fly loose. His face was a chipped chunk of concrete, with eyes of flawed onyx. His mouth was a quick stroke, bloodless.” (from The Hunter, first of the Parker novels) “He looked like a businessman, in a tough business. (…) He could have been a hard, lean businessman coming home from a late night at the office.” (from The Mourner) (To Parker) “They tell me you’re the best. They tell me you can keep an operation together better than anybody, and you can get the best men to work with you.” (from The Score)Next time: The biggest difference between Parker and Tabasco is that Tabasco actually talks. He probably says more in chapter 1 than Parker does in all 23 novels he appears in.