First, Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers, both of you. (I'd say the more PC Happy Holidays, but, let's face it, it's December 24th, Chanukah has passed, and since everything is closed tonight and tomorrow, we're all pretty much forced to celebrate Christmas one way or another anyway. Expect a longer piece, probably tomorrow, on how the whole "true meaning of Christmas/religious holiday" stuff is a bunch of hogwash, anyway.)

Today, though, I want to recommend a particularly cool comic I just got yesterday: Hawaiian Dick, published by Image Comics. Written by B. Clay Moore and beautifully drawn by Steven Griffin, set in 1953, this first issue tells the tale of Byrd, a former mainland US cop exiled to Hawaii as the result of some sort of unspecified scandal. Working as a PI, he finds himself hired to recover a car stolen from some mobsters working to blackmail their boss. The story is lean and taut without going by too quickly, and the art is just gorgeous, combining pen and ink line art with some beautifully painted colors that bring the setting and characters to life. For want of a better hgh-concept catch-phrase, I'll say it's LA Confidential meets Magnum, PI. I don't know how accurate a portrait of 1950s-era Hawaii this is, but it feels the way you'd expect it to feel. This is the first of three issues, and hopefully we'll see many more stories after that. Check it out! (Or, check out these preview comic strips.)