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Gorgeous artwork and a great story in the best noir tradition. Simply a must-read.

Review from Blog Critics:

I love the whole premise behind Hawaiian Dick, the ongoing 1950s private eye comics set in Hawaii. The noir feel of the storytelling and characters is dead-on. The ex-pat main character, Byrd, is well-drawn and has a lot of emotional baggage he’s carrying that only gets opened up in this first graphic novel.

Byrd of Paradise gathers the first three issues of the comics written by B. Clay Moore and drawn by Steven Griffin. The story immediately seized a lot of attention when it first came out because of the mixture of old and new.

Moore has a great grasp of the story, and noir must run in his veins. The set-up for the story and the execution hits all the cornerstones of the venue, and Byrd’s backstory comes as a natural progression of the case he’s on. Moore’s development of the story “reads” like a movie. He stays off the page and out of panels unless narration or dialogue is really needed. Action tells this story as well as anything, and readers often forget how much a good writer can do with a few panels of delineated action. Moore has a fantastic grasp of the concept.

As good as Moore’s story is, though, Griffin’s art emphasizes everything about it. Griffin’s use of color – bright and vibrant, then dark and moody – sets the tone for the scenes, the characters, and the atmosphere. Through color alone, Griffin could have brought home every emotion that he needed to in order to convey the story.

However, he doesn’t stop there. He gives us well imagined characters and body posture. Byrd just wouldn’t have been the cocky, worldly private eye without the five o’clock shadow and Hawaiian shirt. Mo wouldn’t have been the homicide cop without the immense stature, the clean-shaven appearance, and the immaculate black suit.

The artwork is loose and tight as needed. Sometimes panels only feature characters in action. Then there are times that the background is developed in depth. All of it looks painted, with lots of contrast and rounded shapes that flow naturally to the eye. After you read the graphic novel, don’t be surprised to find yourself leafing back through the pages just to see the artwork again.

The story is pedestrian by all outward appearances. Byrd gets handed a case to find a car, but he’s getting paid more for the recovery than the car is worth. Immediately suspicious, Byrd confronts the man hiring him and finds out the car has a cargo that belongs to drug kingpin, Bishop Masaki. This is the kind of story a noir fan would expect to find laid at the feet of Marlowe, Spade, or Hammer. Moore throws in an extra wrinkle by including Hawaiian voodoo and zombies. The horror aspect never overshadows the private eye story, though. Rather, it complements it and gives the reader a little extra zest that gives the appearance of being something brand new.

I love this story. I’ve read it a few times now and enjoy it each time. It’s simple in structure and delivers everything I’d want in a noir adventure. Plus, the zombie creep factor and a few twists and turns I didn’t see coming. The 1950s feel makes a big difference, too, like our heroes are just a little more exposed than they would be in the present day and age.

The graphic novel contains about 50 pages of extras, including sketches, notes, and script. Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise is a great entertainment and behind-the-scenes bargain. The property has also been licensed for movie development and you can see how a film would flow from these pages. This is a crackerjack read.

This file contains 2 volumes: Byrd of Paradise and The Last Resort.
http://www.multiupload.com/OVUB8ZSEJI (74 MB)

Review from Blogcritics:

So who decides if you are human? Is it enough that each person holds on to the unshakable belief that he or she is human? What if everyone else thought that you were not one of them? Does that shake your beliefs or do you hold onto them with a vice-like grip — afraid that your last attempts to stave off insanity must mean that you must hold these beliefs closer than ever?

Richard Matheson's I Am Legend forces us to ask the question: if everyone else on the planet is alike and you are the only one who is "different," then who is really human — you or them? What if all of them were bloodthirsty vampires out to kill you? Every single one of them! Since you are obviously in an abject minority, does it really matter that you believe that they are "freaks"? Does it give you the right to decide that their lives are not worth it and yours is more important?

These questions hit home; uncomfortably so, in fact, in this book. When it is in the stark black and white that is the graphic novel adaptation from IDW by Steve Niles and Elman Brown, there is no question that this is not just any other "cool" vampire book.

This book will dispel any preconceived notions about graphic novels or vampire stories. The protagonist is not a muscle-bound super-smart guy who uses cool technology and martial arts moves to bring down vampires. Robert Neville is just another small town guy who has suffered the loss of his wife and daughter to the vampire manifestation (or is it a "virus"?) and has to survive being hunted down every night. He's neither good looking, nor does he have a technology expert helping him hunt vampires. He does so the old-fashioned way — shaping wooden stakes from planks and putting up garlic cloves everywhere.

He has to constantly fight his all too human urges — fires within his loins for instance. This is a facet that keeps him tottering on the edge. Whether he will give up all attempts at humanity and rape a female in sleep — or if he can control himself — are positions that he must constantly evaluate and painfully so. He does try to attack the problem analytically to understand the "scientific" issue of vampirism even while facing failure from time to time.


Is he right in trying to preserve his ideas of right and wrong? Does he have the right to kill vampires in their sleep? Are they now the "humans" on the planet and he an aberration? How does one man fight an entire planet?

If you haven't read I Am Legend, then well, you should! And it is also a good book to show those people who believe that graphic novels are for prepubescent teenagers to salivate over hot babes/superheroes in tight costumes. This book shows that quality graphic novels can achieve a level of storytelling that is often hard to beat.


http://www.multiupload.com/OOZF1YOL38

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Gaydos, with Rick Mays, Mark Bagley and Art Thibert
Colourist: Matt Hollingsworth with Dean White

Wikipedia

There should be more comics like Alias. Even though the main protagonist of Alias is an ex-Avenger and the story takes place in Marvel's world, this series is about a thousand miles far from your run of the mill superhero comics. Jessica Parker used to be superhero - one with unremarkable power - now she is a hard-bitten, neurotic private detective who takes photos of cheating spouses for a living, in between bouts of drunken fornication. The classic noir anti-hero. Brian Michael Bandis's great characterization and superb storytelling makes this series an instant classic and a must-read for anyone, especially people who wrongly perceive comic books as a lesser medium.

Review from Comics Daily:

Alias was launched as part of Marvel’s MAX line, a rival of sorts to DC’s Vertigo imprint intended to tell stories with subject matter unsuitable for children. And certainly, Alias did that, with its warts-and-all portrayal of Jessica Jones, a private investigator and former super heroine consumed by self-loathing. The fairer sex has received notoriously short shrift from the mainstream comic book companies over the years, so allowing a male writer free rein to use graphic nudity, violence and swearing in a female-led series about a down-and-out super heroine – well, let’s just say it could easily have gone horribly wrong.

Instead, Jessica Jones might just be one of the greatest new characters to come out of Marvel in decades. Indeed, in creating a female character who wasn’t conventionally attractive or sexualised, who wasn’t exclusively defined by her relationship to the men around her, and who wasn’t portrayed as a fantasy girlfriend for the series’ readers, Bendis created a female lead who was almost unique in the genre. That alone made the series great. The fact that he also placed her in a gripping detective saga that also served as an ongoing character study just made it even better.

Collaborating with Bendis on the series was Michael Gaydos, an artist who translated the noir-influences and emotional depth of Alias into a unique look that capably placed real, human drama alongside the fantastical background of the Marvel Universe. Occasional appearances by Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley helped the book evolve into a meta-commentary on female superheroes just in time for the series to conclude, too soon for the readers, but, in fairness, at exactly the right moment for the narrative.

Years after the series finished, there are still lessons that can and should be learned from Alias, and it’s a shame that Jones herself has been relegated to the supporting cast of New Avengers, losing a lot of her character in the process. The planned Bendis/Gaydos Alias miniseries should remind readers of this frequently overlooked modern classic, but hopefully it’ll also serve to remind Bendis of the depth and nuance he once instilled in the character. Whatever her fate, there can be no doubt that the initial 28-issue series of Jessica Jones’ adventures deserves to be recognized as one of the best comics of the decade. If any Marvel comic can be considered a must-read, this is one that can.


http://www.multiupload.com/6G59F5Y1AN (part 1)
http://www.multiupload.com/A39H28JM4H (part 2)

Download both parts before extracting.