Hawaiian dick
Encyclopedia
Hawaiian Dick is a comic book
created by writer B. Clay Moore
and artist Steven Griffin, and published by Image Comics
. The first Hawaiian Dick mini-series
hit comic shops in December of 2002
, and was subsequently followed in late 2003
by a second four issue mini-series called Hawaiian Dick: the Last Resort. The second series ran into numerous publication delays, but was completed in July of 2006
.
The trade paperback
collecting the second mini-series was published in October 2006.
The comic book received extensive media attention upon its arrival, including favorable reviews in Entertainment Weekly
and Publishers Weekly
. In 2004, Hawaiian Dick was optioned by New Line Cinema
for development as a feature film. Screenwriters Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (Freddy vs. Jason
) were signed on to develop a screenplay. The option was subsequently renewed in 2006, at which time director Frank Coraci
(The Wedding Singer
, The Waterboy
, Click) was tabbed to direct the film, although no movement toward actual casting and production has been made.
Artist and colorist Steven Griffin was nominated for the 2003 Russ Manning Award
for his work on the book, and subsequently received three separate Eisner Award
nominations for Best Colorist for Hawaiian Dick, receiving those nominations in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Moore has recently announced plans for a monthly Hawaiian Dick title, with artist Scott Chantler slated to
illustrate the lead stories.
Hawaiian Dick appeared on the Wizard Top 100 Trade Paperbacks of the Wizard Era, clocking in at number 92. In an article on WeAreAtomik.com talking about making the list, B. Clay Moore confesses to being Atomik.
. Byrd, the main character, lives in Honolulu. The Hawaii of Hawaiian Dick is also home to all of Hawaii's legendary supernatural anomalies, each able to manifest when the time is right.
ese expatriate who runs a criminal syndicate in Hawaii. Shortly after discovering this, Byrd, Mo, and Grimes are involved in a high-speed shoot-out in which the car gets riddled with bullets and they end up off the side of the Pali Highway.
Byrd and Mo discover that instead of drugs being stashed in the car's trunk, Bishop Masaki's lover, Leila Rose, was in there bound and gagged. However, the shoot-out resulted in her death. While they make this horrifying discovery, they also hear a steady drumbeat growing on the night air. Moving as far as possible, Byrd and Mo just escape from the clutches of the Pali Highway Night marchers, the spirits of Hawaiian warriors, though Grimes is swept away in the tumult, screaming. After the Marchers have passed, Byrd and Mo return to the car and discover that Leila Rose's body is gone as well.
Byrd investigates Leila Rose, and ends up meeting her sister, Kahami, at a bar called the Outrigger. Kahami, saddened by her sister's death, takes Byrd to visit her aunt, Auntie Chan, a woman who, in Hawaiian culture, is a sort of witch-doctor (similar to a bruja in Mexican culture). While Byrd meets with Kahami's aunt revealing that it was her who raised Leila Rose and who got the girl killed in the first place, feeling it would be better to have dead nieces than ones who were in the thrall of Bishop Masaki, Mo investigates a disturbance at one of Bishop Masaki's warehouses. While there he is knocked unconscious by Leila Rose's zombified corpse who proceeds to leave the warehouse.
As the story rumbles towards its conclusion, Byrd and Kahami go to the docks to face Bishop Masaki as a storm rages around them. During their confrontation, Auntie Chan arrives. A shoot-out begins, during which time Auntie Chan gets shot, but stops when Bishop Masaki sees Leila Rose coming toward him during the storm. It is only when a flash of lightning strikes too late that Masaki sees Leila for the corpse she has become before she embraces him and they fall off the pier and into he roiling ocean. Byrd and Kahami flee the scene, as does Auntie Chan. The book ends with Byrd setting up his new offices in Auntie Chan's old store front. Auntie Chan herself ends up stalled on the Pali Highway. She gets out of her car as a series of drumbeats begins...
mafioso, Red Piano, to investigate who is trying to stall and sabotage the opening of his casino
-resort, the Seaside Sands. He figures the trouble is being caused by his Irish
rival, Danny Quinn, at the competing casino-resort, the Coral Reef. Byrd blows all of his advance from Piano on a new cherry-red 1954 Corvette
despite the bills he is accumulating at his home office. Heading out to check on him, Mo and Kahami pose as cousins and also get a room at Red Piano's hotel.
After his meeting with Piano Byrd is captured by men of Quinn's, who tie him to a chair and try to coerce information about Piano and his job out of him. Byrd holds up against the abuse (mostly doled out by Quinn henchman Stew Mulligan) and remains tied up while Quinn and his boys decide better what to do with him. Byrd, trying to figure a way out of the mess, is aided by what appears to be the spirit of Leila Rose who unties him and directs him toward a window to jump out of. Byrd does and flees back to the Seaside Sands hotel. In the meanwhile, Mo is recognized by men of Quinn's who also kidnap the large detective and hold him until they can murder him and dispose of the corpse.
While Kahami remains worried about Mo, Byrd assumes (re: hopes) that Mo can handle himself, as he doesn't see a feasible way to try to free the man. Meeting up with Quinn's thug, Mulligan, Byrd and the Irishman hit it off and begin to drink heavily, during which time Mulligan reveals that Quinn wants to set up a casino at his resort, despite gambling being illegal in Hawaii. After this, Byrd passes out and Mulligan returns him to his hotel before heading back to Quinn's establishment. On his way, Mulligan hears strange noises in the wood and is waylaid by a Hawaiian spirit who runs him off a cliff and into the ocean below. The next day he appears at Red Piano's hotel saying one word, "Spooks", before falling face down, dead.
Quinn, in an uproar, storms into Piano's establishment and demands justice, though he is placated at first when they reveal that none of them killed Mulligan. Piano then reveals to Byrd that he has also greased local palms in order to get a casino running in his establishment and that he wants proof that Quinn is trying to harm his business so he will have the clout to muscle Quinn out of Hawaii altogether. Byrd also meets the Seaside Sands's bartender, an FBI agent named Chris Duque, who tells him that he is also investigating the criminality of the establishments and that Byrd's cooperation will be appreciated—whether Byrd actually wants to or not. During this time, Quinn's men are also trying to kill Mo, who has escaped the speedboat they were taking him out into the ocean with along with one of his captor's weapons. He shoots the boat's driver through the head, then ducks as the out-of-control boat comes revving up the dock, banks off an outcropping of rock, and flies straight into Quinn's resort, blowing up one of the wings, and igniting the rest of the place. Quinn, furious about the attack he perceived to come from Red Piano, and about the fact that the Irish mafia just severed ties with him (by telephone), takes his men over to the Seaside Sands to have it out with the Italians.
While a massive gun battle between the Irish and the Italians ensues, Byrd still wonders who was trying to sabotage the resorts. Mo indicates that it may have been Hawaiian spirits, but Byrd dismisses this thought. As they try to flee the hotel, however, Byrd, Kahami, and Mo are nearly attacked by a spirit and escape just in time. Upstairs, Piano's and Quinn's men face each other in a stand-off while spirits materialize before them. Both men open fire out of fear, the bullets passing through the ghosts and into each opposing side instead. As Byrd, Kahami, and Mo flee the Seaside Sands, Anthony Antonio, the late Mr. Piano's right-hand man, joins them as Byrd's cramped Corvette hightails it out of there. How Byrd will pay his mounting bills remains to be seen.
Byrd is a former mainland detective, forced into early retirement due to situations that remain unclear at this point, though there has been a flashback sequence of Byrd shooting what appeared to be his brother, who was clutching a bloody knife, and it has been indicated this incident led to his leaving the States.
An alcoholic, Byrd often visits bars at or near the locations he is paid to investigate and he seemingly prefers nearly any sort of drink (though the ones he is most often illustrated with appear to be either straight whiskey or bourbon). Byrd is also extremely reckless in his job as a detective, smart-mouthing almost everyone he meets, even to his detriment which may include beatings and attempts on his life.
The cases Byrd finds himself involved with also often include some element of the supernatural from native Hawaiian culture, though he remains in denial of what he truly knows.
Mo Kalama:
Mo is a hulking, 300 pound Honolulu detective and wartime friend of Byrd's. Mo has proven to be a crack shot with a firearm, as well as being able to handle an extreme amount of abuse from those attacking him.
His attitude about life remains very nonchalant, and he often exonerates Byrd from incidences that Byrd may feel bad about involving him in, ending these remarks by referring to Byrd as his, "Brah."
Byrd's first adventure was spurred by Mo passing along a stolen car case that was "too hot" for the police to handle.
Kahami:
Kahami is a beautiful Hawaiian girl who has worked as both a cocktail waitress (Byrd first meets her at the Outrigger) and, subsequently, as Byrd's assistant (after the events of Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise).
Kahami also has a slightly emotionally flighty personality, often becoming annoyed at Byrd for small reasons the detective is most often oblivious to. It remains unclear at this point whether Kahami displays these feelings as a subconscious reaction to Byrd as a pseudo brother-figure, or to Byrd as a possible future lover.
Kahami's sister, Leila Rose, and her Auntie Chan played a prominent role in Byrd's first case.
Masaki was a notorious Hawaiian drug lord (evidently of Japanese descent) who attempted to kill both Byrd and Kahami in Byrd's first adventure. Masaki's fatal flaw was his attachment to Kahami's sister, Leila Rose. He drowned when the corpse of Leila Rose drug him into the depths of the sea during the finale.
Leila Rose:
Leila Rose was Kahami's sister and starts the comic series deceased. At some point Leila Rose fell in with Bishop Masaki, and was eventually accidentally shot by Mo Kalama as she rode in the trunk of a stolen car. Leila Rose returned as a zombie, directed by her treacherous Auntie Chan.
Auntie Chan:
The aunt of Kahami and Leila Rose, Auntie Chan ran a fortune telling shop in Honolulu before becoming involved in a kidnapping plot involving Leila Rose. Trained in a range of mysticism, Auntie Chan met her end on the Pali Highway when the Night Marchers came through.
Grimes:
Grimes was a local hood who attempted to double-cross Masaki by kidnapping his girlfriend, Leila Rose, and ransoming her back to him. His plans fell apart when his car was stolen (with Leila Rose in the trunk) by young Hawaiian thrill seekers. Grimes's fate was to be swept away by the Night Marchers.
The Night Marchers:
The ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors. In Hawaiian Dick, the Night Marchers are portrayed as spirits of vengeance, seeking their revenge toward those who fail to show the proper respect for their homeland.
Red Piano is an Italian mobster from the mainland, who ventures to Hawaii in an attempt to open a gambling resort called the Seaside Sands. Piano hires Byrd to investigate strange goings-on at his resort. Gunned down during the finale by Danny Quinn and his boys.
Anthony Antonio, AKA "The Thinker":
The Thinker is Red Piano's advisor and right-hand man. He generally prefers brains over brawn, and rarely engages in direct confrontation. The only survivor of the shoot-out between Red Piano and his men, and Danny Quinn and his, Anthony Antonio flees with Byrd and company back to Honolulu.
Danny Quinn:
"Dandy" Danny Quinn is Red Piano's opposite number in an Irish mob "family" from the mainland. Quinn is attempting to occupy the same bay as Piano's Seaside Sands with his own resort, the Coral Reef. Gunned down during the finale by Red Piano and his boys.
Stew Mulligan:
Mulligan is a former boxer and member of Danny Quinn's gang. Sent to negotiate with Byrd, the two men ended up drinking the night away, until Byrd passed out. Mulligan carried Byrd back to his hotel, and was subsequently chased off a sheer cliff by an apparition. Mulligan reappeared, collapsed, and died outside the Seaside Sands the next day.
Agent Chris Duque:
Duque was an FBI agent operating undercover as a bartender at the Seaside Sands. He revealed himself to Byrd after Mulligan's disappearance, but his subsequent fate is unknown.
:
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
created by writer B. Clay Moore
B. Clay Moore
B. Clay Moore is an American comic book writer, best known for the series Hawaiian Dick.-Career:Moore first achieved notoriety as the writer and co-creator of Hawaiian Dick, first published in 2002 by Image Comics...
and artist Steven Griffin, and published by Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
. The first Hawaiian Dick mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
hit comic shops in December of 2002
2002 in comics
-March:* Adventures of Superman #600: super-sized anniversary issue by Joe Casey, Mike Wieringo, and Jose Marzan, Jr. -April:* Batman #600: "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive," part one, 64-page giant, written by Ed Brubaker.-January:...
, and was subsequently followed in late 2003
2003 in comics
-January:* January 2: Kid Colt artist Jack Keller dies at age 80.- April :* Action Comics #800: Double-sized anniversary issue, "A Hero's Journey," by Joe Kelly, Pascual Ferry, and Duncan Rouleau...
by a second four issue mini-series called Hawaiian Dick: the Last Resort. The second series ran into numerous publication delays, but was completed in July of 2006
2006 in comics
-January:*January 1, 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons. *January 2, 2006: The Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman starts a blog to detail his creative process...
.
The trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
collecting the second mini-series was published in October 2006.
The comic book received extensive media attention upon its arrival, including favorable reviews in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
and Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
. In 2004, Hawaiian Dick was optioned by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
for development as a feature film. Screenwriters Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. The film is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises...
) were signed on to develop a screenplay. The option was subsequently renewed in 2006, at which time director Frank Coraci
Frank Coraci
Frank Coraci is an American film director and screenwriter best known for his work with Adam Sandler.Coraci was born in Shirley, New York. Coraci graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988. He has directed three of Sandler's hit films as well as several of Sandler's...
(The Wedding Singer
The Wedding Singer
The Wedding Singer is a 1998 romantic comedy film written by Tim Herlihy and directed by Frank Coraci. It stars Adam Sandler as a wedding singer in the 1980s and Drew Barrymore as a waitress with whom he falls in love....
, The Waterboy
The Waterboy
The Waterboy is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It stars Adam Sandler alongside Henry Winkler, Kathy Bates, Jerry Reed, and Fairuza Balk. Lynn Swann, Lawrence Taylor, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Cowher, Paul Wight, and Rob Schneider have cameos...
, Click) was tabbed to direct the film, although no movement toward actual casting and production has been made.
Artist and colorist Steven Griffin was nominated for the 2003 Russ Manning Award
Russ Manning Award
The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award is an American award presented to a comic book artist whose first professional work appeared within the previous two years. It was named after comic book artist Russ Manning...
for his work on the book, and subsequently received three separate Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
nominations for Best Colorist for Hawaiian Dick, receiving those nominations in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Moore has recently announced plans for a monthly Hawaiian Dick title, with artist Scott Chantler slated to
illustrate the lead stories.
Hawaiian Dick appeared on the Wizard Top 100 Trade Paperbacks of the Wizard Era, clocking in at number 92. In an article on WeAreAtomik.com talking about making the list, B. Clay Moore confesses to being Atomik.
The setting
Hawaiian Dick takes place in the fifties, in a noir version of HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Byrd, the main character, lives in Honolulu. The Hawaii of Hawaiian Dick is also home to all of Hawaii's legendary supernatural anomalies, each able to manifest when the time is right.
Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise
Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise begins innocently enough with Mo Kalama visiting his friend, Byrd, to tell him about a stolen car that is a little hot for the police to handle, but not too hot for someone with the outside interest that Byrd would present. Together they find out that the car, being paid to be delivered to a man named Grimes, has a stash that will be going to notorious island criminal and drug-baron, Bishop Masaki, a JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese expatriate who runs a criminal syndicate in Hawaii. Shortly after discovering this, Byrd, Mo, and Grimes are involved in a high-speed shoot-out in which the car gets riddled with bullets and they end up off the side of the Pali Highway.
Byrd and Mo discover that instead of drugs being stashed in the car's trunk, Bishop Masaki's lover, Leila Rose, was in there bound and gagged. However, the shoot-out resulted in her death. While they make this horrifying discovery, they also hear a steady drumbeat growing on the night air. Moving as far as possible, Byrd and Mo just escape from the clutches of the Pali Highway Night marchers, the spirits of Hawaiian warriors, though Grimes is swept away in the tumult, screaming. After the Marchers have passed, Byrd and Mo return to the car and discover that Leila Rose's body is gone as well.
Byrd investigates Leila Rose, and ends up meeting her sister, Kahami, at a bar called the Outrigger. Kahami, saddened by her sister's death, takes Byrd to visit her aunt, Auntie Chan, a woman who, in Hawaiian culture, is a sort of witch-doctor (similar to a bruja in Mexican culture). While Byrd meets with Kahami's aunt revealing that it was her who raised Leila Rose and who got the girl killed in the first place, feeling it would be better to have dead nieces than ones who were in the thrall of Bishop Masaki, Mo investigates a disturbance at one of Bishop Masaki's warehouses. While there he is knocked unconscious by Leila Rose's zombified corpse who proceeds to leave the warehouse.
As the story rumbles towards its conclusion, Byrd and Kahami go to the docks to face Bishop Masaki as a storm rages around them. During their confrontation, Auntie Chan arrives. A shoot-out begins, during which time Auntie Chan gets shot, but stops when Bishop Masaki sees Leila Rose coming toward him during the storm. It is only when a flash of lightning strikes too late that Masaki sees Leila for the corpse she has become before she embraces him and they fall off the pier and into he roiling ocean. Byrd and Kahami flee the scene, as does Auntie Chan. The book ends with Byrd setting up his new offices in Auntie Chan's old store front. Auntie Chan herself ends up stalled on the Pali Highway. She gets out of her car as a series of drumbeats begins...
Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort
In The Last Resort, Byrd is hired by ItalianItalian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
mafioso, Red Piano, to investigate who is trying to stall and sabotage the opening of his casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
-resort, the Seaside Sands. He figures the trouble is being caused by his Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
rival, Danny Quinn, at the competing casino-resort, the Coral Reef. Byrd blows all of his advance from Piano on a new cherry-red 1954 Corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
despite the bills he is accumulating at his home office. Heading out to check on him, Mo and Kahami pose as cousins and also get a room at Red Piano's hotel.
After his meeting with Piano Byrd is captured by men of Quinn's, who tie him to a chair and try to coerce information about Piano and his job out of him. Byrd holds up against the abuse (mostly doled out by Quinn henchman Stew Mulligan) and remains tied up while Quinn and his boys decide better what to do with him. Byrd, trying to figure a way out of the mess, is aided by what appears to be the spirit of Leila Rose who unties him and directs him toward a window to jump out of. Byrd does and flees back to the Seaside Sands hotel. In the meanwhile, Mo is recognized by men of Quinn's who also kidnap the large detective and hold him until they can murder him and dispose of the corpse.
While Kahami remains worried about Mo, Byrd assumes (re: hopes) that Mo can handle himself, as he doesn't see a feasible way to try to free the man. Meeting up with Quinn's thug, Mulligan, Byrd and the Irishman hit it off and begin to drink heavily, during which time Mulligan reveals that Quinn wants to set up a casino at his resort, despite gambling being illegal in Hawaii. After this, Byrd passes out and Mulligan returns him to his hotel before heading back to Quinn's establishment. On his way, Mulligan hears strange noises in the wood and is waylaid by a Hawaiian spirit who runs him off a cliff and into the ocean below. The next day he appears at Red Piano's hotel saying one word, "Spooks", before falling face down, dead.
Quinn, in an uproar, storms into Piano's establishment and demands justice, though he is placated at first when they reveal that none of them killed Mulligan. Piano then reveals to Byrd that he has also greased local palms in order to get a casino running in his establishment and that he wants proof that Quinn is trying to harm his business so he will have the clout to muscle Quinn out of Hawaii altogether. Byrd also meets the Seaside Sands's bartender, an FBI agent named Chris Duque, who tells him that he is also investigating the criminality of the establishments and that Byrd's cooperation will be appreciated—whether Byrd actually wants to or not. During this time, Quinn's men are also trying to kill Mo, who has escaped the speedboat they were taking him out into the ocean with along with one of his captor's weapons. He shoots the boat's driver through the head, then ducks as the out-of-control boat comes revving up the dock, banks off an outcropping of rock, and flies straight into Quinn's resort, blowing up one of the wings, and igniting the rest of the place. Quinn, furious about the attack he perceived to come from Red Piano, and about the fact that the Irish mafia just severed ties with him (by telephone), takes his men over to the Seaside Sands to have it out with the Italians.
While a massive gun battle between the Irish and the Italians ensues, Byrd still wonders who was trying to sabotage the resorts. Mo indicates that it may have been Hawaiian spirits, but Byrd dismisses this thought. As they try to flee the hotel, however, Byrd, Kahami, and Mo are nearly attacked by a spirit and escape just in time. Upstairs, Piano's and Quinn's men face each other in a stand-off while spirits materialize before them. Both men open fire out of fear, the bullets passing through the ghosts and into each opposing side instead. As Byrd, Kahami, and Mo flee the Seaside Sands, Anthony Antonio, the late Mr. Piano's right-hand man, joins them as Byrd's cramped Corvette hightails it out of there. How Byrd will pay his mounting bills remains to be seen.
Hawaiian Dick: Screaming Black Thunder
Beginning with Byrd and Kahami watching an airshow from the cliffs overlooking the beach (Byrd dodges around Kahami's questions of buying legitimate tickets) they watch as a squadron of WWII planes perform stunts in the air before being viciously attacked by—of all things—a Japanese Zero. While Byrd rushes down to see what's going on, we move to Mo Kalama poking his head into Anthony Antonio's new souvenir shop in Honolulu and checking to see if the reformed criminal really is as reformed as he seems. Byrd and Kamami end up going for drinks with several members of the Screaming Black Thunder, a rogue WWII air squadron made up of stunt pilots that fought for the Allies during WWII and now goes about the world in search of the supernatural. Byrd makes plans to meet with the group the following day at his offices to see if he can help them discover what's what regarding the Zero.Main characters
Byrd:Byrd is a former mainland detective, forced into early retirement due to situations that remain unclear at this point, though there has been a flashback sequence of Byrd shooting what appeared to be his brother, who was clutching a bloody knife, and it has been indicated this incident led to his leaving the States.
An alcoholic, Byrd often visits bars at or near the locations he is paid to investigate and he seemingly prefers nearly any sort of drink (though the ones he is most often illustrated with appear to be either straight whiskey or bourbon). Byrd is also extremely reckless in his job as a detective, smart-mouthing almost everyone he meets, even to his detriment which may include beatings and attempts on his life.
The cases Byrd finds himself involved with also often include some element of the supernatural from native Hawaiian culture, though he remains in denial of what he truly knows.
Mo Kalama:
Mo is a hulking, 300 pound Honolulu detective and wartime friend of Byrd's. Mo has proven to be a crack shot with a firearm, as well as being able to handle an extreme amount of abuse from those attacking him.
His attitude about life remains very nonchalant, and he often exonerates Byrd from incidences that Byrd may feel bad about involving him in, ending these remarks by referring to Byrd as his, "Brah."
Byrd's first adventure was spurred by Mo passing along a stolen car case that was "too hot" for the police to handle.
Kahami:
Kahami is a beautiful Hawaiian girl who has worked as both a cocktail waitress (Byrd first meets her at the Outrigger) and, subsequently, as Byrd's assistant (after the events of Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise).
Kahami also has a slightly emotionally flighty personality, often becoming annoyed at Byrd for small reasons the detective is most often oblivious to. It remains unclear at this point whether Kahami displays these feelings as a subconscious reaction to Byrd as a pseudo brother-figure, or to Byrd as a possible future lover.
Kahami's sister, Leila Rose, and her Auntie Chan played a prominent role in Byrd's first case.
Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise
Bishop Masaki:Masaki was a notorious Hawaiian drug lord (evidently of Japanese descent) who attempted to kill both Byrd and Kahami in Byrd's first adventure. Masaki's fatal flaw was his attachment to Kahami's sister, Leila Rose. He drowned when the corpse of Leila Rose drug him into the depths of the sea during the finale.
Leila Rose:
Leila Rose was Kahami's sister and starts the comic series deceased. At some point Leila Rose fell in with Bishop Masaki, and was eventually accidentally shot by Mo Kalama as she rode in the trunk of a stolen car. Leila Rose returned as a zombie, directed by her treacherous Auntie Chan.
Auntie Chan:
The aunt of Kahami and Leila Rose, Auntie Chan ran a fortune telling shop in Honolulu before becoming involved in a kidnapping plot involving Leila Rose. Trained in a range of mysticism, Auntie Chan met her end on the Pali Highway when the Night Marchers came through.
Grimes:
Grimes was a local hood who attempted to double-cross Masaki by kidnapping his girlfriend, Leila Rose, and ransoming her back to him. His plans fell apart when his car was stolen (with Leila Rose in the trunk) by young Hawaiian thrill seekers. Grimes's fate was to be swept away by the Night Marchers.
The Night Marchers:
The ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors. In Hawaiian Dick, the Night Marchers are portrayed as spirits of vengeance, seeking their revenge toward those who fail to show the proper respect for their homeland.
Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort
Red Piano:Red Piano is an Italian mobster from the mainland, who ventures to Hawaii in an attempt to open a gambling resort called the Seaside Sands. Piano hires Byrd to investigate strange goings-on at his resort. Gunned down during the finale by Danny Quinn and his boys.
Anthony Antonio, AKA "The Thinker":
The Thinker is Red Piano's advisor and right-hand man. He generally prefers brains over brawn, and rarely engages in direct confrontation. The only survivor of the shoot-out between Red Piano and his men, and Danny Quinn and his, Anthony Antonio flees with Byrd and company back to Honolulu.
Danny Quinn:
"Dandy" Danny Quinn is Red Piano's opposite number in an Irish mob "family" from the mainland. Quinn is attempting to occupy the same bay as Piano's Seaside Sands with his own resort, the Coral Reef. Gunned down during the finale by Red Piano and his boys.
Stew Mulligan:
Mulligan is a former boxer and member of Danny Quinn's gang. Sent to negotiate with Byrd, the two men ended up drinking the night away, until Byrd passed out. Mulligan carried Byrd back to his hotel, and was subsequently chased off a sheer cliff by an apparition. Mulligan reappeared, collapsed, and died outside the Seaside Sands the next day.
Agent Chris Duque:
Duque was an FBI agent operating undercover as a bartender at the Seaside Sands. He revealed himself to Byrd after Mulligan's disappearance, but his subsequent fate is unknown.
Collections
The series has been collected into a couple of trade paperbacksTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
- Vol. 1: Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise (ISBN 1-5824-0317-1 collects Hawaiian Dick #1-3)
- Vol. 2: Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort (ISBN 1-5824-0664-2 collects Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort #1-4)
Other appearances
- A six-page black and white Hawaiian Dick short story, "Echo of Bullets Past" by B. Clay Moore & Shawn Crystal, appeared in Negative Burn Vol.2 (ISBN 1-5824-0469-0)
External links
- The Hawaiian Dick home page, operated by series writer B. Clay Moore
- B. Clay Moore interviewed by Seth Jones, Comic Book ResourcesComic Book ResourcesComic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...
, 4 June 2004]. - Review of Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort, The Daily Cross Hatch, March 2, 2007
- Interview with B. Clay Moore about Hawaiian Dick, 76 and Billy Smoke, Comic Book Outsiders podcast, October 2008
- B. Clay Moore's Blog, Hawaiian Dick Makes Top 100 in Wizard Magazine