The sure-footed latest hardboiled thriller from Brubaker and Phillips (Criminal) hits the ground running, delivering both style and substance in its sunny 1980s California setting. Ethan Reckless, a freelance fixer and odd-jobs man operating out of an old movie palace, gets a call from an ex-girlfriend that drags him back to his tangled past in the hippie counterculture. His attempt to help his ex recover stolen money brings him up against the FBI, the CIA, left-wing terrorists, plus old friends and enemies. Reckless is a quintessential noir hero, a jaded man who has countless secrets and a weakness for troublemaking women, and Brubaker and Phillips hit familiar beats with each plot twist and turn. An undercurrent of political commentary and judicious use of historical details, like the CIA's domestic spy program, lend welcome heft to the pulpy proceedings. Phillips drenches the pages in warm, saturated colors that provide an ironic contrast to the characters' shady doings. Part of a trio of graphic novels from this über-talented team, this offering's equally winning standing alone or read in the slick noir set. (Dec.)

Disaffected by the tragic end of his adventures as a Sixties radical and pessimistic about humanity's long-term survival owing to climate change, Ethan Reckless decides, "If we're all doomed…if we're all suffering…then why not try to help people?" After setting up shop inside a rundown movie theater in Los Angeles, he splits his time between assisting anyone with problems they're unable or unwilling to bring to the authorities, surfing, and gobbling pills in order to ease his troubled mind. When Rainy Livingston, his former lover, reaches out claiming someone stole her share of the loot from a bank robbery, saying she needs the money to begin a new life, Reckless embarks on a quest that finds him prowling truck stops, all-night diners, and shady casinos, and head to head with a powerful drug-smuggling ring. Twists abound and tension mounts as this first installment in a new ongoing series progresses, offering a fantastic introduction to a fascinating protagonist. VERDICT While obviously inspired by classic characters such as Travis McGee and Jack Reacher, Brubaker and Phillips's (Cruel Summer) Reckless transcends the creators' influences in this complex portrait of the heartbroken melancholy of a disillusioned idealist who can't quite give up on his fellow man.