The Copperhead Kid Rides Into Comic Book Shops

Illustration by Ed Catto

"The Last Ride Of The Copperhead Kid," my first published professional fiction, arrives in comic book stores today, November 27th. It's a two-page prose short story, with illustration by artist Ed Catto, and it appears as a back-up feature in The Second Coming # 5, published by AHOY Comics.

The Second Coming # 5

The Second Coming is a six-issue limited-series comic book, telling a satirical story about God sending His son Jesus back to Earth in the present day, instructing Jesus to learn what he can from a superhero called Sunstar. Hijinks ensue. Written by New York Times bestselling writer Mark Russell and illustrated by Mark Pace, The Second Coming was originally scheduled to be published by DC Comics. Some religious conservatives objected to the presumed sacrilege of a funnybook mixing God with a superhero (and, even worse, with laughter); it was definitely presumed sacrilege, since the blowhards protesting The Second Coming certainly hadn't actually read it. Nonetheless, DC grew skittish, and withdrew. The good folks at AHOY swooped in, allowing the open-minded and appreciative among us to experience it. The Second Coming is a very good comic book, and I'm proud to be associated with it in my small way.




All AHOY comic books contain at least one prose piece, included to enhance the reader's experience with bonus and otherwise unrelated material to back up the main comics feature. The Second Coming # 5 supplements its title feature with four short stories: "Brainwash" by Carol Lay (with art by Lay), "Roommates" by Tyrone Finch (with art by Rick Geary), and "Dear Departed" by Bryce Abood (with art by Carly Wright), plus my story about an Old West gunslinger known as The Copperhead Kid.

I wrote "The Last Ride Of The Copperhead Kid" earlier this year, inspired by a sudden urge to try to write a Western. It is one of ten new short stories I wrote in 2019, and the third of four (so far) that I sold to AHOY. It is the first of my AHOY sales to see publication and, as noted, my first fiction sale to ever see print anywhere. Big moment for me, lemme tell ya.

"A gunslinger can't ride forever. The trail ends some time, even for the fastest gun in the West. Some trails end in old age. For most gunslingers, the trail ends in the grave.

"Most gunslingers weren't The Copperhead Kid."

Wanna read the rest? Check with a comic book store near you to see if it carries AHOY Comics titles, and ask for a copy of The Second Coming # 5. It'll set ya back $3.99, and I believe that to be a good value. Comic Shop Locator can help you find a local comic-book retailer, and there are a lot of other great books out there for your reading pleasure. You can't go wrong with an AHOY title, but DC, Marvel, BOOM!, Dynamite, and other publishers also get their share of my regular weekly comics dollars. Comics are fun! And today, for the first time, I'm a participant in helping to create that fun. I hope you enjoy meeting my character, The Copperhead Kid.




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Fans of pop music will want to check out Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, a new pop compilation benefiting SPARK! Syracuse, the home of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. TIR'N'RR Allstars--Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon, Joel Tinnel, Stacy Carson, Eytan Mirsky, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Irene Peña, Keith Klingensmith, and Rich Firestone--offer a fantastic new version of The Kinks' classic "Waterloo Sunset." That's supplemented by eleven more tracks (plus a hidden bonus track), including previously-unreleased gems from The Click Beetles, Eytan Mirsky, Pop Co-Op, Irene Peña, Michael Slawter (covering The Posies), and The Anderson Council (covering XTC), a new remix of "Infinite Soul" by The Grip Weeds, and familiar TIRnRR Fave Raves by Vegas With Randolph, Gretchen's Wheel, The Armoires, and Pacific Soul Ltd. Oh, and that mystery bonus track? It's exquisite. You need this. You're buying it from Futureman.

(And you can still get our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4, on CD from Kool Kat Musik and as a download from Futureman Records.)

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 100 essays (and then some) about 100 tracks, plus two bonus instrumentals, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).