Professional Liar Storms His Way Back Into Comic Book Stores

Illustration by Ed Catto

This Wednesday, my short story "Bullets From The Copperhead Detective" will hit comic book stores nationwide as a prose bonus feature in the AHOY Comics funnybook The Toxic Avenger Comics # 1. Thanks once again to artist Ed Catto for bringing another one of the imaginary characters in my head to vivid visual life, and thanks as always to everyone at AHOY.

This is the sixth published story in my cross-generational series The Copperhead Kid. It's set in the 1920s, and it stars a hardboiled private eye who is the son of the Old West gunslinger introduced in "The Last Ride Of The Copperhead Kid," the older brother of the 1930s masked vigilante seen in "The Copperhead Strikes!," uncle to the 1960s secret agent starring in "The Copperhead Affair," great uncle to the bass-playing '80s punk chick kickin' ass in "Chaos At The Copperhead Club," and great, great uncle to the reluctant present-day costumed adventurer taking on one last intrepid challenge in "Flight Of The Copperhead."

The stories have been sold and published in the order I wrote them, and this new one is the first to return to an earlier point in the timeline; chronologically, "Bullets From The Copperhead Detective" takes place in between the events of "The Last Ride Of The Copperhead Kid" and "The Copperhead Strikes!," but each story stands on its own and does not require any familiarity with other parts of the Copperhead Kid saga.

Eventually, "Bullets From The Copperhead Detective" will take its place in the Copperhead chronology in between (presumed) future stories "The Bride Of The Copperhead Kid" and "The Copperhead Kid's New York Adventure," with a few more to follow down the line. 

If memory serves, this is my ninth fiction sale to AHOY. The AHOY editors are currently mulling the relative merit of a tenth story, "Guitars Vs Rayguns! Last Stand On Uranus." It's a sequel to my first fiction sale "Guitars Vs. Rayguns," and it will eventually find its way into a book collecting my (non-Copperhead) short stories.

Wanna read the new comic-book adventures of Troma Entertainment's celluloid superstar the Toxic Avenger AND check out my two-fisted Roarin' 20s gumshoe the Copperhead Detective? Use Comic Shop Locator to find a comics retailer near you. Be sure to call ahead to see if the store has a copy of The Toxic Avenger Comics # 1 available; most stores that don't have it in stock can order it for you. And now, new intrigue awaits you on a mountain in Tibet in the first tense moments of 1925. Don't worry about stray bullets; the Copperhead Detective's aim is true.

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My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.