Introducing… PUTNAM COUNTY
…and its first story in the collection of true-crime comics with a twist, "Harry Won't Stay Buried"
As Neil Gaiman used to say in his blog posts after a hiatus, I bet you thought I was dead.
Well, not yet. I been workin’ hard, kids, and it’s all for you, yessiree.
Welcome to the the world of Putnam County, where true-crime comes to roost. It’s a world of murder, history, and myth all rolled up and presented to you by Karen, hearse driver for the ages, ready to take you over the Styx River Bridge after your token is paid.
This is story #1 in the Putnam County series.
What’s Harry Won’t Stay Buried about?
Harry Wilbur is about to take the ride of his life…er, death.
It’s 1934, and Harry has just been murdered. Why would anyone choose to kill a friendly alcoholic handyman with a gimp leg whose main concern in life is when his next shot of booze will burn his esophagus? Karen, metaphysical hearse driver/Styx River crossing guide, wants to know, and Harry, now traveling with her between his old existence and the new one, tells his side of the story.
Enter Bertha Currie, proprietor of Little Bertha’s Roadside Ruin Inn, where Harry works. Bertha is charmed by the allure of life insurance, especially “dead peasant” policies taken out on employees. And poor Harry could be more useful to her dead than alive.
But what Bertha doesn’t count on are the town’s upstanding citizens eager to keep her quiet about their extra-curricular activities at the Inn, the yellow journalism of the era, and a dance with death itself.
And yes, this is a fictionalized account of a true story. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
Here’s a preview:
Beautifully done!
Loved the beginning and how it flowed into the story!