Photo: Karen Lansdale

 

As probably the only person in the International Martial Arts Hall
of Fame who has received an Edgar, ten Stokers, a Grandmaster of Horror,
the British Fantasy, a Spur, and the Herodotus Awards, Joe R. Lansdale extraordinary output has included more than 40 novels, 400 shorter works, numerous comic books, and a handful of screenplays as well as devising the Shen Chuan Martial Science.

His novels include The Drive-in (1988), The Nightrunners (1987), COLD IN JULY (1989), the Edgar Award-winning The Bottoms (2000), A Fine Dark Line (2002),  FLAMING ZEPPELINS (2010),
The Thicket (2013), the Spur-Award-winning Paradise Sky (2015), and Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers (2017). Beginning with By Bizarre Hands (1989), Lansdale’s numerous
short stories have been collected in several volumes including Writer of the Purple Rage (1994), High Cotton (2000), Sanctified and Chicken Fried (2009), THE BEST OF JOE R. LANSDALE (2010), DEADMAN’S ROAD (2010), DEADMAN’S CROSSING
(2013), Bleeding Shadows (2013), Miracles Ain’t What They Use To Be (2016). and Terror is our Business (2018 with Kasey Lansdale). He’s edited 15 anthologies including Razored Saddles (1989 with
Pat LoBrutto), Dark at Heart (1992 with Karen Lansdale), Weird Business (1995 with Richard Klaw), Retro Pulp Tales (2006), Cross Plains Universe (2006 with Scott
Cupp), CRUCIFIED DREAMS (2011) and THE URBAN FANTASY ANTHOLOGY (2011 with Peter S. Beagle). As if this wasn’t enough, Lansdale has written comics for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, and others.

Lansdale’s most famous creation is the unlikely duo of Hap and Leonard.
Hap Collins is white, liberal, and even tempered. Leonard Pine, who is
quick to anger, is black, conservative and gay. In a series of thirteen
novels, beginning with Savage Season (1990), and several novellas and short stories, the best
friends encounter violence, racism, and adventure in their East Texas
haunts. The often humorous tales have garnered much praise and a legion
of loyal fans. Many of the Hap and Leonard novellas and shorter tales
were collected in Veil’s Visit (1999), HAP AND LEONARD (2016), THE BIG BOOK OF HAP AND LEONARD (2018) and the forthcoming OF MICE AND MINESTRONE. In 2017, Lansdale wrote HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE which chronicled the young adventures of the duo, including the origins of their unique friendship. The most recent Hap and Leonard was The Elephant of Surprise (2019). For three seasons, the pair were featured on SUNDANCETV’s Hap and Leonard, starring James Purefoy and Michael
K. Williams.

Other works that have enjoyed the film treatment include Bubba Ho-Tep, Cold in July, “Incident On and Off a Mountain Road,” “The Dump,” “Fish Night,” “The Companion,” and Christmas With the Dead, which Lansdale produced with a screenplay by his son, Keith. He
has written many screenplays and teleplays, most notably for Batman: The Animated Series.

 

All of us at Tachyon wish champion Joe a happy birthday!

 

For more info about THE BEST OF JOE R. LANSDALE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio

 

For more info about CRUCIFIED DREAMS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman

 

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by  Elizabeth Story

 

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

 

For more info about THE BIG BOOK OF HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

 

For more info about COLD IN JULY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

 

For more info about FLAMING ZEPPELINS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart

 

For more info about DEADMAN’S ROAD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art “The Quick and the Undead” by Travis J. Elston

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

 

For more info on OF MICE AND MINSTRONE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart