MESSAGE TO PARENTS

This comic book is intended to be both entertaining and educational for both adults and children. It contains no profanity or nudity. The portrayal of violence in the story's climactic fight scene is intended to convey an anti-violence message. However some parents may find the emotional intensity of this de-glamorized brutality to be unsuitable for their younger children.

LEGAL STUFF

THE ADVENTURES OF THE MOPED COWBOY, the name MOPED COWBOY, and the likeness of the Moped Cowboy character are ©1981 HOWARD EARL SHANKEN. The name PUCH, the PUCH logo and the design of the PUCH Mopeds are the property of the Steyr Daimler Puch of America Corporation. Other than the above all characters, events and institutions portrayed in this comic book are fictional and any similarity to any real person or institution except where intended for satirical purpose is coincidental.

While specific recognizable products are satirized herein no defamation of the qualities or affiliations of the satirized products should be infered. For example, while certain food preservatives are believed to be cancer related those preservatives are not contained in the brand of snack cake which we have used as a satirical point-of-reference. Likewise, a reference to "Wrustler" blue jeans was deleted from the script when it was learned that the Wrangler company had copyrighted the term Rustler.

Finally, we chose the name Oasis Petrochemical Conglomerate to have a middle eastern flavor and fit into the O.P.C.C. acronym. After this issue was fully scripted and partially drawn we learned of the existence of a real Oasis Oil Company. We hope our audience full realizes that our fictional bad guy's "Oasis Station" has no relation to any real service station chain.

WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY

When Howie first contacted me with the idea for this book I dashed off an "underground" style short story about a bike race called "The Rally Big Show". This gave me an idea of what not to do. I then sat down for a story conference with the genuine MOPED COWBOY. Yes, Virginia, there really is a MoPed Cowboy. And he actually did make a trek from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Houston, Texas, passing through the states mentioned in the story in the order that they are mentioned. He made that journey astride a Moped named Nyakima (pronounced nuh/KE/muh). He did have a companion for part of his trip and the companion did bust a glass jar of honey in his knapsack. At one point the Cowboy had to modify his intended route due to volcanic activity on his planned path (Mount St. Helens). The Moped Cowboy was actually run off a road by a truck and was later collared by an insurance salesperson. He is a college instructer and a vegatarian and knows a bit of Tae Kwon Do and Karate. He's even had pneumonia.

Howie then contributed a number of ficticious plot elements. A few of these, such as having an overweight, Pancho-esque comedy relief sidekick or casting OPEC as the villian of the piece I either rejected or altered. Most of his ideas were used. Howie though up the names MOPED COWBOY, MR. MOPED and the RANGE RIDERS. He suggested the opening "creation of Nyakima" scene, the western style showdown, the Kung Fu battle, the fight against 10-to-1 odds the explosive climax and the final scene. He requested some Star Wars type special effects and a James Bond style finish. Then I added a few ideas I'd been bouncing around for a while and undertook the task of weaving the bits and pieces of fact and fantasy into a cohesive storyline.

This story was plotted as if it were MOPED COWBOY: THE MOVIE. The movie plot was then scripted as a forty page comic book story. Howie and I then edited the script down to fit a 24 page format. It later expanded to 25 pages because we accidentally left in two page sevens. The fact that this 25 page comic was drawn from 38 pages oftyped script explains why some of the scenes might seem a little hectic while others may seem rather talky. So now you know.

Say, did anyone notice that this "movie" was intended as a musical? Not only is there a MOPED COWBOY Theme Song and several other songs and song cues but the characters of Jimmy The Mod and the Range Riders are personifications of various musical genres. Jimmy The Mod, Natty, Paco, Wheatgerm, Grady and Skrope represent New Wave, Reggae, Salsa, "Acid Rock" or psychedelia, Mellow or "Soft Rock" and Punk, respectively. The Range Riders were partially inspired by the USA Cable Network programs Night Flight and New Wave Theatre and partly by Tom Fagan's essay on kid gaggs "One on all and all on one" which appeared in the book "All In Color For A Dime".

MOVING ON IN TIME

Okay, above is the editorial as originally written in 1982. Here's what happened. THE ADVENTURES OF THE MOPED COWBOY was intended as a publicity item for a Moped store located in Rockford, Michigan, much like the Adventures Of The Big Boy comic book given away at Elias Bros. Big Boy restaurants. As work on this comic neared completion that Moped store went out of business. Five years went by and then one day Howie calls up and says "Hey, lets print the comic." Sure, why not?

One more update. Less than a year after the Moped Cowboy's tirade against Hero Cola, the Royal Crown Cola company introduced a caffiene-free cola drink called RC 100. Shortly thereafter several other beverage companies knocked off cheap imitations onto the soft drink market. Typical, isn't it?