
welcome to Hard Knocks Hill
Hard Knocks Hill is the publishing alias for J. J. Walsh. Check out completed works below, or visit “Works in Progress” to see what’s in the hopper! Got questions? Drop me a note by email or Twitter.


Overview
Out now!
Comic-Con, 2036. The world is rocked by the bizarre and inexplicable materialization of Cateklysm Catholicon – a colorfully clad whackjob decreeing that humanity’s only hope lies in the lessons found in superhero comic books. “Cateklysm’s Challenge” is born, enticing even the most skeptical with a prize that promises “the power to change the world.”
But two decades later, the world has gone to crap. The prize, the Challenge, and Cateklysm himself have all been forgotten by everyone but the Chowderheads – diehard superhero worshippers, who champion the progressive ideology infused into comics.
Enter Clayton Clayborn, a tragically orphaned, seventeen-year-old, second-generation Chowderhead living a dystopian nightmare existence on a Martian space freighter. Obsessed with the Challenge, he’ll face a gauntlet of comic book nerdery that will take him to alien worlds, thrust him into gladiatorial combat against supervillain look-alikes, and push him to the brink of annihilation in the heart of what seems to be the Batcave. But as Stan Lee would put it, “Excelsior.”
Reviews
Overview
Comic-Con, 2036. The world is rocked by thebizarre and inexplicable materialization of Cateklysm Catholicon – a colorfully clad whackjob decreeing that humanity’s only hope lies in the lessons found in superhero comic books. “Cateklysm’s Challenge” is born, enticing even the most skeptical with a prize that promises “the power to change the world.”
But two decades later, the world has gone to crap. The prize, the Challenge, and Cateklysm himself have all been forgotten by everyone but the Chowderheads – diehard superhero worshippers, who champion the progressive ideology infused into comics.
Enter Clayton Clayborn, a tragically orphaned, seventeen-year-old, second-generation Chowderhead living a dystopian nightmare existence on a Martian space freighter. Obsessed with the Challenge, he’ll face a gauntlet of comic book nerdery that will take him to alien worlds, thrust him into gladiatorial combat against supervillain look-alikes, and push him to the brink of annihilation in the heart of what seems to be the Batcave. But as Stan Lee would put it, “Excelsior.”
Reviews
Overview
Comic-Con, 2036. The world is rocked by thebizarre and inexplicable materialization of Cateklysm Catholicon – a colorfully clad whackjob decreeing that humanity’s only hope lies in the lessons found in superhero comic books. “Cateklysm’s Challenge” is born, enticing even the most skeptical with a prize that promises “the power to change the world.”
But two decades later, the world has gone to crap. The prize, the Challenge, and Cateklysm himself have all been forgotten by everyone but the Chowderheads – diehard superhero worshippers, who champion the progressive ideology infused into comics.
Enter Clayton Clayborn, a tragically orphaned, seventeen-year-old, second-generation Chowderhead living a dystopian nightmare existence on a Martian space freighter. Obsessed with the Challenge, he’ll face a gauntlet of comic book nerdery that will take him to alien worlds, thrust him into gladiatorial combat against supervillain look-alikes, and push him to the brink of annihilation in the heart of what seems to be the Batcave. But as Stan Lee would put it, “Excelsior.”
Reviews











Overview
Kill-crazy mercenaries, gargantuan monstrosities, and a “sixth sense” that may be a death wish in disguise. Augie Brunthouse’s first day of work is not going well.
It all started with Chuck Vestiglio’s exile and subsequent suicide on his private island, derisively dubbed “Supersize Island” by the press. Now the disgraced hamburger baron’s unhinged son has vowed to silence the family’s critics with a psychotic plot to grow beef better. Alas, his wildly illegal biotech experiments have gone wrong in a very BIG way. Somebody needs to look into it.
Enter Augie. He hasn’t cared about anything since his erratic precognition failed to warn him about the cancer that killed his mother. So it’s time for a fresh start—at Spiel Timmitel Corp. Augie doesn’t know what STC does, or why they’ve sent him a gazillion recruitment flyers. But they’re offering a huge salary and training in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, that training will turn out to be a shipwreck on Supersize Island. Cue the giant squirrel, parrot, and possum.
Reviews
Overview
Kill-crazy mercenaries, gargantuan monstrosities, and a “sixth sense” that may be a death wish in disguise. Augie Brunthouse’s first day of work is not going well.
It all started with Chuck Vestiglio’s exile and subsequent suicide on his private island, derisively dubbed “Supersize Island” by the press. Now the disgraced hamburger baron’s unhinged son has vowed to silence the family’s critics with a psychotic plot to grow beef better. Alas, his wildly illegal biotech experiments have gone wrong in a very BIG way. Somebody needs to look into it.
Enter Augie. He hasn’t cared about anything since his erratic precognition failed to warn him about the cancer that killed his mother. So it’s time for a fresh start—at Spiel Timmitel Corp. Augie doesn’t know what STC does, or why they’ve sent him a gazillion recruitment flyers. But they’re offering a huge salary and training in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, that training will turn out to be a shipwreck on Supersize Island. Cue the giant squirrel, parrot, and possum.
Reviews
Overview
Kill-crazy mercenaries, gargantuan monstrosities, and a “sixth sense” that may be a death wish in disguise. Augie Brunthouse’s first day of work is not going well.
It all started with Chuck Vestiglio’s exile and subsequent suicide on his private island, derisively dubbed “Supersize Island” by the press. Now the disgraced hamburger baron’s unhinged son has vowed to silence the family’s critics with a psychotic plot to grow beef better. Alas, his wildly illegal biotech experiments have gone wrong in a very BIG way. Somebody needs to look into it.
Enter Augie. He hasn’t cared about anything since his erratic precognition failed to warn him about the cancer that killed his mother. So it’s time for a fresh start—at Spiel Timmitel Corp. Augie doesn’t know what STC does, or why they’ve sent him a gazillion recruitment flyers. But they’re offering a huge salary and training in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, that training will turn out to be a shipwreck on Supersize Island. Cue the giant squirrel, parrot, and possum.