Joe Thursday

Joe Thursday was only two years into his career as a New York City cop when Uncle Sam handed him a rifle and shipped him off to France. Joe proudly served his country and enthusiastically killed every Nazi that stayed still long enough, but a bullet to the leg sent him home before the war was over. Joe went back to the NYPD when he'd recovered, but they stuck him behind a desk because of his bum leg. Joe wasn't cut out for pushing paper, so he answered a want ad from the Herrick Agency. When Joe and Mr. Herrick, they immediately disliked each other and got into a shouting match about the wage before Joe was even offered the job. Herrick told Joe to leave and never come back, then called him a week later and offered him a job. This first meeting would set the tone of their relationship right up to the present day.

As Joe investigated the increasingly bizarre cases that the Herrick Agency took on, he developed a keen interest in magic. With the help of some of the mages he'd met while working for the agency, Joe was able to learn the basics of magic. From there, he picked up bit and pieces wherever possible, eventually building up an eccelectic but substantial arsenal of spells and magical know-how. Joe's magical knowledge and strong right hook served him well right up until he decided to take up a vendetta against the Gorilla Gangsters that resulted in Joe being magically frozen and shoved into the back of a meat locker. By the time someone found him and thawed him out, half a century had passed.

After an epic screaming match about back pay, Mr. Herrick agreed to give Joe his old job back. In the years since, Joe has managed to acclimate himself to the modern world reasonably well, but there are some things he just can't quite wrap his head around.   Joe Thursday appears in Hello from Junction City and Midnight in the City of Weirdos.