Introduction
“Night of Battle”. First published in Fight Stories in March 1932. Howard earned $60.00 for the story. Published again with the byline Mark Adam in the same magazine in the Fall 1942 issue and the title was changed to “Shore Leave for a Slugger”.
In a letter (#183) to Tevis Clyde Smith, November 1931 we learn:
I sold Byrne a Costigan story recently — $60 this time. He’s been cutting my rates steadily. By God, if he falls below that, I’ll give the series to Street & Smith — and I suppose get it rejected. I thought when he hit the $75 level it was the limit.
The story was most likely “Night of Battle” which he got $60.00 for. Sent to Fight Stories circa October/November 1931.
Alternate title:
Published in:
- FIGHT STORIES VOLUME 4 NUMBER 10, Fight Stories, Inc., March 1932
- FIGHT STORIES VOLUME 7 NUMBER 1, Fight Stories, Inc., Fall 1942 (byline Mark Adam, as “Shore Leave for a Slugger”)
- STEVE COSTIGAN LE CHAMPION, NeO, March 1987 (French)
- REH FIGHT MAGAZINE #3, Necronomicon Press, September 1991
- THE FACE OF A TORNADO, North-West, 1998 (Russian)
- WATERFRONT FISTS AND OTHERS, Wildside Press, May 2003
- WATERFRONT FISTS AND OTHERS, Wildside Press, December 2004
- THE BATTLES OF SAILOR STEVE COSTIGAN, Francis DiPietro, August 2008
- THE COLLECTED BOXING STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Halcyon Press, Ltd., December 2009
- THE ROBERT E. HOWARD OMNIBUS: 99 COLLECTED STORIES, Halcyon Press, Ltd., May 2010
- SHANGHAIED MITTS: MORE TALES OF SEA-FARING BOXING CHAMP STEVE COSTIGAN, Nuelow Games, November 2011
- THE SAILOR STEVE COSTIGAN STORIES, Jame-Books, August 2012
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S COLLECTED WORKS, Jame-Books, February 2013
- THE COLLECTED BOXING FICTION OF ROBERT E. HOWARD: FISTS OF IRON ROUND 3, REH Foundation Press, November 2014 (story & synopsis)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S SAILOR STEVE COSTIGAN, Pulp-Lit Press, July 2019
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S SAILOR STEVE COSTIGAN, Audible Audio, July 2019 (audio)
