Introduction
The Sign of the Snake. Featuring Steve Costigan. First published in Action Stories, volume 10, number 10 June 1931. Howard got $75.00 for the story.
Howard’s main character was supposed to be McClarney, but Action Stories changed the name to Steve Costigan. In a letter to his friend Tevis Clyde Smith (letter #163, dated May 9, 1931) Howard wrote:
I got a laugh out of my story which appeared this month in Action Stories. They changed the name of the character — McClarney — to Steve Costigan, though the style of the tale was nothing at all like Steve. And they capped the story “by the author of ‘The TNT. Punch’.” I never wrote a story by that title in my life.
Published in:
- ACTION STORIES VOLUME 10 NUMBER 10, Fiction House, Inc., June 1931
- CROSS PLAINS #2, George Hamilton, March 1974
- THE CHRONICLER OF CROSS PLAINS #1, Black Coast Press, 1978
- STEVE COSTIGAN ET LE SIGNE DE SERPENT, NeO, December 1986 (French)
- IL SEGNO DEL SERPENTE (YORICK FANTASY MAGAZINE #12/13 SUPPLEMENT), Yorick Fantasy Magazine, April 1992 (Italian)
- THE COMPLETE ACTION STORIES, Hermanthis, November 2001
- THE COMPLETE ACTION STORIES, Wildside Press, November 2003
- THE COMPLETE ACTION STORIES, Wildside Press, January 2005
- THE SIGN OF THE SNAKE, AND THE TNT PUNCH, Dodo Press, February 2008
- 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
- FISTS OF FOOLISHNESS: THE TALES OF SEA-FARING BOXING CHAMP STEVE COSTIGAN, Nuelow Games, October 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 4, The REH Foundation Press, April 2015
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S SAILOR STEVE COSTIGAN, Pulp-Lit Press, July 2019
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S SAILOR STEVE COSTIGAN, Audible Audio, July 2019 (audio)
