Press Release

IDW Publishing, leading publisher of comic books and graphic novels, and Burger Records, acclaimed Southern California record label and store, announce the March 2018 release of Shahriar’s Fouladi’s upcoming novella exploring an unsung and oft-unexplored sliver of SoCal history — The Scooter Chronicles: A Southern California Modyssey.

Meet Tommy Daniels, a 1980s teen who comes from a poor family and lives in a bland, rich Southern California beach town, working part time as a delivery boy for a pharmacy. Though he doesn’t exactly fit in—particularly given his love of Mod culture—Tommy’s life is looking good: He is about to start college, is days away from going “all the way” with his girlfriend, and has almost enough money to buy the perfect scooter. But that’s when things go horribly awry.

Hunted by a reclusive old rock star, haunted by a menacing police officer, indoctrinated into a cult, and accompanied by swine while catching a ride in a pickup, Tommy's epic, comic journey is filled with a cast of colorful characters, set to the soundtrack of Tommy's Mod mixtape.

Feeding off the music from the Mod movement, extras for the collection include “It’s a Way of Life,” an essay about the Mod revival in 1980s Southern California by Bart Mendoza, lead singer of the band Manual Scan, noted music journalist, and prime player in the San Diego Mod scene. Plus a selection of color images capturing prime Mod moments from 1980s California, as well as celebrated artist Ralph Cosentino’s cover for Dr. Harvey’s Victor the Vespa, the fictional book written by a character in the story.

"Burger is excited to delve deeper into the book publishing world with the release of The Scooter Chronicles!" said Sean Bohrman, co-founder of Burger Records. "Since we have such an affinity for the Paisley Underground musical movement of the early 80s and Mod culture in general, we thought this book would be a good fit for us and our audience. It's a story about a scrapper named Tommy who is willing to do anything to take his life into his own hands and that's something we can get behind, being the scrappers that we are!"

The Scooter Chronicles: A Southern California Modyssey by Shahriar Fouladi will be available from IDW Publishing and Burger Records on March 20, 2018 for $19.99 and is available for presale on Amazon and other online booksellers right now.