Louisville, Kentucky. 1984. Crime is filthy, bourbon is cheap, and Detective Dick Rusty has been undercover so long the department apparently forgot he exists. When stolen copper, crooked bookmakers, Derby money, custom Louisville Slugger bats, and an old partner named Lexington Steel begin connecting to the same conspiracy, Rusty follows the trail through Whiskey Row, Churchill Downs, the riverfront, and the Belle of Louisville. HOBOCOP #1: PANHANDLE HARDER is a profane, absurd cyberpunk-noir comedy packed with hard-boiled detective clichés, Kentucky corruption, ridiculous violence, and two extremely obvious mechanical men whom absolutely nobody seems to notice are robots.