''Alien Worlds'' is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

comic that was published by

Pacific Comics Pacific Comics (PC) was an American comic book publisher that was active from 1981 to 1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began at a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes. Alo ...

and, later,

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

, in the early 1980s. It was edited by Bruce Jones and April Campbell.Johnston, Rich
"When Diamond Comic Distributors Flexed Its Censorial Muscles...,"
''Bleeding Cool'' (December 29, 2018).

Publication history

''Alien Worlds'' was published on a bi-monthly schedule by

from December 1982 to April 1984 (eight issues, including an offshoot ''

Three Dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informa ...

Alien Worlds'' published in July 1984). After Pacific went bankrupt, two final issues were published by

in November 1984 and January 1985. In 1985, soon after the cancellation of ''Alien Worlds'', Eclipse began publishing a similar science-fiction-themed anthology, '' Alien Encounters''. The title ceased publication in 1987 after fourteen issues. In 1986,

Blackthorne Publishing Blackthorne Publishing, Inc. was a comic book publisher that flourished from 1986–1989. They were notable for the ''Blackthorne 3-D Series'', their reprint titles of classic comic strips like Dick Tracy, and their licensed products. Blackthorne ...

published their own

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

''Alien Worlds'', with reprints of stories taken from earlier issues. In May 1988, Eclipse issued a standalone, unnumbered edition of the title as part of its Graphic Album Series, featuring all-new stories and art.

Overview

Nearly all of the stories in ''Alien Worlds'' were written by Jones, with only a few exceptions (notably

Jan Strnad Jan Steven Strnad (sometimes credited as J. Knight) is an American writer of comic books, horror, and science fiction. He is known for his many collaborations with artist Richard Corben, as well as his work in the ''Star Wars'' expanded universe ...

's "Stoney End" in issue #8 and

Frank Brunner Frank Brunner (born February 21, 1949) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 1970s. Early life Brunner attended Manhattan's High School of Art and Design. He was in the same graduating class ...

's "The Reading!" in issue #9). Jones had developed a skill for the short

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

tale, often with a

twist ending Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...

, during his years with

Warren Publishing Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren (publisher), James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include ''After Hours (magazin ...

while writing for their ''

Creepy Creepiness is the state of being wikt:creepy, creepy, or causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or wikt:unease, unease. A person who exhibits creepy behaviour is called a creep. Certain traits or hobbies may make people seem creepy to others. The ...

'' and ''

Eerie ''Eerie'' was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like '' Mad'', it was a black-and-white magazine intended for newsstand distribution and did not submit its stories to the comic book industry's voluntar ...

'' titles. He was heavily influenced by the horror and science fiction movies of the

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

, adding graphic violence and sexuality to the mix, complete with copious female nudity; several issues sported a “Recommended For Mature Readers” warning on the cover. For the most part, however, ''Alien Worlds'' avoided the more intensely gruesome subject matter of Jones' other Pacific comic, '' Twisted Tales'', which was being published at the same time. Front covers for the comic were by, among others,

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Stat ...

Dave Stevens Dave Lee Stevens (July 29, 1955 – March 11, 2008) was an American illustrator and comics artist. He was most famous for creating ''Rocketeer, The Rocketeer'' comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, ...

William Stout William Stout (born September 18, 1949) is an American fantasy artist and illustrator with a specialization in paleoart, paleontological art. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worke ...

, and

Joe Chiodo Joe Chiodo is an American artist and colorist who has worked in the comics industry. He has been recognized for his work with a nomination for the Comics Buyer's Guide Favorite Colorist Award in 1997 (with the company Wildstorm FX and colleagu ...

. Contributing interior artists included Bolton, Stevens,

Al Williamson Alfonso Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy. Born in New York City, he spent much of his early childhood in ...

Richard Corben Richard Corben (October 1, 1940December 2, 2020) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in '' Heavy Metal'' magazine, especially the ''Den'' series which was featured in the magazine's first film ad ...

Roy Krenkel Roy Gerald Krenkel (July 11, 1918 – February 24, 1983), who often signed his work RGK, was an American illustrator who specialized in fantasy and historical drawings and paintings for books, magazines and comic books. Influences and stud ...

Val Mayerik Val Mayerik (born March 29, 1950) is an American comic book and commercial artist, best known as co-creator of the satiric character ''Howard the Duck'' for ''Marvel Comics''. Biography Early life and career Val Mayerik was born in Youngstown, ...

, and

Rand Holmes Randolph Holton Holmes (February 22, 1942 – March 15, 2002) was a Canadian artist and illustrator probably best known for his work in underground comix. His work was of a higher level of quality than was seen elsewhere in the field, and is cons ...

, as well as two stories written and illustrated by editor Jones himself.

Announced revival series

In 2010, Bruce Jones and actor

Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Deep Blue Sea (1999 film), Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), ''The Punisher ...

announced they were writing a revival series slated for release sometime in the future.CBR STAFF
"CCI: RAW Studios Panel: Actor Thomas Jane and artist Tim Bradstreet announced the relaunch of long defunct Pacific anthology 'Alien Worlds' and horror anthology 'Twisted Tales' in addition to other RAW Studios news,"
''CBR'' (AUG 03, 2010).

Issue guide

References

Notes

Sources

* (Pacific Comics) * (Eclipse) * (unnumbered Graphic Album, Eclipse) * {{gcdb series, id= 20338 , title=Alien Worlds (Blackthorne) Pacific Comics titles Eclipse Comics titles Science fiction comics 1982 comics debuts 1985 comics endings Comics by George Pérez