''Twisted Tales'' was a

horror comics Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. In the US market, horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the ...

anthology 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. The title was edited by Bruce Jones and April Campbell.

Publication history

''Twisted Tales'' was published on a bi-monthly schedule by

from November 1982 to May 1984 (eight issues). After Pacific went bankrupt, two final issues were published by

in November and December 1984. In August 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 ...

released ''Twisted Tales 3-D #1'' (#7 in their 3-D series), with reprints of stories taken from earlier issues. In November 1987 a ''Twisted Tales'' trade paperback was released by Eclipse Comics with a

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, ...

cover, featuring previously unpublished stories and art. With three exceptions ( William F. Nolan's "The Party" in Issue # 8,

Dennis Etchison Dennis William Etchison (March 30, 1943 – May 29, 2019) was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction.

's "Wet Season" in Issue #9, and David Carren's "If She Dies" in issue #10, which was later adapted into an episode of the 1980s revival of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

''), all of the stories in the entire run of ''Twisted Tales'' were written by Jones, who had already worked as scripter for

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

s ''

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 volunta ...

'' titles. As noted in his editorial in Issue #1, his chief inspiration was the bloody and ironically moralistic tales of the EC horror comics. His work in ''Twisted Tales'', often utilizing

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 ...

s, added huge dollops of

graphic violence Graphic violence refers to the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence in visual media such as film, television, and video games. It may be real, simulated live action, or animated. Intended limitedly for mature ...

and sexuality to the EC formula, complete with copious female nudity. Several issues sported a "Recommended For Mature Readers" warning on the cover. Front covers for the comic were by, among others,

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 ada ...

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 Sta ...

, and

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...

. Interior artists included Corben, Bolton, Wrightson,

Mike Ploog Michael G. Ploog (; born July 13, 1940 or 1942) is an American storyboard and comic book artist, and a visual designer for films. In comics, Ploog is best known for his work on Marvel Comics' 1970s ''Man-Thing'' and '' The Monster of Frankenst ...

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 Youngstow ...

, Bill Wray, Tim Conrad, Alfredo Alcala, and Rick Geary, as well as one story written and illustrated by Jones himself. In 1985, soon after the cancellation of ''Twisted Tales'', Eclipse began publishing ''The Twisted Tales of Bruce Jones'', featuring science fiction, fantasy and horror stories written and illustrated by Jones. Although the cover of the initial issue noted that it was to be "Part 1 of 2", the title was expanded to a four-issue run and ceased publication in 1986. In January 2005,

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...

announced that he was set to

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

a half-hour anthology

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series for

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

called ''Twisted Tales'', based on the comic book to which McFarlane had purchased the rights. However, according to Bruce Jones, ''Twisted Tales'' was a creator-owned property and does not belong to McFarlane.

Issue guide

References

{{reflist

External links

Fan site re: ''Twisted Tales''
Pacific Comics titles Defunct American comics Eclipse Comics titles Horror comics 1982 comics debuts