Two-Fisted Tales
Two-Fisted Tales was a bimonthly, anthology war comic published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title originated in 1950 when Harvey Kurtzman suggested to William Gaines that they publish an adventure comic. Kurtzman became the editor of Two-Fisted Tales, and with the advent of the Korean War, he soon narrowed the focus to war stories. The title was a companion comic to Frontline Combat, and stories Kurtzman wrote for both books often displayed an anti-war attitude. It returned to adventure-themed stories in issues #36 through #39, co-edited by John Severin and Colin Dawkins, with a cover-title change to The New Two-Fisted Tales.
The bimonthly title ran 24 issues, numbered 18–41, from 1950 to 1955. In 1952, EC published Two-Fisted Annual which had no new stories but instead bound together past issues of Two-Fisted Tales with a new cover by Kurtzman. The same procedure was repeated in 1953 for an annual with a new Jack Davis cover.
Years after its demise, Two-Fisted Tales was reprinted in its entirety and was adapted to television.
Two-Fisted Tales (film)
Two-Fisted Tales is a 1992 American anthology TV film consisting of three separate segments, based on the EC Comics publication Two-Fisted Tales. None of the stories, however, are actually adapted from stories appearing in any issue of the EC comic.
Cast
Segment: "Showdown"
Segment: "King of the Road"
Segment: "Yellow"
Production
In 1991, the comic book was adapted for a TV pilot by producers Joel Silver, Richard Donner, Robert Zemeckis and others. Apart from an opening montage of covers from the comic book and use of comic's logo, the pilot had little connection with Kurtzman's creation. In imitation of EC's horror books, the hour-long anthology drama featured ghostly gunfighter Mr. Rush (Bill Sadler) as a host and a device to connect the segments, although Kurtzman's war-adventure stories had never been introduced by a host. Two of the stories, "Showdown" (written by Frank Darabont and directed by Richard Donner) and "King of the Road" (written by Randall Jahnson and directed by Tom Holland), were original scripts and not adaptations from EC (although "Showdown" did share a title with a story from issue 37). The third story, "Yellow" (written by Jim Thomas & John Thomas and A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler and directed by Robert Zemeckis), was adapted from a story written by Al Feldstein and illustrated by Jack Davis for the first issue of EC's Shock SuspenStories.
Podcasts:
Two-Fisted Tales
ALBUMS
Papa Nez: A Loose Salute to the Work of Michael Nesmith
- You Told Me
- Nine Times Blue
- Different Drum
- The Girl I Knew Somewhere
- Sweet Young Thing
- Good Clean Fun
- Texas Morning
- Magic
- You Just May Be the One
- Listen to the Band
- Sunny Girlfriend
- Papa Gene's Blues
- Daily Nightly
- St. Matthew
- Some of Shelly's Blues
- Joanne
- Propinquity
- Here I Am
- Hollywood
- Prairie Lullabye
- Studio Noise
-
by Passenger
Two Tales
by: PassengerLight up my lantern, I'll cut you a path,
We've walked for hours and it's getting dark
We left the roadside in search of aid,
Wind-screen shattered and tire marks made
I've never seen someone bleeding like this,
Rip off your sleeve and clench your wrist
I'll light the stove and sit by the hearth,
Orangey glow light the wintry dark
We kept her bedroom exactly the same,
Winters they followed and Summers they came
He'd bash around, banging down on the floor
I sit alone with an eye on the door
Stop in this clearing, we'll stay here tonight
Press up against me, I'll hold you so tight
I got these matches, we'll let off some smoke
And maybe they'll see up and maybe they won't
Blanket of leaves hide the light from the stars,
I'll lie awake listening out for cars
He stares through curtains when he talks to the night,
I sit and listen for tires on the drive
I keep on waiting and he keep on talking
Just stop him talking, please stop him talking
No, give me silence
Give me silence,
Give me silence