Two-Fisted Tales

Two-Fisted Tales was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The war comic, published by Bill Gaines, originated in November 1950 when Harvey Kurtzman suggested to Gaines that they publish an adventure comic. Kurtzman was soon made the editor of the comic, which soon switched from focusing on adventure to war. As with most of the EC comics published at this time, Two-Fisted Tales did not start with issue number 1, since it was renamed from a previous title. Two-Fisted Tales was actually a renaming of The Haunt of Fear starting with issue 18. Wholesale problems had caused Gaines to consider dropping the Haunt of Fear, but he changed his mind without skipping an issue. Two-Fisted Tales took over the numbering, and Haunt of Fear reverted back to the correct numbering for the remainder of its runs. In those days publishers would frequently change comic title names to save money on second class postage.

The stories Kurtzman wrote for this title often displayed an anti-war attitude. Artists who contributed were Kurtzman, John Severin, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Alex Toth, George Evans, Ric Estrada, Joe Kubert, Will Elder, Gene Colan, Reed Crandall, Bernard Krigstein and Dave Berg.

Two Fisted Tales was published with a companion title, Frontline Combat for most of its run. Towards the end of 1953, a decrease in interest due to the end of the Korean War as well as Kurtzman becoming overwhelmed with his work on Mad required changes to be made. Frontline Combat was dropped entirely while Two-Fisted Tales was changed from a bi-monthly comic to a quarterly comic. The editor duties were handed over to John Severin for the remainder of the comic's run and it once again took on more of an adventure theme. Unfortunately the sales continued to drop and Gaines had to pull the plug. Over its four-year span, the comic ran for 24 issues, ending with issue 41, in February 1955.

In 1991, the comic book was adapted for a TV pilot by producers Joel Silver, Richard Donner, Robert Zemeckis and others.