John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction – Twitch Paperback
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Richard P. Clark
Lettering by Janice Chiang
Cover Art by Tim Bradstreet
Release date: October 8, 2019
While most know John Carpenter for his 40+ years of excellence directing horror and genre films, since 2012 he’s been prevalent in the comic book industry. With his wife and collaborator Sandy King, Storm King Comics was born. Their flagship comic, Asylum, became a global hit and the brand also releases an annual anthology right in time for Halloween called John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight. Their monthly anthology series, John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction, has been going continuously for a few years, giving Storm King’s collection of talented authors and artists a chance to tell vivid sci-fi stories. The latest of these is Twitch, written by Duane Swierczynski with art by Richard P. Clark, and lettering by Janice Chiang.
John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction: Vortex #6 Written by Mike Sizemore
Pencils and Inks by Dave Kennedy
Colors by Pete Kennedy
Lettering by Janice Chiang
Edited by Sandy King
Cover Art by Tim Bradstreet Storm King Comics
Release date: March 28, 2018
Price: $3.99
“Yes, and of some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep, even so, I will endure”¦” – Homer
John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction, the monthly comic anthology series from Storm King Comics rolls on with issue #6 of Vortex. We left our cast of characters on a deep space mining colony where something killed most of the crew and a tentacled beast is loose. Meanwhile there are even more threats looming back on the Benson, a space station across space. No time to fuss around, this issue is all action from jump street.
John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction: Vortex #4 Written by Mike Sizemore
Pencils and Inks by Dave Kennedy
Colors by Pete Kennedy
Lettering by Janice Chiang
Edited by Sandy King
Cover Art by Tim Bradstreet Storm King Comics
Release date: January 31, 2018
Price: $3.99
“Yesterday upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there.” – Hughes Mearns
Another historic poetic verse puts in motion issue 4 of Vortex, the second story arc in John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction, a monthly anthology series from Storm King Comics. The verse opens Mearns’ 1899 poem “Antigonish” and has been referenced for everything from ghost stories to Lil Wayne rap songs. Here the “man who wasn’t there” could be the haunting presence on both the deep space mining colony and the Space Station Benson on the other side of the galaxy.
John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction: Vortex #3 Written by Mike Sizemore
Pencils and Inks by Dave Kennedy
Colors by Pete Kennedy
Lettering by Janice Chiang
Edited by Sandy King
Cover Art by Tim Bradstreet Storm King Comics
Release date: January 3, 2018
Price: $3.99
Vortex is the second story from Storm King Comics’ new monthly anthology series, John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction, developed by the Horror Master himself with his wife and collaborator Sandy King Carpenter. Vortex is an 8-issue story harkening back to genre classics like Aliens, dealing with a mining station in space in which the crew disappears forcing Captain Jake Dixon and crew to lead the rescue mission. As is the tradition now, writer Mike Sizemore gives our introduction highlighted by a classical poet, this time William Blake: “In the universe there are things that are known and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.”
The Master of Horror John Carpenter and wife Sandy King Carpenter started Storm King Comics back in 2015. At this year’s New York Comic-Con this weekend, Storm King took over booth 2304 on the show floor with full displays of their catalogue. They featured their Halloween anthology series John Carpenter’s Tales For a HalloweeNight, which just released Vol. 3, and their new monthly sci-fi series, John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction. Sandy King Carpenter was there along with several writers and artists from the books, one amongst them was James Ninness. He has stories in each of the three HalloweeNight books as well as being the featured author for the first 3-part tale in the sci-fi anthology, an outer space thriller, Vault. Ninness took some time to talk to me about working with Storm King, his process, and what’s next for him.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press