The Poe Twisted Anthology
Edited by Enrica Jang
Written by Phillip Jacobson, Marta Tanrikulu, Alex Cormack, Jason Ciaramella, Kyle Richey, Mark Mullaney
Art by Phillip Jacobson, Mark Mullaney, Alex Cormack, Erique “Zeke” Savory, JR., Sherezada, Ben Frazier, Dirk Strangely
Letters by Andre Frattino
Covers by Andrew Jerz, Alex Cormack, Phillip Jacobson & Enrique “Zeke” Savory, Jr.
Red Stylo Media
Release Date: August 21, 2011
Cover Price: $19.99

Today marks the 162nd anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s mysterious death at the age of 40. In the spirit of celebrating his legacy, we bring you The Poe Twisted Anthology, a collection of graphic stories inspired by select works of the Dark Master. These are not clever retellings; the words ‘rehash’ and ‘regurgitation’ do not apply here. The thirteen authors and artists accepted the challenge to create fifteen unique graphic pieces using Poe’s work as their inspiration. From the introduction by Enrica Jang: “We pay tribute, we aspire, but in the end, we paint the pictures for you.”

Before each story there is a quote from the Poe work which inspired the new creation. The first story, Absolution, by Jason Ciaramella, Enrique ‘Zeke’ Savory, Jr., Alex Cormack and Andre Frattino, was obviously inspired by The Raven while still being a completely different kind of tale. As with many of the other stories, a Poe fan will be easily able to connect the dots without these helpful hints. The Tell-tale Cat by Alex Cormack blends elements from both The Tell-tale Heart and The Black Cat while telling the story of two police officers arguing about what to name a cat. Eldorado, by Sherezada Windham-Kent with art by Alex Cormack, is a zombie western inspired by Poe’s poem of the same name about a man seeking, you guessed it – Eldorado.

Many of Poe’s signature dark themes are well explored here in a fresh, new way. Even Poe’s caustic wit is fully represented in the contemporary biting humor of these young writers and artists whose bios appear at the end of the book. The vividly colored, highly detailed artwork serve to keep the reader engaged throughout the entire anthology. Overall, The Poe Twisted Anthology is a fun read for both Poe fans and those unfamiliar with his work.