Twisted image 1982–1987

Twisted image was a zine edited by Ace Backwords--later co-edited with Bruce N. Duncan and Mary Mayhem-- from 1982 to 1994. Ace Backwords envisioned Twisted image as an underground media aimed at the “admittedly improbable task of putting out an ‘art’ paper in a commercial setting”. He encouraged the contributors and artists to convey their message as clearly as possible to avoid the emptiness of pseudo-art. The early issues of the zine, with a circulation between 5000 and 10,000, explored different aspects of the punk rock youth culture that was surging through the San Francisco Bay Area. Each of the nine issues featured record reviews, interviews, visual arts, comics, and sharp critiques of the political discourses of the time. In 1987, Ace Backwords changed the zine format from a tabloid to a monthly xeroxed newsletter focused on comics, which he continued publishing until 1994. The East Bay Punk Archive has provided the scans of Twisted image.