Twisto the Rubberman was a circus performer who took over the mortgage of a circus he worked for. He was able to buy it on the cheap, because he killed off the other performers, and the owner didn't want to be his next victim. When he confessed to his wife, Lilli the Lion Tamer, about what he was doing, she protested and then was promptly killed too. On the lamb, he went back to the circus and enlisted the help of Frank Verrano and Hefto (fellow performers) to start a gang, and try to kill Steel Sterling.