New Twilight Zone Series Expands the Boundaries of the Original Series

There is a classic webcomic that shows a comic book writer and artist doing a panel at a convention. The writer talks about how comic books are much cooler than movies because while it would be super expensive to draw a giant alien armada in a movie, you can just write it into your script in a comic, and it can all be done. The artist then attacks him, mocking the idea that all of that extra detail is "easy" for the writer, but it isn't for the artist. It's a very funny bit, but it really DOES speak to something notable in the world of comic books versus film or TV in that you really CAN expand the boundaries of action and stuff like that with comics in ways that you can't in movies and TV. A good example I used recently when I interviewed Ronda Rousey about her new graphic novel is the fact that the most epic action scenes in, say, the Black Panther movie, or the Daredevil TV show, are typically just fairly typical sequences in comic books, where it would take three panels to do the same action sequence that would take days to choroeograph and film in a live action project.

I mention all of that to note that it is interesting, then, to see IDW's new The Twilight Zone comic book series, and how it does a similar thing with its opening story, as it expands the typical boundaries of a Twilight Zonestory through the "relaxed" special effects budget that comes from being a comic book and not a TV show.

The Twilight Zone #1 is from writer Dan Watters, artist Morgan Beem, and letterer Sandy Tanaka, and like the original series, the whole first issue is one standalone story set in an alternate reality, where some twisty stuff goes down, and it opens and endes with an introduction and a sign out, both referencing the fact that we are now, in fact, in The Twlight Zone (Rod Serling, of course, would give these speeches in the original series).

How is this story like a classic Twilight Zone episode?

The issue stars Edward Kane, a very rich man who has only a few months to live. Desperate to survive, he has invested a large fortune in a medical research facility hidden on a secret island (to avoid pesky government oversight) where a scientist is developing a procedure to turn a deadly virus into something that could "reset" the human body, and erase cancer, heart disease, neurological disease, pretty much all the things that kill people. Heck, it's even intended to restart some of the general cells in the body, so it can make people younger, and vital again.

Kane gives a speech about how valuable he feels all human life is, and how everyone in the world is unique, and that he wants to celebrate that uniqueness by making them live forever, and he will live forever with them. He insists that the scientist cut steps in the testing process, and just inject Kane with the virus now. That speech by Kane that Watters includes there is very important to the understanding of Kane in this issue.

How well do Dan Watters and Morgan Beem evoke the original Twilight Zone?

Doing the comic book in black and white is a clever nod to the original series. It definitely does feel more Twilight Zone-like when it is in black and white. That's almost certainly just nostalgia speaking, but what can I say? It's still true. Of course, there is also something to be said about the power of black and white in horror comic books PERIOD. There is a certain unusual viewpoint that you get when there is a lack of color in a scene. It is inherently abnormal, and feels "wrong."

Like I mentioned at the start, where this book stands out from a typical Twilight Zone story is that Beem is able to cut loose more, to really play with the "special effects" budget in a way that a typical Twilight Zone episode never would be able to, and he does an outstanding job with how creepy the effects are, as the virus DOES reset everyone...but it resets them by erasing EVERYTHING about them! Kane is immune because he is Patient Zero, but everyone else just sees their bodies revert to blank automatons. It's SO disturbing, but it's also so EFFECTIVE.

Kane is then challenged to make a terrible decision. This allows Watters to go back to the earlier speech, and have Kane come face to face with his presumed ideals, and asked whether he will actually follow said ideals or not, and, well, you can guess for yourself (by the way, Watters threw in a nice bit of a setup into an off the cuff remark early in the issue that pays off big in the end. Smart writing, as it really didn't stand out as some big WARNING SIGN line at the time).

Now, is this issue as good as peak Twilight Zone? Well, I mean, come the heck, on, that's an absurdly high standard to live up to. Rod Serling was one of the greatest writers in TV history, so it's going to be hard to stack up against his best, but I will say that if you saw this same plot on an episode of the original Twilight Zone (with a slightly reduced setting), then you definitely wouldn't be all, "This episode does not belong!" and I think that, in and of itself, is a very notable compliment for this issue. The story holds up. Beem's artwork is also very powerful, and creepy as heck when it is needed. This is a very strong science fiction/horror comic, and we don't have a lot of options for those sorts of comic books nowadays, so it is nice to see a good one hit the shelves.

Source: IDW