Created by Rod Serling and running from 1959-64, The Twilight Zone was a pioneering television show which involved ordinary people finding themselves in weird supernatural situations. The stories usually ended with a bizarre or ironic twist. Along with Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-65) and The Outer Limits (1963-65), The Twilight Zone remains as an important landmark in the history of ‘weird’ fiction. The strength and popularity of these shows has seen all three revived over the years with varying degrees of success. And so we come to The Twilight Zone "reimagined for a new generation" in the form of the graphic novel. Four books are reviewed here by three of the Specusphere's reviewers: Felicity Dowker, Ross Murray and Simon Petrie. Two further books are planned for release later in the year. In all cases, the original script by Rod Serling has been adapted by Mark Kneece and several illustrators have been involved in the re-creation. The publisher is Bloomsbury.

The first four books are:
Walking Distance, illustrated by Dove McHargue: ISBN 978-7475-8787-3
The After Hours, illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs: ISBN: 978-0-7475-8789-7
The Odyssey of Flight 33, illustrated by Robert Grabe: ISBN 978-0-7475-8788-0
The Monsters are due on Maple Street, illustrated by Rich Ellis:  ISBN: 9780747587910

We'll start with Walking Distance and The After Hours, reviewed by Ross Murray.

Walking Distance is the story of harried businessman Martin Sloan, who unexpectedly finds himself within "walking distance" of his boyhood hometown – yet when he visits, nothing seems to have changed in twenty years, and when he meets people who have been dead for years, he realises something very strange is going on.

The After Hours sees Marsha White searching for a gift for her mother at Brimble's Department store. Overly friendly staff direct her to the eighteenth floor. When she complains to store management that her gift bought on the eighteenth floor isn't what she expected, she's told there is no eighteenth floor. However it's when she's inadvertently locked in for the night that things get really weird.

Good stories are good stories, and evidence of this is when they are transferred to different media and still have the same impact. Writer/adapter Mark Kneece has done a decent job in his adaptations, the stories still having a very eerie feeling about them. In fact I think you'd have to really do something terrible to Serling's stories to remove their inherent good qualities. These stories tap into deeper emotions than just plain weirdness.

One thing many comic artists lack is a real flair for facial expression. Conveying emotion is a real art in itself. Dove McHargue (Walking Distance) and Rebekah Isaacs (The After Hours) both perform admirably, providing good value with each panel conveying the changing emotions of the characters and their growing unease in their strange situations. Their overall artwork is skilful and well executed though not necessarily distinctive.

However I do have a small problem with "re-imagined" claim. The stories are set in the same time as when they were written (1950s-60s) and I wonder if they could've been given a more contemporary setting. Kneece may well have found himself in a double bind here – alienate older Twilight Zone fans by trying to update the tales or miss out on the younger market by leaving them set in that era.  I also feel that something could've been done with the layout of panels and pages. While there is nothing wrong with standard six to nine rectangular panels per page, by using the unique possibilities of presentation which the graphic novel format offers, something a bit more innovative could have been achieved to further in enhance the stories' eeriness. This would have achieved a true "re-imagining".

Similarly, both books have the same Introduction and Afterword. If I were inclined to buy the whole series I'd be disappointed in the repeated material (assuming every one of the eight books does repeat the material). Graphic novels now have a lot of extra material over and above the story itself to entice buyers, often containing rough layouts, scripts, and character sketches. Brian Bendis's Powers is a good example, while DC's "Absolute" editions (Sandman, The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen) are the pinnacle of this type of marketing. Something like the reproduction of the original Twilight Zone episode script may have been welcome here so the reader could compare the television episode to the graphic novel or to simply see omitted material.

Let's turn now to The Monsters are due on Maple Street, reviewed by Simon Petrie

What is it with streets named after trees? Elm Street, Maple Street...they sound like dangerous places to be. In The Monsters are due on Maple Street, a mysterious meteor lights up the dusk sky over the neighbourhood of Maple Street. And then the power goes out. Strange...but it's obviously just a matter of sitting tight until the power is reconnected. Trouble is, the assembled neighbours can't seem to just wait it out. The problems start when little Tommy points out that, whenever this kind of thing happens in the flying-saucer movies, it means the invasion is imminent. Then someone else suggests that, hey, the kid might have something there, and it's noted that the sensible course of action, for the aliens, would have been to plant a spy or two in the neighbours' midst. The idea gains traction, but nobody can agree as to who these spies are – except, obviously, that it isn't themselves. Can you, the reader, guess how this might go down? "Maple Street" is nicely drawn, and seems well-paced, within (one presumes) the strictures of the original TV screenplay. There's a nod or two to Roy Liechenstein (I think) in the artwork, the illustrations do a good job of capturing the fifties ambience, and if the script seems to linger overly in the realm of paranoia, it's worth bearing in mind that the original TV program would have aired at a time when McCarthyism was still a vivid, recent memory in many peoples' minds. But this kind of thing – scapegoating, going on witchhunts, stereotyping people based on any perceived minor difference of skin colour, attitude, behaviour – couldn't happen nowadays, surely. Could it? I mean, we've moved on as a society from this kind of vilification ... haven't we?

Or maybe there's still a kind of resonance to these themes...

And lastly, we look at The Odyssy of Flight 33, reviewed by Felicity Dowker

The Odyssey of Flight 33 is a natural transition for the pulpy cult classic, and Serling's iconic style and vision translates well. It is a subtle tale, and the illustrative medium takes it to a whole new level.  A claustrophobic ballet plays out amongst the crew and passengers stuck aboard the ill-fated aeroplane as it chances into a glitch in time and is flung through several different eras.  Here was have some strongly shaped archetypal characters: the tough and brave air hostess, the slightly unbalanced passenger with a dark past, the unexpected hero, and even a waffling old dote who barely seems to notice the drama unfolding around her.

As a Twilight Zone geek from way back, I was thrilled to receive this graphic novel for review, and I wasn't disappointed.  It's a quick read, and every moment is enjoyable.  Grabe's illustrations are reminiscent of the detailed much-loved comic books of yesteryear, with a masterpiece woven into every frame. Kneece has handled Serling"s work with reverence and skill, and the result is eminently satisfying. It's the little touches that are most pleasing – Serling appearing aboard the flight and giving his famous Twilight Zone mid-story narrative, for instance.

Today's reader may find Flight 33 mild and uneventful, especially if the reader has never before experienced the phenomenon of the Twilight Zone and doesn't have an appreciation for the trademark style involved. However, the ride is no less enjoyable for its relative gentleness by modern standards.

As adaptations, the four books thus far released are solid and competent efforts by a talented writer and accompanying artists. Obviously longstanding Twilight Zone fans/collectors who must have everything related to the show will devour these tales like candy. They may also find a readership among those who like comics but not the superheroes which dominate the genre.

In fact, anyone who enjoys the speculative fiction genre, noir, graphic novels, and classic storytelling should seek out the Twilight Zone graphic novels. Look, out the window. Can you see? That's the signpost up ahead – your next stop, the Twilight Zone!

Two more books, The Big Tall Wish (illustrated by Chris Lie) and Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? (illustrated by Rich Ellis) will be published in September.

For more information on Mark Kneece go to:
http://www.bloomsbury.com/Authors/details.aspx?tpid=11020

And for more on Rod Serling: http://www.bloomsbury.com/Authors/details.aspx?tpid=3854

Information on each of the artists can also be found on the Bloomsbury web site.