One of my favorite things I’ve received in the mail this year was an advance copy of Koren Shadmi‘s The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television, a comic book-style illustrated biography that explores the life and career of the late Rod Serling, the man who forever changed television with his greatest creation, “The Twilight Zone.”
This October, Humanoids, the publisher of some of the world’s most iconic and groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy graphic novels, will celebrate the 60th anniversary of “The Twilight Zone” with the publication of internationally acclaimed cartoonist Koren Shadmi’s dazzling biography, and we’re excited to share five sneak peek preview pages today.
“Before he became the revered master of science fiction, Rod Serling was a just a writer who had to fight to make his voice heard.”
“Both on and off the screen, Serling was active in politics. He vehemently challenged the networks and viewership alike to expand their minds and standards―rejecting notions of censorship, racism and war. But it wasn’t until he began to write about real world enemies in the guise of aliens and monsters that people started paying attention. Serling pushed the television industry to the edge of glory, and himself to the edge of sanity. He operated in a dimension beyond that of contemporary society, making him both a revolutionary and an outsider.”
“In my late twenties, when I was first exposed to the original Twilight Zone I felt a strong connection to the themes and visuals,” said Shadmi. “Years later I became curious about Serling, the enigmatic, chain-smoking creator/writer/presenter of the show. As I began to read about him I saw an incredible life story unfolding right in front of me; he was such an interesting character and lived at such a tremulous point in history. I quickly realized that it would make for a powerful graphic novel biography.”
Humanoids will publish The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television in bookstores on October 8 and in comic stores on October 9, 2019.
The five pages we’re previewing exclusively today touch upon the initial genesis of “The Twilight Zone,” an idea that sprung from Serling’s mind when he realized that wrapping up his thought-provoking, politically-charged stories in science fiction packaging would allow him to get his ideas out into the world without them being heavily censored and toned down.
Out of sheer frustration, a legend was born…
