The Twilight Zone Volume 1: The Way Out

by J. Michael Straczynski, Guiu Vilanova (Artist)

Collects The Twilight Zone #1-4!

From the mind of J. Michael Straczynski, Hugo Award-winning creator of Babylon 5 and writer for the blockbuster films Thor, Changeling, and World War Z! Trevor Richmond is a Wall Street investor who embezzled millions and is about to tank the economy. Desperate to avoid the consequences for his actions, he goes to Expedited Services, which offers to help him disappear and enjoy a life of leisure in a new identity. But what exactly is this new life, how much is freedom worth, and what happens to the old life when someone else shows up to claim it? This captivating first volume will push the boundaries of The Twilight Zone into new and uncharted territory - a journey that will travel into the past and the future, into murder and revenge, and finally into the sunrise of nuclear Armageddon!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Mystery, Media Tie In

113 pages, ebook

First published July 15, 2014

About the author

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.
Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel's Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013). From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe's Comics.
A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.
Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer to directly engage with fans on the Internet and to allow viewer viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show. Two prominent areas where he had a presence were GEnie and the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

A respectable beginning to what promises to be an entertaining series. Trevor Richmond works for a Wall Street investment firm. He's been embezzling, and is looking to escape. A company called Expedited Services seems like it can help. They promise him a new life. The price is steep, but he can afford it. Everything seems fine until he notices someone is living his old life ...

It seems that we're going to get three story arcs that intersect with each other in interesting ways. I like that Straczynski is doing his own riff on the Twilight Zone rather than slavishly imitating the original. The Trevor Richmond story seems complete in this volume, but we also get intriguing bits of the other two. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I thought would be a horror story instead ended up being a pretty deep character study. The art on this volume was ok, but this series was all about the story.

Without getting too deep into spoilers, you basically have two men switching lives, one a crooked Wall Street Executive who is really a terrible human being, and another who has had terrible luck in life but is a good guy. The twists and turns go from there.

While I usually prefer more horror influenced stories in a comic like The Twilight Zone, I have to admit the story was very dramatic and really sucked me in. Typical comic book fare this is not.

If you're looking for a deeper comic book read then capes and tights, try this one out.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Review is for al l three volumes read back to back.

A long story strung across three volumes but without ever feeling dragged out or inflated, weaving together three separate storylines that cross paths without being overly coincidental or contrived, and that has enough faith in the audience not to offer easy explanations.
I'm sure somewhere out there, Rod Serling approves.

[Dann · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Dynamite Comics comes The Twilight Zone Volume One: The Way In, the first part of a trilogy of terror. Written by Hugo Award winning author and former New Twilight Zone scriptwriter J. Michael Straczynski, the story follows a corrupt Wall Street investor who seeks to escape the fallout of his embezzlement by going to a company that specializes in changing a person’s identity and giving them a new life. The book is especially well-written and does an impressive job at emulating the Twilight Zone style; including the character types, plot twists, social commentary, and moral comeuppance that have come to define the series. And the artwork too has a distinctive feel, with its use of shadows and askew angles, that creates an ominous and foreboding tone. Additionally, though the story is largely self-contained, there are a couple of apparent crossover scenes with volumes 2 & 3 that hint at what’s to come in the next two tales in this three part anthology. Mind-bending and full of chills, The Twilight Zone Volume One: The Way In is a captivating graphic novel.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straczynski hat mit diesem ersten TWILIGHT ZONE-Paperback die Grundstimmung von Rod Serlings Kultserie eigentlich recht gut getroffen. Die Einschränkung hat zwei Gründe: subjektiv ist die TZ für mich nur in Schwarzweiß "gefühlsecht", außderdem war die Handlung vergleichsweise komplex und lang, während der Charme der frühen Fernsehfolgen gerade in der Kürze lag.
THE WAY OUT, so der Titel der vierteiligen Story, ist gut erzählte und paßt thematisch zu Serlings Geschichten. Es geht darum, niemand anders sein zu wollen, sondern das eigene Leben zu führen und das Beste daraus zu machen, auch wenn die Zeit und die Möglichkeiten begrenzt sind; eine Message, die heutzutage leicht angestaubt wirkt und zum Retro-Charakter des Titels paßt.
Trotz des konventionellen Inhalts gelingt es Straczynski, die Story so zu erzählen, dass ich bald in den Bann gezogen war und das Buch in einem Rutsch durchlesen musste, ein unbestreitbares Gütemerkmal.
Die Artwork von Vilanova ist passable und transportiert die Stimmung zuverlässig.
3,5 Sterne

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Twilight Zone" is probably my favorite show of all time and this latest incarnation looked interesting enough to get my attention, even if I can't recall the last time anything Straczynski wrote really wowing me. It had a solid hook, the art was fine and the tone felt right. The trouble is, it took FOUR issues to tell the initial story, while also seeding in subplots and side characters for future arcs that felt forced and out of place. Twilight Zone stories, at least to me, work best as quick morality tales, even if they have to be sparse or brutally brief to land the payoff. Get in, set the scene, twist the knife and get right out again. Anything more just belabors the point. There's a reason no one remembers any of the old hour-long episodes very fondly. They drug on foreeeeever, and so does this first volume.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got into this series for a strange reason. I really like artist Francesco Francavilla. But he only does the covers for it, not the interior art. But it is the Twilight Zone and those stories can be fun especially since one of the writers from the 90s spin on the storyline, J. Michael Straczynski, is writing this as well.

It's not bad. This first arc is about a Wall Street investment guy about to be indicted who wants to disappear. Along comes a company that can make that happen... for a price. You know the old maxim "be careful what you wish for"? Well it's pretty good advice here for the protagonist and myself. I just wished for a slightly more compelling story. It cleaned up too easy. Here's hoping the second arc fares better.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I really liked this a little better than a 3. It was a solid enough sci-fi type story. But nothing about it particularly said Twilight Zone to me.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely Fun to listen to. It was strange to hear current actors taking their turn in a 60s classic.

[Brandon Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

What does it mean to be "you"?

It's a great question.

I went in to this thinking it was going to be a bad knock-off of Twilight Zone. A script that Serling would have read, shook his head and moved on from.

Boy was I wrong.

This could have easily been a great ep from any of the TZ series (I say this as a fan of all of them). The questions that are asked are challenging and the protagonist has to deal with that greatest of Serling's fears: "Fear of the unknown working on you, which you cannot share with others."

This one will stay with me and I can't wait to see what the next one will do.

Like so many good TZ protagonists, I came into this skeptical and have come out surprised. Mr. Straczynski has put together a marvelous bit of prose here and the art brings it to life without distracting from it.

An excellent work that earns the banner it lives underneath.

[Molli B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the art being very good, I was torn about the storyline for a good part of this. I felt like Trevor's behavior was WAY crazy, but honestly, if you think about how some of the characters behavior on the show, I think the story did a good job keeping that vibe. Trevor's behavior IS way crazy, but he's in a strange situation and he's obviously borderline to begin with or he wouldn't have gotten himself into the situation he was in. So, by the end of the story I was feeling okay about how it played out.

I'll definitely read more if I can get my hands on them!

[Roberto Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good story overall. It is done to be read as collected edition. This book cllects the first four issue of the monthly comics (i read it originally in sigle issues) and in tha issue format, this was not ok.

Twilight zone Tv show were sigle stories per episode, and I hoped the issue format would be like that, instead i got decompressed storytelling, good one, but 8n that regard, it eliminated the spirit of serie, ñecially with the epilogue, that its a cliffhanger for the next (four chapter) arc.

It is better experienced in this collected format.

[whit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a very strong message about being happy, taking responsibility and helping others. One of the main characters had only 3 years to live because he had cancer and he wanted to make the most of them. Not a twist ending for a TZ. In fact, it was kind of standard. It was touching, however.
Surprised to see such an ethically strong story in a comic book.

I liked the artwork but it was kind of splotchy and inky. Not a lot of detail in distant pics. I liked the panel layouts.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough story to introduce a new Twilight Zone series, even if the book was set up to have interconnected stories for the future. This one dealt with one story while setting up at least two more, but that made some of the future stories seem more important for this tale than they were. As it was, this one was rather average, showing a Wall Street crook finding a way out of his impending arrest and then deciding he wants what he lost to be free back again.

[wbforeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I think as a story, this is very good about a wealthy man switches lives in order to avoid going to jail and then desperately wanting that life back. It’s a good tale my problem is the art is OK to mediocre and the twilight zone is very dialogue. Heavy story and i zone out when the dialogue bubbles are as big as a. the twilight zone doesn’t fit in the comic book with medium. I think this would be better as a prose novel than a comic book

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

How fortuitous it was that I picked this up after the Carls. A story of identity and spoiled stock brokers. This is the first volume of a 3 volume Twilight Zone comic. It is a standalone story that appears to interconnect with the other 2 standalones.

It has that Sterling narration even if he doesn't appear. If you love the Twilight Zone, you'll love this comics incarnation

[Shoumik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing that got me through was how the protagonist was modeled (visually) on American Psycho's Patrick Bateman, the film version. That was the most interesting thing, watching a Graphic Novellized Rotoscope version of Christian Bale, doing his thang.

[Mikey James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the Twilight Zone and reading these comics as well as listening to the old radio shows they made are a great continuation of the series. This was a 12 issue release which intertwined 4 stories together really well. I hope to find another edition or part 2 of this.

[Annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Real Twilight Tale

Sometimes the very thing you're running from is not as bad as first imagine. I always loved watching the twilight zone TV series, so I really enjoyed reading the first volume of this series.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. JMS never disappoints. I didn't care for the interweaving of volume 2 plot points into volume 1. It got confusing and detracted from the current story.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just for fun...I love the Twilight Zone!

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

didnt really grab my attention at all.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not like the story telling style/feel of the original Rod Sterling production...it still had the cerebral and mind bending story aspects that made the classic famous!

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was reminiscent of the original show but with a modern twist on scifi. The take on switching lives was brilliantly executed!

[Constance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good.

[Arjun Rajkumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good strong story arc. Closer to 3.5 stars. good art as well. tied into volumes 2 and volumes 3 so depending on how the overall arc pans out rating might be revised!

[Dawn Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, I love the twilight zone.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 2 out of 5]

More suited to the Outer Limits than the Zone but decent.

[Barry Hammock · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, existentialist, thought-provoking piece on the nature of identity, as well as the measure of a man.

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty great capture of the feel of the show and I love the hints at future stories.