News and Media

Article By: Jennifer Long
Published: Dec 11, 2008

The reviews are in: Critics are praising "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" and "The Odyssey of Flight 33," being released Dec. 23 by SCAD and Walker & Co. as part of the "Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone" graphic novel series.

Based on the original and unedited scripts in their entirety, written by Rod Serling, the graphic novel series was created by artists from the SCAD sequential art department. The books allow fans to make the journey from black and white videotape into the world of full-color images in a graphic novel.

"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" puts readers on Maple Street late on a Saturday afternoon, when a mysterious flash of light results in a power outage. But it is no ordinary power failure, and the neighbors on Maple Street will soon find themselves in the dark with an enemy of their own creation.

"[Illustrator Rich] Ellis's evenly boxy panel sizing brilliantly breaks way into a chaotic full-page spread when the crowd reaches its fever pitch," wrote a reviewer in Kirkus Reviews. "This adaptation is a deliciously creepy reworking of the TV classic and offers a timeless slant on this tale."

"The Odyssey of Flight 33" garnered rave reviews as well. This novel follows Flight 33 as it departs London bound for New York as scheduled. But a mysterious tailwind sends them far off course, hurtling back and forth through time.

"Equally engaging is 'The Odyssey of Flight 33' illustrated by Robert Grabe, with the same wonderful building of suspense that then dissolves into sheer weirdness," wrote the Kirkus Reviews contributor. "Though each story is illustrated by a different artist, they employ a similar style, which provides cohesion within the series. Eerily appealing."