Enter ‘The Twilight Zone’ with IDW’s New Comic Series in September

You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. Your next stop: The Twilight Zone.

IDW Dark will launch a five-issue black-and-white comic series based on Rod Serling‘s classic sci-fi/horror anthology show on September 24.

Each issue of The Twilight Zone will tell a new story from different creatives. The first installment, “Blank,” is written by Dan Watters and illustrated by Morgan Beem.

“The Twilight Zone is a genre unto itself,” commented Watters. “It’s a cultural titan and a North Star in the strangest skies revealing what science fiction, fantasy and horror can do for us: revealing uncomfortable truths about what lies in our own hearts. This is precisely the vein we hope to tap with our story; the unsettled space between angry and unnerving that is forever the purview of The Twilight Zone.”

“I have long been a fan of all horror, but creepy stories that slowly build to unnerve you have always been first in my heart. Few series have captured that feeling like The Twilight Zone,” added Beem. “Like being trapped in a fever dream or moving through a liminal space, the stories play with the feeling of wrongness, of things out of place. This is the feeling Dan has masterfully captured in our story, and which I hope, through my deep love of all things creepy, will flow through the art. It might not shock you, but you may not be able to stop thinking about it in the middle of the night.”

The other four issues hail from Tom Scioli, James Stokoe, Nate Powell, and Francesco Francavilla.

“Ever since I was a kid I wanted to write a Twilight Zone story and wondered if it was something I was even capable of doing,” said Scioli. “How does one go about creating a classic? The Twilight Zone brought to television one of the established formats of comic books, the sci-fi/horror anthology with literary ambitions, twist endings, and a social conscience. It pushed the limits of what you could do in the medium of commercial television and now we’re going to push the comic book medium to the breaking point of its stapled paper and see what lies beyond. With those impossibly lofty standards in mind, I’ve created something that I humbly submit for your approval.”

“These comics are for anyone who ever wished for more episodes of the original series like me,” stated series co-editor Ellen Boener. “We’re capturing the silver screen nostalgia alongside the heart-rending humanity. Every detail is a love letter to the TV show: from the full black-and-white design to the connected cover set to the narrative style. Each issue serves as a unique door into the dimension beyond with the most fascinating minds in comics as your guides. I can’t wait to share what these creators have discovered.”

The Twilight Zone #1 will feature three a main cover by Beem, the first connecting cover by Francavilla, and a retailer incentive cover (1:50) by Dani.

IDW Dark is also expanding on other Paramount properties in comic book form, including Event Horzion, A Quiet Place, Smile, and Sleepy Hollow.