The first story arc comes to a close, but doesn’t leave us hanging. J. Michael Straczynski (to be known as JMS for the rest of this review) has managed to capture the tone, pacing and style of the original Twilight Zone TV show and yet reminded the reader that they’re reading a comic. It’s a strange realization when you finish reading the issue because of that. Yes it does feel like you’ve just watched an episode with three commercial breaks, but then JMS does some world building that leads into the next storyline. It was a great mix of both mediums in a way. This issue is pretty simple to sum up; it concludes our first story arc in which the old Trevor Richmond confronts the new Trevor Richmond. Being that it’s The Twilight Zone it could go either way. We also learn about the new Trevor who was previously Johnny and how he came to be Trevor. It was the bulk of the story, but it was probably the most rewarding storytelling of the series to date.

JMS again captures the style and tone of The Twilight Zone with the moral lesson that Johnny/new Trevor learns and the hard lessons that old Trevor learns. Old Trevor was the catalyst for the story, but he was not the hero of the tale which was clear from the beginning. It’s funny, thinking about it in that context Trevor was the star of the show the entire time, but artist Guiu Vilanova convinces the reader that he is a different person.

That only thing that could possibly give this book a closer feel to the TV show is to remove the coloring, but then I don’t know if black and white would actually enrich the story. As it is Vilanova and Vinicius Andrade make a great team. Vilanova with his fantastic facial expressions; the intensity on old Trevor’s face is very convincing as in the sadness on past and present Johnny.

This issue was probably my favorite in the series thus far and I really enjoyed the set up for the next story line that not only was sprinkled in throughout the issue, but especially at the end. JMS and the creative team paid this franchise a respect. They didn’t just come in and try to copy the original nor did they try to stray far from it. Instead they delivered a story worthy of the name for the modern era.

Score: 5/5

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski Artist: Guiu Vilanova Colorist: Vinicius Andrade Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 4/9/14 Format: Ongoing – Print/Digital