Sunday, April 26, 2020

Graphic Novels: The Twilight Man by Koren Shadmi


I never knew much about the background of Twilight Zone creator and host Rod Serling—except he worked briefly at local Cincinnati radio station WLW in the 50s, writing commercials and radio dramas. I heard other things about him—he wrote the first draft of the Planet of the Apes screenplay, he was prolific, and he sold the syndication rights to The Twilight Zone much too cheaply, never dreaming it would be broadcast worldwide in perpetuity. The Twilight Man, an expertly researched graphic novel/biography by writer/artist Koren Shadmi, changes all that. Shadmi, a comic creator from Israel, digs deep into Serling’s WWII experiences (where he was one of the few Jews in his platoon), his boxing experience—he was small and looked for ways to be tough—and his first attempts at writing and storytelling.

After the war, Serling dealt with his diagnosis of shellshock by writing stories and poetry. He found he had both a talent and knack for writing. As a former paratrooper, at first he supplemented his income by being a parachute tester, a dangerous—but lucrative—way to make a few extra bucks (then left him with several new injuries). After a few years toiling away at WLW in Cincinnati, Serling struck it big with his first live national presentation for Kraft Theater, a show called Patterns. His career took off from there. Multiple offers and a move to New York soon followed.

Throughout his career, Serling had to fight the TV censors and the balance between art and commerce. After years of this battle, he was inspired to create The Twilight Zone, where he could write about almost any TV taboo subject he wanted, as long as he cloaked it in a fantasy/sci-fi metaphor. Then things really took off. Twilight Zone did well enough for a five year run, but was never a runaway ratings hit. With his reputation now established, Serling wrote everything from live TV theater to books and endless Twilight Zone episodes. Not to mention being the on-air host of the show and the producer. Life was busy and hard on his marriage. After Twilight Zone, he taught screenwriting at Ithaca College and loved it, then smoked himself to an early death.

Artist/author Shadmi expertly handles the pacing of the story and Serling’s mental state during each phase. He shows the writer warts and all, and how intensely creative people give so much of themselves because they want to take advantage of work and popularity that may be gone at any time. This usually ends in burnout, as it did with Serling several times. However, Rod always bounced back and had something new to say. He didn’t always make the right decisions, but who does? Serling’s life ended too early during open-heart surgery after a major heart attack. Hollywood had permanently burned out one of the finest writers it ever produced at only 50 years of age. The Twilight Man not only deals with the popular parts of Serling’s career, but also the beginnings of live television and the battles artists have to fight to defend their voice and non-traditional points of view. For lovers of history and the mass media. 

Grade: A
Worth your valuable time: Yes, a fantastic read. 

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