Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance #2 Review

William Gaunt continues his trip back to his childhood in the second installment of Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance #2. Major Spoilers couldn’t resist the time travel story, and picked up the issue for review.

The Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance #2
Writer: Mark Rahner
Art: Edu Menna
Colorist: Thiago Ribeiro
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance: William Gaunt, down on his luck and hating life, take a trip back to his hometown to participate in a signing event. He must have taken a wrong turn, because he finds himself back in time, to the day a major life changing event transpired in his life…

BACK IN TIME

Though I really like the idea of a man being able to influence his younger self and hopefully turn a tragedy into something positive, the weirdest part of this story has to be William talking on the cell phone with his girlfriend in the future. I’m not sure time travel works that way, but I’ll roll with it for the sake of the story.

With William’s time running out (there are more than a few hints that he shouldn’t miss his plane back home), he needs to figure out a way to reconcile with his mother, and put his younger self on the right path. That is the point where William decides to put fate into his own hands, and tempt the future. It’s definitely a Twilight Zone kind of ending, with a twist the reader probably didn’t expect considering the nature to the traditional time travel story.

I did like this story about mental abuse and the toll it takes on children, and if nothing else, I hope this series triggers something in one person to change their ways when dealing with their kids. The ending was slightly jarring, but considering this story is a two-issue mini-series, I’m okay with it.

MIXED FEELINGS ON ART

Last time, I discussed my mixed feelings on art, and Edu Menna’s style continues to send mixed signals. There are still a few panels where William Gaunt looks like Liam Neeson, and the mother and grandfather look radically different depending on the what page of the issue you are in. In the end, it doesn’t really matter, the art does serve the story and doesn’t distract from the story.

BOTTOM LINE: A DIFFERENT TAKE ON WALKING DISTANCE

While we never get to see what the horrific event was on that day in William’s past, the hope that his life is going to be better by the end of the issue is uplifting. Mark Rahner does pull a Twilight Zone twist on a classic Twilight Zone story, and in the end the story is definitely the reason to pick up this issue.