George's Run
A Writer's Journey through the Twilight Zone
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- $27.99
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- $27.99
Publisher Description
George Clayton Johnson was an up-and-coming short story writer who broke into Hollywood in a big way when he co-wrote the screenplay for Ocean’s Eleven. More legendary works followed, including Logan’s Run and classic scripts for shows like The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. In the meantime, he forged friendships with some of the era’s most visionary science fiction writers, including Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, Richard Matheson, and Rod Serling.
Later in life, Johnson befriended comics journalist and artist Henry Chamberlain, and the two had long chats about his amazing life and career. Now Chamberlain pays tribute to his late friend in the graphic novel George’s Run, which brings Johnson’s creative milieu to life in vividly illustrated color panels. The result feels less like reading a conventional biography and more like sitting in on an intimate conversation between friends as they recollect key moments in pop culture history, as well as the colorful band of writers known as the “Rat Pack of Science Fiction.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Screenwriter Chamberlain's nostalgic hagiography of 1960s-era sci-fi actor and author George Clayton Johnson sprints through its subject's life, work, and philosophy. Based on personal interviews between the two, Chamberlain's breezy survey of Johnson's career covers his stints as cowriter of the original Logan's Run novel and screenwriter for Sinatra's Ocean's Eleven, the first aired episode of Star Trek, and many scripts for The Twilight Zone. Johnson was part of the "Rat Pack of science fiction," and peppered throughout are anecdotes that name-drop mentors, friends, and collaborators such as Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, and Rod Serling. The extensive sections on Serling often drift into episode summaries and skimp on more in-depth analysis. Chamberlain's visual presentation fits the clipped pace of the narrative: most pages are filled with one or two large drawings, occasionally resembling a children's picture book. The art is simple and appealing, sporting an exaggerated cartoonish style with fluid lines. It's all tinted with evocative gold, pink, and blue pastels, and there's a chummy mood of mutual admiration throughout. This will appeal to fans and aficionados of '60s pop culture, but less so to readers looking for critical insights.
