Customer Reviews

The Twilight Zone: The Big Tall Wish (Twilight Zone (Walker Paperback))

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Who doesn't like a dark and twisted tale? The Twilight Zone franchise has the market cornered on twisted stories. And now readers can experience THE TWILIGHT ZONE in graphic novel form.

In THE BIG TALL WISH, a has-been boxer, Bolie Jackson, is determined to make a comeback. He is scheduled to fight that night. A young neighbor boy wishes Bolie well and promises to make a wish to keep him from getting hurt.

Before the fight begins, Bolie finds himself with a broken hand when his anger at his agent overtakes him. But Bolie refuses to give up and has his trainer tape his hand even tighter. But it's not enough to keep Bolie from getting beaten and knocked out. When Bolie comes to, the world has been altered and he's standing as the winner.

Anyone who knows The Twilight Zone understands that there can never be a happy ending. Bolie doesn't leave a good thing alone. When he questions how he came to be the winner, the wish that Henry made starts to unravel.

THE BIG TALL WISH is just one of a variety of THE TWILIGHT ZONE stories that have been captured in graphic clarity. The story has been adapted from the original script that aired on television in the 1960s. THE BIG TALL WISH is told with the dark colors that made the show that much creepier. The only way that this story would've been darker was if the illustrator had kept to the traditional black-and-white coloring that The Twilight Zone was known for.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

THE BIG TALL WISH is part of a series of graphic novels from Walker Books for Young Readers adapted from episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. This story revolves around an aged boxer named Bolie Jackson who is trying to make a comeback late in his career by fighting a young, rising star. Bolie's biggest fan is a boy named Henry. Henry lives with his single mom in the same apartment building as Bolie. Bolie takes a liking to the kid and takes him out for ice cream and trips to the zoo. Henry wants Bolie to succeed in his fight and makes the biggest and tallest wish he can make. In the Twilight Zone dreams can come true, but they only last if people believe in them.

The story in THE BIG TALL WISH isn't particularly memorable, but the episode on which it is based is significant because it featured an almost completely African-American cast and had a storyline that had nothing to do with racism. The episode was nominated for several awards.

I was a little disappointed by the illustrations in THE BIG TALL WISH. This was the fifth or sixth of the TWILIGHT ZONE graphic novels that I have read. It is also the last book published in the series so far. It appears that the quality of the illustrations has diminished from earlier stories in the series. That's not to say that they are terrible, because they aren't. However, there's just not as much detail given and the color scheme isn't a very good one. This book was drawn by a different illustrator than the others I've read so I guess that's the reason. The text is written in a font a little larger than most graphic novels and comics and the panels are easy to follow. The book includes introductory and concluding essays as well as a page that gives many details about the original episode, including cast, crew, and trivia.

Overall, though it is based on an episode from a landmark television series, THE BIG TALL WISH is basically an average graphic novel. I'm not sure if fans of THE TWILIGHT ZONE will enjoy the book or not, but it will appeal to its target audience of older children and reluctant readers.