Lott W. Brantley III and Associates will now manage the Literary Estate of George Clayton Johnson on behalf of George and his family. At the time of Mr. Johnson’s death, a number of his projects were in active development with producers and publishers including “Jessica’s Run: A New Adventure for the Logan’s Run Universe”.
Jessica’s Run is an author-written sequel to the original sci-fi classic currently existing in the form of a novella and was George’s sole and separate vision intended to provide a third act to LR.
The story further reveals the underlying world of the Logan’s Run Universe and the crusade of the mysterious and legendary Deep Sleep Operative and “Sandman” Francis 7, who continues his battle to save the young from their seeming addiction to the ideology of early death at the age of 21 in exchange for “Sanctuary”.
Upon realizing that Francis 7 lied to them – and Sanctuary was not on Argos – Logan 3 and Jessica 6 are separated during their fiery return to Earth. Now quite psychotic, Logan 3 is completely torn over his decision to run with Jessica 6 and his former life as a DS Operative.
In Jessica’s Run, Logan 3 must survive without his gun – and the ramifications of that aren’t pretty. Meanwhile, Jessica 6 begins her own journey, starting from the bottom of the ocean, recruited to unite three mysterious and telepathic “sisters” – tripclones with immense powers, named Astralith, The Poor Polt and Bev the Lev – and determined to both find Sanctuary and save the disillusioned and very dangerous Logan 3 from himself.
And, of course, Francis 7 is more determined than ever to find them. A manipulator of the Maze for years, Francis is now more concerned than ever about “The Thinker”, the massive and complex computer system responsible for running the world and housed beneath the Crazy Horse monument in the mountains of the Dakota’s. The computer seems to be preparing for an “upgrade” to the Logan world, manipulating not only memories, but time itself and providing an even more explosive reveal underlying the fabric of not only the society where death is mandatory at the age of 21 – but of the universe it is constructed within.
George was always a little ahead of his time in many ways and Jessica’s Run, from its inception, did include the four major female protagonists: Jessica 6, and the clones named Bev the Lev, Astralith and The Poor Polt. Also, in Jessica’s Run, the 5 year old Mary 2 (mentioned on only two pages of the original novel) plays an important role in the Jessica’s Run sequel.
George gave the story its name in deference to William F. Nolan and the already existing “Logan’s Run” title used in the series of sequels entitled Logan’s World and Logan’s Search, which were essentially investigations of the 1976 film, which itself veered from several important themes in the original novel and raised the age of mandatory death to 30 from the original age of 21.
George wished to keep his storyline separate from Bill’s, as each had an honored agreement for almost 50 years that either could do whatever they wanted with the characters and universe of the original novel. William F. Nolan entered into an agreement with Warner Bros. for his two sequels. However, George did not. Although we did approach Warner Bros. regarding a holdback agreement for Jessica, WB declined to negotiate, and therefore, per the terms regarding author written sequels in the MGM 1967 Agreement for Logan, this effectively allowed George to retain film rights to his novel.
George always believed that the original novel needed a third act. Jessica’s Run is that third act. However, in keeping with the last lines that George wrote in his classic Twilight Zone Episode “Nothing in the Dark” – “what you thought was the end, is only the beginning“.
And although it is true that the novel existed only in a fragmented form for many years, George had actively resumed development of the property over the last three years and it is his sole sequel contribution to the Logan’s Run Canon.
Comics Grinder Interview with George Clayton Johnson regarding Jessica’s Run on November 21, 2012 that explains in greater detail how George retained all Motion Picture and Allied Rights to his sequel.
George: “One of the new producers for the remake called William F. Nolan asking about a proposed screenplay that had been written by Johnson and Nolan. That screenplay had remained true to the novel. Once the producer got a copy, that was the last contact Johnson and Nolan have had with the new movie. “You would think,” says Johnson, “that of all the people in the world that they could work with, why not Bill and me?”
But here comes the best part. “When I studied our original novel,” explains Johnson, “I found that it lacked a third act. There was no final resolution. Instead, we had dashed off a one sentence conclusion. We had rushed the ending. My sequel, ‘Jessica’s Run,’ picks up right where the novel left off.”
“Bill and I did an odd thing. We took one baseball and made two baseballs out of it. Why couldn’t we both have ‘Logan’s Run’? You do what you want with it, give him a baby, whatever, and I do with it what I want.
Bill wanted to continue where the movie left off and wrote ‘Logan’s World’ and ‘Logan’s Search,’ and a bunch of other titles. I wanted to continue from where the novel left off which led to ‘Jessica’s Run.’