Stephen King: The Dark Tower Comic

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I know this ahs already been talked about, but I figured I'd set up a new thread for it.

April this year (that is what Wizard reported, but on Marvel's site they Feb 2007, which sucks), by Stephen King, Jae Lee and Richard Isanove. And it's not just his Dark Tower series in comics form. It's a prequel to the series. So if you've never read his series (which took him something like 30 years to complete? he satrted in the 70's with Dark Tower one I believe) it's a good start before you go and read the books. And if you are one of us that have already read the books, then it's a good read to discover a bit more about Roland.

It's a six issue piece telling a story about Roland, the gunslinger, is sent out to Mejis after being newly appointed as a gunslinger. There is a war going on, and Roland discovers somethign bigger might be happening in Mejis, bigger than the war. Roland is sent with Alain Johns and Cuthbert Allgood, his two best friends.

Here's the double page spread from Wizard: (Issue #172, but there was a bit about it in #171, too):

kamm9s.jpg



It does look promising, except the fact Stephen isn;t actually writing the damn thing. He's "supervising" content.

www.marvel.com/king
 
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He's not writing it? What the hell was Marvel hyping about then?

"We got Stephen King! He's writing a Marvel book!"

Otherwise, it looks pretty good, 1602-esque. I need to pick up the books.
 
ProjectX2 said:
He's not writing it? What the hell was Marvel hyping about then?

"We got Stephen King! He's writing a Marvel book!"

Otherwise, it looks pretty good, 1602-esque. I need to pick up the books.
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It doesn't even look like he's plotting it, I think he's just saying "Yes" or "No" to what he sees.

Stephen King is the Executive Editor and Creative Director of Marvel's much awaited Dark Tower comic book series and graphic fiction collections. King is directly involved in the creative aspects of this project, supervising all editorial and visual content.

Robin Furth, author of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: A Concordance, is outlining the Dark Tower comic book series, providing scene-by-scene plotting, and maintaining the continuity and consistency of each story arc.
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Yeah, I read that feature in Wizard and it sounded interesting. I read a short Dark Tower story in a collection of King's short stories. It was good, but I didn't really get what it was about. After reading that Wizard article, the series sounds a lot more interesting to me. I think I might try to read all of the books before the comics come out.
 
ProjectX2 said:
He's not writing it? What the hell was Marvel hyping about then?.
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Yeah, that was pretty annoying. Unfortunately, Marvel made it a point to never promise that King was writing anything, as Paul O'Brien notes in one of his columns following the announcement of King signing on:
Paul O'Brien said:
Next to a piece of promotional art clearly labelled 'Stephen King', in the style of a book cover, we have the headline ,"Stephen King breaks new ground at Marvel with original comic series based on his epic THE DARK TOWER". Below that, we're assured that this series marks the "first time Stephen King has produced original content for the comic book format". What an interesting choice of words. "Produced original content." You'd have thought "written" would be quicker.

And indeed, the press release continues in the same tone. Marvel and Stephen King "join forces this spring to launch" the comic. Uh-huh. Once again, we're reminded that it's the first time King has "produced original content" for a comic. Uh-huh. "King's unparalleled storytelling power will inform new stories." Inform...? And then, there's this:

"The comics will work in conjunction with the novels, further supplementing and defining the saga's mythology under the direction of the acclaimed author himself." Whoa there. "Under the direction" of Stephen King? What does that actually mean?

In fact, despite doing its level best to give the impression that DARK TOWER is a comic by Stephen King and Jae Lee, the press release is beautifully worded to avoid ever actually saying so. And after all, it's not like it mentions anyone else as the writer.
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Click here for a really obsessive nitpick off the entire marketing of this creative alliance between King and Marvel: http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=1120
 
I'm really looking forward to this and I'm not sure why. It's probably just the Jae Lee art, which is always fanatstic. I'd never even read a Stephen King book.

But I read the first Dark Tower book last week and it was pretty decent. I'm gonna give it some time before I read the second because I got a lot of other stuff to read, but I'll definately being finishing the series.

It sucks King's role is rather limited, not even plotting the book let alone writing it, but the first novel did seem to fit Peter David pretty well, so I think they made a good choice there.
 
The Dark Tower is one of my favorite series of all time, and anyone who's talked with me knows just how much it means to me. I'm shaking with anticipation for this series.
I don't mind that Robin Furth is plotting it; anyone familiar with the series already knows about her brilliant concordance volumes on everything the series contains. If anyone knows as much about the Universe as King, it's Furth.

I also support having a proven comic writer script it- as long as King approves everything, I see no problem. I mean, last time a non-comic author scripted something, we ended up with Ultimate Iron Man.
 
I never really like Jae Lee's art before. I just now realized its because no one has ever COLORED it right!

My, this art looks GOOD! Isanove's collers are perfect for his black-heavy style.

I've been a fan of Isanove ever since the first 1602 comic I read.
 
great. a midnight sale for this only. so i gotta stay up late to get it (lest it should sell out) and go back the next day to get everything else? lame. i hope my store won't be doing this.
 
Honestly, I've read five of King's "other" novels (The Stand, It, Salem's Lot, Bag of Bones, and The Shining) and only the first Dark Tower book, The Gunslinger.

And after doing so, I can honestly say Stephen King is probably the most overrated author still working today. Granted, occasionally, the guy can tell a decent, somwhat interesting story. Unfortunatley, he really doesn't know how to write in a way that the reader can relate to or get interested in. I don't know if its forced or what, but it doesn't read well...ever. I really have never cared or been able to relate to his characters (who to me are usually wooden and predictable). Don't even get me started about a large majority of the plots for the book.

Swear to God, three or four years ago my friend James was a huge fan of King, and had read all the Dark Tower books up to that point (1-5 I believe, and the fifth had just come out). He described the plot (extremely detailed) to me of everything that had happened so far, even recounting the trans-dimensional adventures and flashbacks to Roland's past (of which I think Wizard and Glass was almost entirely such). After I read the first Dark Tower book and thought about a few lines The Man In Black says to Roland towards the end, as well as what my friend told me, I was able to easily predict the ending of the series. What would happen once he got to the top of the Tower: it would start all over again. And, after the seventh and final book was released: Ta-Da...it started right back at the beginning. I know what King was going for, but his storytelling is just way too dry and slowly-paced for me to care. It usually takes the guy hundred of pages of exposition and set-up for him to get to the meat of his tales, and even then that's like a speck of ground chuck. And as I said, his characters are usually just far too two-dimensional for me to relate or care. That to me isn't a sign of a good storyteller.

And Bag of Bones was probably one of the worst pieces of trash and largest wastes of time I've ever experienced.

Maybe its just me. Maybe I'm just not "getting" it. Whatever.


EDIT: I meant to say that even though I haven't been a fan of King, I will probably check this out. And depending on how much I enjoy this, I may just motivate myself enough to finally finish what I started: the rest of the Dark Tower series. After all, my friend told me they get better. I was just too non-plussed by King's previous work to really care before.
 
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I never read a King book before in my life, but I like the guy. In interviews and his column in Entertainment Weekly. Plus Jae Lee's art looks amazing and I've always been a Peter David fan. So I read the first Dark Tower book and I actually really liked it. Maybe a lot of it had to do with it being such a fast and uncomplicated read, perfect for work. But I definately want to read the rest, and I'm actually really excited about the comic.

The last comic I was this excited about was. . . Ultimate Power.
 
Dark Tower #1 is out.
Get this one guys, its hotness.

Didn't read the Dark Tower books but the comic has something special into it.
The story has been great, and dialouges sound really "epic".
Won't even talk about the art.It's just awesome.
 
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