Stephen King's Dark Tower is Brought to New Life by Marvel Comics

I've finally gotten calmed down enough to talk about the comic I've waited over a year for: Stephen King's Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born. King is on as Creative and Executive Director. Robin Furth is on for Plotting and Consultation. The excellent Peter David did the script. Jae Lee and Richard Isanove brought the characters to beautiful life, and Chris Elipoulos did the lovely lettering.

I am not disappointed. I've been a fan of The Tower since coming upon a copy of "The Drawing of the Three" on my aunt's coffee table and picking it up. I found myself asking to borrow it in less than an hour.

The opening picutres tell us to "See this now. See it well." and I tell you to do the same. The gruesomely beautiful opening shot of buzzards making a meal of what's left of someone's horse while the eyes of one look out at the reader, startled as though caught, are a fantastic taste of how gorgeous this comic is going to be. After a beautiful and true rendition of the opening of the series, the story carries to a flashback that is familiar to the readers of the series, but yet doesn't disappoint with the feeling of rehashed material.

Some of the characters didn't fit my mind pictures, but that's to be expected and in spite of that, they were so well rendered as to make me embrace them. The whole thing is full-color and several panes of illustration are fully lovely enough to be framed and hung. Roland's mother's expression is so poignantly drawn that even though I've never liked the character my heart broke for her just a little.

As a bonus there's a short story at the end of Roland and his classmates at a younger age than they've been yet seen having a lesson about the sacred geography of midworld that is entirely new. The Preview pictures promise more of the same, and I am getting all fangirl excited just thinking about them.