Jae Lee

A faithful and quality interpretation of the beginning of Roland's life, if not the beginning of the actual Dark Tower series, if ye kennit. It was so good, I asked for the next one for Christmas from my parents. I may be a thirty-something geek, but I'm not living in their basement. And I asked them anyway. :)

Wizard and Glass in Pencil and Ink

I can’t even tell you how happy I am to have stumbled upon a copy of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born at a recent library book sale. (Mine for just two bucks! Man, how I love library book sales.) I’m a bit of a newbie to comic books – mostly I stick to titles I’ve enjoyed in other mediums, such as Buffy, Dollhouse, and The X-Files – and don’t follow the trade news at all. Thus, I had not the slightest clue that Marvel has been producing a show more number of series based on various Stephen King novels. In addition to The Dark Tower (of which there are currently no fewer than eleven collections), The Stand (six collections), the short story “N.” (one collection), and The Talisman (also one collection to date) have received the Marvel treatment. I’ve already snatched most of these up – five pages into The Gunslinger Born, and I was hooked.

The artwork by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove is simply stunning. Beautiful, but with a dark gothic feel, it perfectly encapsulates the mood of the story. Shades of deep purple, rich gold, and breathtaking orange change and evolve with the plot. As a fan of The Dark Tower series, it’s fascinating to see which characters conform to my preconceptions: Roland (who, let’s face it, is a total babe), Depape, Jonas, Mayor Thorin, Coral Thorin, Aunt Cordelia; and which ones look altogether different from how I imagined them: Alain, Cuthbert, Rhea, Susan, Sheemie, Marten (surprisingly, this seducer of women is as ugly as sin).

The story follows the events recounted by Roland to Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass. It begins with Roland’s childhood – if, that is, Roland can be said to have had a childhood – when he discovers his mother Gabrielle in bed with Marten, advisor to his father. Incensed and quite possibly emasculated on behalf of his frequently absent father, 14-year-old Roland prematurely challenges teacher Cort to the contest which will determine whether he becomes a Gunslinger – or an outcast. Though he triumphs (with no small amount of help from David the hawk!) his father sends him away, in hopes of keeping his son safe from Marten’s machinations. Accompanied by best friends Alain and Cuthbert, they travel to the Barony of Mejis, ostensibly to compile an inventory of supplies on behalf of the Affiliation for the coming war with the “Good Man” John Farson. While there, Roland falls in love with Susan Delgado, who’s already been promised to Mayor Thorin as his “gilly.” And, well, you know the rest. (And on the off chance you don’t, I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.)

Fans of The Dark Tower series are likely to get more out of The Gunslinger Born than non-fans (or potential fans, as I’d rather call you!), but one needn’t have a preexisting knowledge of the series in order to enjoy the comics. While significant pieces of the story are lost in translation – in fact, the narrator cheekily comments on Cordelia’s absence from the comic book adaptation thusly: “I’ve mentioned Susan’s maiden aunt in passing here and there. Frankly, I don’t like t’dwell on her overmuch.” - the result is nonetheless a cohesive narrative that still retains many of the major plot points.

The ultimate fan – Robin Furth, author of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance – is listed as a consultant, which speaks to the care taken in translating Stephen King’s vision from written to visual art. The writers in particular nail Mid-Worlders’ oddly charming manner of speaking; it’s all “do ya kennit” this and “thanksee sai” that, and their overall knowledge of the series is impressive.

On the downside, I couldn’t stop myself snickering at Susan’s hair which, when gathered in a braid, sticks out from her head at all sorts of odd and physically improbable angles. As a result, she often resembles a blonde, lopsided, less kempt version of Pippi Longstocking.

Also something to consider: A number of reviewers have noted that the collection omits quite a bit of material found in the individual comics, including stories penned by Robin Furth that help to flesh out King canon. This is disappointing to hear - hence the 4/5 star rating - though probably not enough to compel me to buy the individual comics. I generally prefer collections, and this one is gorgeous.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2013/10/14/the-dark-tower-the-gunslinger-born-by-steph... show less

Probably the best story line of the series so far. As usual, the artwork is amazing (although the way they draw some of the faces is still odd to me) and the writing is getting much, much better. My only real gripe is the way it ended; no way do Farson's men leave Roland for dead without knowing he truly is dead. Granted, from the books we know Jericho Hill was a bloodbath, but I think the writers here needed to come up with a better way for Roland to survive than the antagonists simply show more leaving the battlefield assuming everyone's dead. show less

There's a lot to love about this series. Cuthbert and Alain are some of my all-time favorite series characters and seeing new adventures with them is always a treat. Moreover, though, it's really illuminating to see what Roland looked like in his younger days, to see him capable of forming and enjoying connections with others. It makes it that much more powerful when you see him start to lose his heart and humanity, and there's something sad but comforting about the fact that his friends are show more mourning that along with you, the reader. This was a fantastic addition to the story, and Peter David's writing is absolutely on point. show less