THE DARK TOWER: THE LONG ROAD HOME #3 (of 5)
Written by PETER DAVID & ROBIN FURTH
Pencils & Cover by JAE LEE & RICHARD ISANOVE
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Variant Sketch Cover by JAE LEE
With Roland’s consciousness trapped within Maerlyn’s Grapefruit, his ka-tet companion, Alain, enters the mystical todash space in an attempt to rescue his friend. But as he and Roland flit in and out of alien dimensions, Cuthbert, the last member of their ka-tet, desperately tries to stave off a pack of slavering mutant wolves who have come to devour the unconscious Roland and Alain!
News about The Long Road Home from King's site:
Marvel is proud to present your first full-color look inside Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #1, arriving in stores at 12:01 AM, March 5th, 2008 (at participating comic stores)! The best-selling, chart-topping team of writers Robin Furth & Peter David, artists Jae Lee & Richard Isanove, joined by special guest variant cover artist (and Marvel Editor-In-Chief) Joe Quesada, present the second limited series inspired by Stephen King's epic Dark Tower series. Overseen by Stephen King himself, Dark Tower: The Long Road Home explores a chapter in Roland's life only hinted at in the novels!
The Long Road Home #1, goes on-sale in stores at 12:01AM, March 5th, 2008 (at comic stores participating in the midnight launch)! Otherwise the issue will hit shelves at your local comic and book stores during normal business hours.
For an exclusive look at the artwork for this new series, click here:
THE DARK TOWER: THE LONG ROAD HOME #2 (of 5)
Written by ROBIN FURTH & PETER DAVID
Art & Cover by JAE LEE & RICHARD ISANOVE
Variant Cover by MIKE DEODATO, JR.
Sketch Variant by JAE LEE
Roland’s spirit is trapped inside Maerlyn's sinister Grapefruit and is taken on a terrifying journey to the outer reaches of End-World...to the harsh domain called Thunderclap! Back in Mid-World, Roland’s ka-tet is pursued by the Hambry posse which intends to kill them all before they are able to cross the Xay River on their journey home. Revenge will soon be at hand for Eldred Jonas and the Big Coffin Hunters.
DARK TOWER: THE LONG ROAD HOME #1 (of 5)
Written by ROBIN FURTH & PETER DAVID
Art & Cover by JAE LEE & RICHARD ISANOVE
Variant Cover by JOE QUESADA
Sketch Variant Cover by JAE LEE
It's the return of the best-selling comic book series, inspired by Stephen King's epic The Dark Tower! Gunslinger Roland Deschain has seen the death of his lover Susan Delgado. And the Big Coffin Hunters who burned her at the stake are now in pursuit of Roland and his ka-tet Cuthbert and Alain. The friends are forced to flee into the desert with the deadly posse in hot pursuit….and Roland is in a coma! Don't miss this opening chapter starring the Gunslinger whose quest for the Dark Tower will shake the foundation of reality itself!
Here is a first promotion item from the upcoming Dark Tower comic. It’s a bookmark and as you can see it indicates that the release of the first issue has been pushed forward from February to March 2008.
Today I got the hardcover edition of Gunslinger Born and while I won’t review it until later I have to tell you that there is an open letter from King. In it he talks about his ideas for upcoming comics and let me tell you, they sound mighty fine!
Here is a first look at The Long Road Home. These illustrations have not been published anywhere else until now so enjoy. They look very promising if you ask me.
Here are some info about the omnibus edition of Gunslinger Born:
On November 7, the year's biggest comic book event will be chronicled in graphic novel format for the first time as Marvel Comics launches an epic, 240-page hard cover edition of "Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born," adapted from the master of modern horror Stephen King’s magnum opus.
The graphic novel will bring together the complete, initial 7-issue story arc of the comic book series that ranks as one of the year’s biggest sellers and generated huge media attention and significant acclaim. The graphic novel will be available for a suggested retail price of $24.99.
Under the direction and guidance of King himself, collaborating with the all-star creative team of "Dark Tower" expert Robin Furth (Stephen King's "The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance"), The New York Times-bestselling author Peter David, and Eisner Award-winning artist Jae Lee and fan-favorite Richard Isanove, "Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born" expands the saga of King's epic hero, Roland Deschain, whose quest to save the Dark Tower is captured in seven best-selling novels published over the course of twenty-five years.
King's unparalleled storytelling power presents new tales that delve into the life and times of the young Roland, revealing the trials and conflicts that lead to the burden of destiny he must assume as a man, the last Gunslinger from a world that has moved on. The graphic novel works in conjunction with the actual novels, further supplementing and defining the saga's mythology.
In addition to presenting the complete initial story arc, "Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born" will also present fans with exciting bonus material. Leading the way is a series of all-new illustrations from Lee.
"As a lifelong fan of Marvel comic books, and as an adult reader who’s seen comics 'come of age' and take their rightful place in the world of fantasy and science fiction, I'm excited to be a part of Roland's new incarnation," said Stephen King earlier this year when announcing the actual comic book series.
The title of the second story arc based on King’s The Dark Tower is The Long Road Home and the first issue in that arc will be released in February 2008.
And here you can find some previews from issue #7 of Gunslinger Born.
Here is the cover of the 3rd printing of issue #1 (it’s done by Jae Lee), the cover of the 3rd printing of issue #2 (also done by Jae Lee) and the cover of the 2nd printing of issue #3 (done by John Romita Jr) of Gunslinger Born.
In issue #6 of Gunslinger Born there is an ad saying that The Gunslinger Guidebook now is out. That is not the case. The book moved after the ad was printed. The Gunslinger Guidebook is released on August 1st.
Here is the cover of the 2nd printing of issue #4 of Gunslinger Born. It’s done by Philip Tan and will be on sale July 4th. Strangely enough issue #3 has not yet sold out.
Here are some news about the forigne translations of Gunslinger Born:
King’s German publisher Heyne plans to release all the first seven issues in a complete edition and names it Der Dunkle Turm - Graphic Novel. Their will also be a limited edition containing a poster (see image). Release date will be October this year.
The second contest in The Dark Tower Comic Week is now over and here are the right answers:
Question: What other King story was Ralph Macchio involved in turning into a comic? Answer: The Lanwmower Man for Bizarre Adventures
Question: What was Robin’s first assignment for King? Answer: It was to sort through the thousands of responses King had gotten to the On Writing story competition.
Question: What date is issue #4 of The Dark Tower comic released? Answer: May 2nd 2007
And the five winners of a set of issue 1-7 are: Hannah Beck from the US Le Cerf Philippe from Belgium Marco Lammers from The Netherlands Lauren Roberts from the UK Michael Emerson from the US
And the winner of a signed (by Jae Lee) copy of one of the issues in the series are: Linda Kinder from the US.
Congratulations! Some of you were very lucky. Of the original 6 winners I picked only 2 where members on my list so the other 4 (including the grand prize winner) where disqualified…
This ends the The Dark Tower Comic Week but I want to thank you all for doing this a success. I have gotten a lot of mails about it and it’s been 100% positive. So Thanks!
Today the time has come to listen to what Peter David, who is doing the scripting on The Dark Tower comic, has to say. In the interview you can also see previews from issue #4, enjoy!
The first contest in The Dark Tower Comic Week is now over. Here are the right answers:
Question: How many covers for The Dark Tower comic has Joe Quesada done? Answer: He has done two. He did variant cover for issue #1 but also the one for issue #1’s second printing.
Question: How many story arcs has Marvel announced for The Dark Tower comic so far? Answer: The number or story arcs is 5 and the total number of issues in those arcs are 30
Question: Who was it that said no to doing two versions of the comic, one as it is today and one with Jae Lee’s sketches uncolorized? Answer: It was Jae Lee himself after seeing Richard Isanove's coloring
And the two winners of a set of issue 1-3 are: Tom Twinem from the US Bob Ireland from the US
And the three winners of a random selected variation cover are: Gabriel Vaianella from Argentina Spencer Chestnutt from the US Khoi Tran from the US
Congratulations! Don’t forget though that The Dark Tower Comic Week is only halfway. As of right now there is a second contest up and running. Don’t forget to enter that one, and yes, you can enter that one if you entered or won in the first contest.
As reported yesterday the Gunslinger's Guidebook has been pushed back to August. Co-author Anthony Flamini posted this on the Marvel DT board:
"Yeah, the Gunslinger's Guidebook was originally envisioned as a handbook focusing on Roland's Hambry adventure and everything that occurred prior to that. But as Robin Furth and I discussed things in greater detail, we decided that we also wanted to feature profiles on the all-new Mid-World characters who would be debuting for the first time in the comic adaptation following the Hambry story arc . . . characters such as the ferocious General Grissom (of the blue-faced barbarians). So that's the primary reason for the book's delay -- but you'll be getting a superior product packed with much more original content! The wait will be worth it!"
Finally there are some images available from The Dark Tower panel at Comic Con. Thanks to Dread Central we can now see what the event looked like. Read about the event and check out their photos here.
Here is more from Comic Con. Quint over at AICN has done an interview with King that will be published tomorrow but he also has a report about the panel discussion about The Dark Tower:
-Right now there are no plans to bring on any other artist for the Dark Tower comics. King loved Jae Lee's work and says that these books are firmly Lee's, Furth's and David's vision.
-The comics will follow Roland through Mejis (all Book 4 stuff), but it definitely WILL go past Book 4 and all the way up to Jericho Hill, which King demanded a giant splash page from Lee.
- Regarding further Dark Tower comics, King said, "There's always more stories."
- Hal from 2001 inspired Blaine the Mono (and that is the truth).
- When King writes, he doesn't see his characters, he doesn't tend to visualize them. "It's like I'm behind their eyes... maybe if they looked in a mirror..."
- King views the Dark Tower series as a first draft and plans to rewrite the entire series, but he promises he won't make them the Special Editions. The originals will always be out there.
Now for the two biggest newsworthy bits to come out of the panel:
- When asked if he'd turn another one of his books into a comic series with Marvel, King said he and Quesada were just beginning to talk about doing a version of The Stand as a Comic series. That made me perk up. How cool would that be?
- And the JJ Abrams bit. King said that Damon Lindelof and JJ Abrams did express interest, especially Damon, and wanted to develop the project. King said he was resistant to everybody in the past, but trusted Abrams and Lindelof. He said he trusted Frank Darabont, too, but he felt Frank always had too much on his plate. When Abrams and Lindelof approached King about trying to make the project work, King responded, "I'll tell you what... you can option the books and see what you can do with it." Nothing is set up, but they have the option... and if it doesn't work out, then no harm no foul, yeah? How much did Abrams and Lindelof pay for the option? $19, of course.