When Marvel announced Stephen King’s The Dark Tower ” The Gunslinger Born “, to say I was ecstatic would be understating my reaction to the announcement! And several long months later, after having read five issues of this series so far ( I have issue#6 in a comic bag upstairs waiting to be perused ) and I have to say that I have not been disappointed by this collaboration between King and Marvel.
As a matter of fact, I thought that this was such an important event, that I included it in ” My Top 5 Most Important Comics ” which was part of a Problogger writing project ( This was my first try at one of these writing projects, and I want to give a tip of my hat to Darren Rowse, for giving myself and other blog writing wannabe’s a place to practice our craft ) and while my list was not as well received by all as expressed in the following comment, ” Sorry, The Dark Tower is not important. It’s exciting, especially if you enjoy Stephen King, but without all the annoying reading “, I still stand by what I wrote, ” While not a superhero comic, I find that this is an important work, that will reach a whole new audience of readers of King’s novels and will appeal to readers who might be somewhat disillusioned with the whole superhero genre of comics being offered today “.
I couldn’t disagree more with this person’s statement, saying that ” The Dark Tower is not important “, rather, in my opinion this is a series that will bridge the gap between comics and novels.
The Dark Tower is quite possibly ( and I hope I do not offend any of King’s loyal following ) King’s greatest work of Western/Horror/Fiction.
As a matter of fact, The Dark Tower isn’t just a story, it is epic in it’s story telling scope.
With seven, that’s (7) books in print that focus on Roland Deschain and his quest for the Dark Tower, being able to go back to the beginning of Roland’s career, and how he came to be the Gunslinger, and, who we would be destined to read about, is quite extraordinary, especially considering the medium in which we are seeing this story being woven in.
More importantly, while there have been several other writers whose works have been translated in some fashion into comics form, none have as much name recognition as King’s in any medium.
Let’s not forget, that King has had many of his stories brought to the small and big screen, and King’s Dark Tower, has been confirmed as a movie coming to a theater near you in the ( near? ) future.
The fact that King, has partnered with Marvel (in what will ultimately be a massive )undertaking, with more in this series to follow in the future, will shine a brighter light on what has always been a fanboy ( and fangirl ) industry, that only garners recognition outside this small ( in relation to the outside world ) industry or hobby if you will, when a character becomes deceased. And after the hoopla dies down, the comic is relegated back to the darkness of our closets again.
In my opinion, Stephen King’s endeavor with Marvel, finally will bring comics out of the fanboy closet, and into the the light of mainstream scrutiny, where it will get the well deserved recognition it really does deserve.
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