General impressions of the Dark Tower comics?

[fernandito]

Now that the comics have been out for a couple of years and many of us have had a chance to read them, I want to gauge the reaction to them.

What are your feelings towards the comics as a collective?

I really enjoyed seeing the novels brought to 'life' in a different medium, and as they branched out to explore peripheral characters and enrich the lore, I've found myself appreciating the series in a completely new way. Even though the quality of these side stories varies, I've enjoyed reading more about the minor characters that comprise this vast universe.

[CyberGhostface]

My opinions aren't new but I think on the whole they're mediocre. And given how King effectively threw them out the window as being canon that is in any way relevant to the series they really don't serve much of a point.

I still find it funny that King had Jae Lee do illustrations for the last book and dedicated it to Furth and Marvel and then singlehandedly dismantles their entire mythology. He even told Bev Vincent that if he writes about Jericho Hill or anything about Roland's past he doesn't want to be influenced by anything the comics have done.

[Merlin1958]

I still find it funny that King had Jae Lee do illustrations for the last book and dedicated it to Furth and Marvel and then singlehandedly dismantles their entire mythology.

How so? I haven't gone near the comics. I just assumed they were reiterating the books.

[CyberGhostface]

**SPOILERS FOR THE COMICS AND THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE**

Basically Furth did this whole elaborate backstory for Maerlyn setting him up as THE main force of evil for the entire series. He's for example the father of Walter, he established North Central Positronics, he was responsible for corrupting Rhea and Jonas, etc.

Then King comes along and sets up Maerlyn as something closer to what King Arthur did... he's a powerful wizard but a good guy, he's also a bit of a drunk and was stuck in the form of a 'tyger' for so many years. He's also enemies with the Crimson King and Walter. There's no way he's the same guy in the comics.

Also a lot of the comics were new stuff that took place after Wizard and Glass and what King writes in Keyhole contradicts a lot of it. I.E. what happens after Gabrielle's death. In the comics Roland is imprisoned and Steven dies soon after so there's no room for him to be sent on the quest in Keyhole. Or Cort who King writes is bedridden after Roland beats him whereas he's still active in the comics.

[Merlin1958]

Wait,

I understand some of what you are saying, but in WTTKH, Roland is already on the quest. It's just an interlude between IV and V, No?
Then again, I confuse easily!! LOL A lot of subjects are wide open to interpetation and speculation, no?

[CyberGhostface]

Sorry for not being clearer.

Winds through the Keyhole has Roland telling the Ka-tet about a story during his younger days that takes place chronologically after he kills his mother. Steven sends Roland with Jamie de Curry on a quest to dispatch the Skin-Man in Debaria.

In the comics right after Roland kills his mother he is imprisoned and is awaiting trial. Aileen helps him escape but Steven dies right after and Gilead is sacked. There's no window for Steven to have sent Roland on an unrelated quest (not to mention Roland is never put on trial in 'Keyhole'.)

[Merlin1958]

Okay, I see.

[Tik]

I really enjoy the comics and it's good to see that, even when we've moved on to the adaptations of the existing books, we still get new never before seen DT material in the form of added scenes in addition to the scenes we know from the books.


Then again, I confuse easily!! LOL A lot of subjects are wide open to interpetation and speculation, no?
Basically, yes.

King hasn't thrown them out of the window as being canon - there is no pronouncement he has made to that fact. And indeed the behind the scenes notes in the comics themselves explain how they can fit into canon despite any discrepancies, so it's already been officially addressed.

Not only that, but you can also explain the whole lot of supposed differences away with what Roland tells us in the novel Wizard and Glass:

"....I must put my past to rest as best I may. There's no way I could tell you all of it - in my world even the past is in motion, rearranging itself in many vital ways - but this one story may stand for all the rest."

As well as what we learn at the ending of the series too.

If you don't like such explanations, the fact that we know more events occur between the panels of a comic than what we see (as well as the same thing being applied to between the lines of a book) means you can slot the comics and Wind Through The Keyholes together anyway. To quote an old spoilery post of mine:

The timeline does fit if you bear in mind the following. We know from Wizard and Glass that the events in Mejis take place over a period of months. We also know from the comic book adaption, The Gunslinger Born, that many of these events we see in the novel take place off panel in the comic and that sometimes even quite large gaps of time pass between one panel and the next.

Logically, the same applies to all the other comic arcs too. For example, we know from the novels it takes Cort nine weeks to die after being poisoned. This means that between some pages and panels of the comic, entire weeks go by. In such a way, we can place events we dont see in the comics within these sections of missing time. The events of The Wind Through the Keyhole seem to fit best between pages 7 and 8 (with Steven and co traveling back to Gilead on page 7, Corts death beginning on page 8 ) of issue 3 of Fall of Gilead.

In this gap, Steven and co have arrived back in Gilead, Roland has been released from jail and been visiting Cort, his father has summoned him to get the skin-man while the "official" published version of Gabrielle's death (suicide) is going the rounds, Cuthbert's dead father is being prepared for Cuthberts viewing, the skin-man is killed, Roland goes back to Gilead, Cort dies, the official version of Gabrielle's death is now beginning to be scoffed at by the common people, and Roland is locked up again in preparation for a public trial to appease the public. Etc.

As for the two versions of Maerlyn, well, they are simply twinners. Easy as that. We know there are many versions of Merlin in different universes/fiction. Remember that Maerlyn Prim (as I call the demon version) doesn't originate from any world though. He's not actually from Mid-World, he only chooses to go there. He's actually of the Prim, the magical soup of creation.

As such, it's actually Maerlyn Eld (as the human version is labeled in the book) who is from Mid-World. He's Mid-Worlds version/twinner of the wizard. Maerlyn Prim was the outsider invading Mid-World, Maerlyn Eld actually belongs there.

In a story chock full of alternate universes, different dimensions, and twinners everywhere, this would make a lot of sense. It's nothing we haven't encountered before - two different alternate versions of Balazar and his goons play big parts in the novel series for example (one version from Eddies world in Drawing of the Three, another version from the keystone world in Song of Susannah). To quote another old spoilery post of mine:

This portrayal of Maerlyn is interesting even compared to the other novels, where Maerlyn has a sinister reputation, has his own Rainbow of magical evil spheres, and where the utterly evil Flagg is often mistaken for Maerlyn. None of this seemed to even hint at a "good" Maerlyn. Then the comics came out and made a lot of sense in regard to the character. Wind's version of Maerlyn doesn't quite fit in with the "rogue wizard" version we hear about in the other novels and especially the comics.

I've come to believe there are simply two Maerlyn's abroad in Mid-World, one good and one evil. Twinners, one born from the Outer Dark and the other from the White. The version in Wind does have an addition to his name to differentiate between them it seems - in Wind, he is called Maerlyn Eld and Maerlyn of the Eld.

This seems to work in much the same way that there appears to be two John Farsons in the series, the real one that started as a harrier and became a revolutionary and Flagg/Walter's facet of John Farson, imitating the real one. As such, Maerlyn Prim (as I'll call the comic version) is the original and later, during Arthur Eld's reign, Maerlyn Eld arose to oppose him. You can imagine that Maerlyn Eld eventually vanquishes Maerlyn Prim and, his job complete, retires to the former Maerlyn Prim's Cave.

Thus, as the Flagg/Farson relationship confuses the people of Mid-World, so too does the Maerlyn twinners. No ones sure of anything. Even the reader :P .

[WeDealInLead]

You know, it's perfectly OK to say that editors didn't catch it or frankly, Stephen King did and didn't care. He has said that he didn't read the comics (re: Battle of Tull) because he might write that story himself. I don't have the link handy but he did say it.

And just because it's Mid-World you can't just dismiss inconsistencies with Oh, well, it's Mid-World, anything goes. The story still needs to make sense.

I enjoyed most of the art, most of the non-fiction material by Furth but DT comics are simply put, not good comics. You can enjoy them but Roland who talks to himself out loud, and rants, rants, rants is no Roland of mine. And WTF is up with the ghost of that cook haunting his kitchen in Gilead? Another level of the tower, my ass.

[CyberGhostface]

I don't own a copy but King did effectively say in his interview with Bev Vincent in the 'Companion' that the comics don't have any bearings on the novels and that he's not reading them because he doesn't want them to influence any future writings; "After they went off on their own, I didn't want to junk up my head with their story lines." In so many words, he's cleaned his hands of them. You can use fanwank to fit them in but King clearly didn't care to (and I don't blame him).

[Tik]

You know, it's perfectly OK to say that editors didn't catch it or frankly, Stephen King did and didn't care. He has said that he didn't read the comics (re: Battle of Tull) because he might write that story himself. I don't have the link handy but he did say it.

And just because it's Mid-World you can't just dismiss inconsistencies with Oh, well, it's Mid-World, anything goes. The story still needs to make sense.

I enjoyed most of the art, most of the non-fiction material by Furth but DT comics are simply put, not good comics. You can enjoy them but Roland who talks to himself out loud, and rants, rants, rants is no Roland of mine. And WTF is up with the ghost of that cook haunting his kitchen in Gilead? Another level of the tower, my ass.

It's also okay to say that people enjoy it and, yes, they do count it as a legitimate part of the Dark Tower mythos.

The story does make sense, for myself and others. It is, among other things, a time travel story. Once time travel is introduced, you open up the very real possibility that event's can be affected temporally - see Jake and Jack Mort.

As for the King quote, see below.

I don't own a copy but King did effectively say in his interview with Bev Vincent in the 'Companion' that the comics don't have any bearings on the novels and that he's not reading them because he doesn't want them to influence any future writings; "After they went off on their own, I didn't want to junk up my head with their story lines." In so many words, he's cleaned his hands of them. You can use fanwank to fit them in but King clearly didn't care to (and I don't blame him).
Not really. While he does say he doesn't want the comics to junk up his head in case he writes those events himself, in the very same paragraph he also says this about any inconsistencies that may inadvertently arise from such an undertaking:

"You know what Roland always says: There are other worlds than these."

This effectively confirms the comics own official statement on canon. A similar thing arises in other franchises, for example Doctor Who, where writers contradict what has gone on before due to not wanting to be constrained by much older stories, but at the same time not declaring them uncanonical (Doctor Who, like the Dark Tower, uses time travel so likewise also has changes in time as being a legitimate reason for contradictions).

We are also ignoring the rest of what we know about King's involvement with the comics. For example, that it was King who confirmed via email that Maerlyn (yes, the comic book version) is Flagg's father and Selena is his mother.


So we have the fact that they have not been branded uncanonical. As I said, there is no official ruling saying as such. Indeed, we even have a statement about how they fit in canonically.

We also have the fact that there are in-universe explanations for these kind of contradictions (see my earlier Roland quote or the fact that events happen in-between panels of the comic or just think about the ending and a certain horn). This is not fanwank, this is what has happened in the novels, in black and white. Hell, just one of those by itself explains any discrepancy away - I tend to think it's a mixture of all three.


All it comes down to is how you chose your preference. You chose to discount the comics, that's fine. But its blatantly incorrect and somewhat unfair to attempt to "prove" that others are wrong to accept the comics as "canon".


I've always had a low opinion of canon arguments. This link on Doctor Who canon expresses some of my distaste for it - http://teatimebrutality.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/canon-and-sheep-shit-why-we-fight.html

An interesting quote from that blog:


Canon isn't "what most people think is canon" (otherwise the Buffy comics, unheard of by most of the millions who watched the show, couldn't be Buffyverse canon. Which they are) .

Canon isn't "what the majority of the fanbase would prefer was canon" (otherwise Han shot first).

Canon is what the people running the franchise tell you it is. It's not a democratic thing. Star Trek fans didn't have the option of outvoting Gene Roddenbury when he wanted something stricken from the record.

I doubt Stephen King has much interest in canon debates, but it's telling that he has not told us the comics are stricken from the record. In a mythos comprised of time travel and infinite numbers of universes and even multiple versions of the same characters (Desperation and The Regulators being another example of this), there is simply no need to do so. To reiterate what King says immediately after discussing any inconsistencies:

"You know what Roland always says: There are other worlds than these."

As Bev Vincent observes about the ending (don't read if you haven't finished the series):

I see the ending of the book as being a progression to a new level of the Tower. This isn't a loop; it's an upward spiral, exactly analogous to the upward spiral staircase inside the Tower. We return to Roland at the same geographic coordinates, and at the same temporal location, but this Roland is up a level on the Tower.

[fernandito]

You can't be an avid comic reader - of any comic franchise, not just DT - and be too bogged down with canon. Hell, comics trip up, ignore, and rewrite their own history seemingly on an annual basis to the point where the notion of "canon" becomes laughable.

I've learned long ago to not be too concerned with canon and just enjoy each individual slice of universe on its own terms. Most recent example, The X-Men films. The 'new' trilogy flies in the face of the timeline established in the original films, but it is still a compelling series regardless.

My waning interest in the DT comics has arisen not because of issues with what's canon/official, but because the quality of these stories has slowly deteriorated over the years.

[Xerrand]

And given how King effectively threw them out the window as being canon that is in any way relevant to the series they really don't serve much of a point.

I still find it funny that King had Jae Lee do illustrations for the last book and dedicated it to Furth and Marvel and then singlehandedly dismantles their entire mythology. He even told Bev Vincent that if he writes about Jericho Hill or anything about Roland's past he doesn't want to be influenced by anything the comics have done.

This is how I feel as well, I can't consider the comic books to be canon at all although some of the story's are very enjoyable and I do think anything which adds more into the DT universe is a good thing, the just aren't the same!

[CyberGhostface]

You can't be an avid comic reader - of any comic franchise, not just DT - and be too bogged down with canon. Hell, comics trip up, ignore, and rewrite their own history seemingly on an annual basis to the point where the notion of "canon" becomes laughable.

Well yes and no. I'd say comics in general have a convoluted continuity which is a result of decades of lore, different writers, hundreds of different titles, etc, etc but 90% of the time I can at least look at an individual title and see where it stands without much mental aerobics of fitting them together.

I really can't do that with the Dark Tower comics except to say "other worlds than these" but even then are we supposed to believe that there are multiple Rolands in different universes all on different quests for the Tower?

[Tik]

You can't be an avid comic reader - of any comic franchise, not just DT - and be too bogged down with canon. Hell, comics trip up, ignore, and rewrite their own history seemingly on an annual basis to the point where the notion of "canon" becomes laughable.

I've learned long ago to not be too concerned with canon and just enjoy each individual slice of universe on its own terms. Most recent example, The X-Men films. The 'new' trilogy flies in the face of the timeline established in the original films, but it is still a compelling series regardless.

My waning interest in the DT comics has arisen not because of issues with what's canon/official, but because the quality of these stories has slowly deteriorated over the years.
I may disagree with you about the quality of the stories, but I can certainly respect your opinion :cowboy:

I've recently hooked my wife onto the comics, which we are reading together at the moment. She says once we finish the comics (we are on issue 4 of the Battle of Tull atm) she wants to read the novels too.

I do miss the back stories in the comics, I hope we start to get them again as the series continues.


You can't be an avid comic reader - of any comic franchise, not just DT - and be too bogged down with canon. Hell, comics trip up, ignore, and rewrite their own history seemingly on an annual basis to the point where the notion of "canon" becomes laughable.

Well yes and no. I'd say comics in general have a convoluted continuity which is a result of decades of lore, different writers, hundreds of different titles, etc, etc but 90% of the time I can at least look at an individual title and see where it stands without much mental aerobics of fitting them together.

I'd say not all comics have trouble with continuity, it's mostly Marvel and DC superhero comics.

One of the main reasons I don't collect them are due to the massive contradictions, rewrites, retconning, timeline/reality changes, character resurrections, etc all to maintain the status quo. In essence, there is no point collecting them because eventually, the stories you liked and enjoyed will become irrelevant to the character. To me, this makes them pointless.

Compared to these continuities, things like The Dark Tower and Doctor Who are practically air tight!


I really can't do that with the Dark Tower comics except to say "other worlds than these" but even then are we supposed to believe that there are multiple Rolands in different universes all on different quests for the Tower?
Comparatively, the Dark Tower is extremely easy to fit together. Roland sums it up - "in my world even the past is in motion, rearranging itself in many vital ways".

We even see this effect for ourselves in the novels:

The historical events of the Gunslinger are rearranged by the end of The Drawing of the Three - the events we read about in the first novel are not present in the new timeline from the 2nd book onward. Jake was never there with Roland..

Regarding the ending of the series:

The past is rearranged so that Roland always had the Horn of Eld. The events of the previous novels will not occur exactly as we read them.

And that is basically what the comics are. A previous loop of Rolands quest. The events in both loops are basically the same but time scales and the like can be altered. This is the reason why I think a mix of all three of the previously stated explanations for discrepancies occur - the events roughly all play out in each timeline (between comic panels in some cases) but each version of the loop rearranges Roland's past so the timing's for these events can change if a discrepancy cannot be rectified to your satisfaction.

There probably are multiple Roland's questing for their version of the Tower in other Mid-Worlds. The Tower, however, is stated to only be an actual physical Tower on one world. The comics take place in a previous loop to the novels. Taking Bev's theory into account, each loop takes Roland and his Mid-World onto a higher level of the Tower each time.

[Merlin1958]

You can't be an avid comic reader - of any comic franchise, not just DT - and be too bogged down with canon. Hell, comics trip up, ignore, and rewrite their own history seemingly on an annual basis to the point where the notion of "canon" becomes laughable.

I've learned long ago to not be too concerned with canon and just enjoy each individual slice of universe on its own terms. Most recent example, The X-Men films. The 'new' trilogy flies in the face of the timeline established in the original films, but it is still a compelling series regardless.

My waning interest in the DT comics has arisen not because of issues with what's canon/official, but because the quality of these stories has slowly deteriorated over the years.

I fully understand what you are saying, but the "books" are canon so, to me anyway, the comics in that regard are somewhat restricted to the rules/history firmly established in the books. I know, King has "sanctioned" these comic series, but for him to say he may go back and write the various interludes is somewhat perplexing. FWIW I did read and enjoy the comics up until they started to cover the story already written in the DT series. So, I guess I am a bit lost in the conversation.

[CyberGhostface]

We even see this effect for ourselves in the novels:

The historical events of the Gunslinger are rearranged by the end of The Drawing of the Three - the events we read about in the first novel are not present in the new timeline from the 2nd book onward. Jake was never there with Roland..

Yes -- and such a drastic change nearly drove both Roland and Jake into insanity. And it only occurred because Roland deliberately interfered with a past event by preventing Mort from pushing Jake into the path of the car when he was inside his head. It's not like the past changing is no big deal, having two sets of memories will tear your mind apart with their incongruities.

Also the 'loop' only starts when Roland is pursuing Walter across the Mohaine desert. He's only reliving a few months/a year of his life. His past is not accounted for aside from the horn given to him as a gift.

[Tik]

Yes -- and such a drastic change nearly drove both Roland and Jake into insanity. And it only occurred because Roland deliberately interfered with a past event by preventing Mort from pushing Jake into the path of the car when he was inside his head. It's not like the past changing is no big deal, having two sets of memories will tear your mind apart with their incongruities.

Also the 'loop' only starts when Roland is pursuing Walter across the Mohaine desert. He's only reliving a few months/a year of his life. His past is not accounted for aside from the horn given to him as a gift.

It only nearly drove them to insanity because they were personally involved in a grandfather paradox. Roland changed the timeline because of his experiences with Jake.....but if he changed time so he didn't experience these things then he wouldn't change time....but he did...but then he wouldn't.....but time was certainly changed.....and Roland slowly goes insane, because he's created a paradox.

Conversely, if the timeline is changed for another reason - because the Beams are breaking down or Gan changes time or another time traveller changes the past or something - then Roland and Jake wouldn't have any problem, they would change too without incident because a paradox wouldn't have been caused. They would NOT go insane if time changed, because they would change with it and have no memories of the previous timeline (unlike the paradox version).

An example of this is when Gan changes Roland's past for his next loop. You are trying to underplay it, but you are ignoring the fact that Roland's past HAS changed. The events of Jericho Hill occur differently, and Roland has the horn from that point onwards. He probably blows the horn at points in his life after that battle, which would certainly change how events unfold in this version of the loop. For example, the Little Sisters would have confiscated it while Roland is in Eluria, and Roland would need to have retrieved it, an event that did not happen in the short story. Roland can only steer events differently from the Mohaine desert onwards because that's when his loop begins, but that does not mean other people/beings can affect his past, as Gan is shown to have done.

[BrandoRex]

I really haven't like Lee's art for any of the Dark Tower comics. It doesn't feel right. The backgrounds seem to be an afterthought and most of the cells have a disjointed nature. He's a great artist - I've had him sign some Chapel comics he did covers on back in the late 90's. Great guy. Just not a Dark Tower guy in my opinion.

I really really wish Cary Nord had done these. He did a lot of the original Robert E. Howard, Conan stories Dark Horse put into comics in the past several years. I can't say enough about him bringing literature to live in a bold, magnificent fashion. When he left the series, I did too - I didn't give a damn how well others did - he had the proper feel for the character.

[Steve]

I adore the illustrations of the original "The Gunslinger Born" series, but I haven't really grooved onto the new artwork for the adaptations of the first and second novels.

As for Furth's storytelling, it's fine. Nothing mind-blowing or anything, but if they were to ever do "Wizard & Glass," you've got the storyboards right there.

[arjupraja143]

I truly wish Cary Nord tried these. He did many of the original Robert E. Howard, Conan tales Dark Horse put in comics previously many years. I can not say enough about him getting literature to reside in a bold, magnificent fashion.

[doankhuong92]

Conan tales Dark Horse.
i like it!

[Isamu Dyson]

I have both omnibuses (plus accompanying companions, naturally) and am ecstatic about them. Bring on the The Drawing of the Three collection!

[Brian861]

Are these worth taking the time to read? I have both omnibuses plus The Stand and haven't cracked on the shrink on any of 'em.

[Isamu Dyson]

Are these worth taking the time to read?

They are. The Tull segment, in particular, is very well done. The one downside is that, even with the juicy "PARENTAL ADVISORY" warning as a signpost to repel immature readers, there are some bits and pieces which are censored: some cleverly (Roland's six-shooter abortion technique) and some rather overtly (Eddie's breakout gunfighting scene).

Art is generally good to great, though certain sections in the second omnibus ("The Gunslinger") suffer from a noticeable dip in quality specifically when portraying certain characters.


I have both omnibuses plus The Stand and haven't cracked on the shrink on any of 'em.

If at all possible, keep them wrapped up. There are digital versions you can obtain for a fraction of the cost that allow you to join the tales from beginning to end while preserving those nice collector's items. Of course, if going through the journey the good ol' fashioned tactile way appeals to you, then I suppose you won't have much choice in the matter.

[Brian861]

My local library may have them as well. That's how I read Locke & Key without touching my collectables.

[Isamu Dyson]

My local library may have them as well. That's how I read Locke & Key without touching my collectables.

Good on ya for taking the third option :cowboy:.

[Brian861]

My local library may have them as well. That's how I read Locke & Key without touching my collectables.

Good on ya for taking the third option :cowboy:.

:thumbsup:

[R. Stewart]

"I really can't do that with the Dark Tower comics except to say "other worlds than these" but even then are we supposed to believe that there are multiple Rolands in different universes all on different quests for the Tower?"

I haven't given the comics shot yet - heck, I've only read "The Gunslinger" at this point! - but since "other worlds" is a theme, I can't see why comic version wouldn't work, assuming they're of decent quality.

[Isamu Dyson]

Does the below scene from the comics play out the same way in The Gunslinger? If not, is there a moment close to it?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/AzarKing/Linked%20Pics/Roland%20Contemplates_zpsslug2uaa.jpg

[Isamu Dyson]

Yummy yummy crickets :).

[CyberGhostface]

lol just goes to show how no one cares about the comics anymore. :biggrin:

No, that scene never happened. There's never any point in 'The Gunslinger' where Roland considers leaving the Tower behind to raise Jake.

Heck I don't think there's ANY scene in the entire series where Roland contemplates leaving the Tower behind even when he's become cuddlier with the Ka-tet.

[Isamu Dyson]

lol just goes to show how no one cares about the comics anymore. :biggrin:

No, that scene never happened. There's never any point in 'The Gunslinger' where Roland considers leaving the Tower behind to raise Jake.

Heck I don't think there's ANY scene in the entire series where Roland contemplates leaving the Tower behind even when he's become cuddlier with the Ka-tet.

Yummy yummy lemons.

[Talisgirl19]

I recently acquired the rest, from the Tull story on, after several years. My first impression echoed someone else's complaint about the "rambling out loud to himself" uncharacteristic Roland. I tried to set that aside and forgive it, because obviously it's how they chose to give us the narrative and the gunslingers inner workings. The introduction explains some of that but I still don't understand why it had to be first person spoken...Fuck it, I'm going to enjoy them as much as possible :cool:

[SKfan01]

I'm hoping that there's going to be a complete omnibus set coming out at some point containing all of the Dark Tower comics, companion releases, bonus materials and all cover art. lt looks like Marvel lost the Dark Tower rights before being able to release the third omnibus and Gallery 13 released The Drawing of the Three before having the rights for The Sailor. I've read that both companies' releases have issues with pages detaching if you try to read them. Being a huge comic book and Stephen King fan, a fully complete quality-made omnibus set release is what I'm waiting for, even if they don't continue the story with any new Dark Tower comics in the future.

[Marcellus]

I recently acquired the rest, from the Tull story on, after several years. My first impression echoed someone else's complaint about the "rambling out loud to himself" uncharacteristic Roland. I tried to set that aside and forgive it, because obviously it's how they chose to give us the narrative and the gunslingers inner workings. The introduction explains some of that but I still don't understand why it had to be first person spoken...Fuck it, I'm going to enjoy them as much as possible :cool:

It's natural to be concerned about the narrative style shift in the later books of the Dark Tower series. While Roland's break from his stern exterior may appear unexpected, it is a conscious decision to explore deeper into his psyche. Despite initial skepticism, embracing the series' merits can lead to a rewarding voyage through the Dark Tower universe.