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Underground > Comic Books >

Marvel Comics To Publish Stephen King's The Dark Tower

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Yotsuba & Benjamin!

19:39 / 26.10.05

STEPHEN KING IS writing a graphic novel for Marvel Comics. Illustrated by Jae Lee, well-known American illustrator of comic books, it will form the eighth volume in King’s Dark Tower series, published by Simon & Schuster in the States and Hodder in the UK. Marvel is distributed worldwide by Diamond Book Distributors and publication is scheduled for next autumn.

Words fail.

19:47 / 26.10.05

I thought the series ended perfectly, so I'd imagine this is some kind of spinoff type thing. There's a lot of potential here, and Jae Lee's amazing, so I'd imagine it'll be worth picking up.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

19:55 / 26.10.05

I agree Patrick (we must be the two!). I'm guessing this is probably some kind of ancillary, Sisters Of Illuria type deal. Either way, pretty remarkable news.

I figured the King rumors would amount to some kind of Ultimate Man Thing story, but this is just unbelievable. And they did hire Rian Hughes recently to do The Other tradedress, so it might actually end up looking out of control amazing from cover to cover.

We live in hope.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:58 / 26.10.05

Yes, let's hope it's some kind of flashback or something, cos unless I'm very much mistaken, SK already had a perfectly good ending.

Keith, like a scientist

20:21 / 26.10.05

WHAT. THE. FUCK?!

It's still October, right? Not April?

That's totally weird. But Jae Lee is a perfect artist to do that dark western sci-fi hybrid.

It can't possibly be VIII...That seems odd for King to agree to doing...

13:28 / 27.10.05

*slight non-sequitur* That's fantastic that Marvel hired Rian Hughes to do "The Other" trade dress - didn't know that tidbit of info.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

16:14 / 27.10.05

*slightnon-sequetorial response*

Seriously, Finder. I guess someone at Marvel has been paying attention to my lone logo crusade. I only wish it was for something a bit more dynamic, but hey. Baby steps.

Keith, like a scientist

12:15 / 28.10.05

More Info + Images at AICN

It's about Roland as a younger man, not a continuation into "Book VIII" as previously reported... someone change the thread title, please?

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

12:18 / 28.10.05

http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/King/stephen_king_marvel.htm

Full confirmation, with preview art:

Fellow DT Readers, do you see what I see?

Keith, like a scientist

12:20 / 28.10.05

good eye, Benjamin. I see it.

but...read my post above. It's not technically a continuation.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

12:29 / 28.10.05

Well, honestly, that all depends on how you look at it, right? It could never stray beyond the original narrative and still, technically, well, fuck it, I can't say another word.

But you know what I'm saying, Keith.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

12:33 / 28.10.05

Bad eye, actually.

It's not anything at all what I thought it was. Just a canteen.

Keith, like a scientist

12:37 / 28.10.05

haha, yeah, I understand what you are saying.

I think, though, that King likely doesn't wish to continue the events beyond Book VII "timeline."

So, I am much more apt to believe this is a prequel-style story of Gilead, Farson, Jericho Hill, etc., like the AICN article says.

And, oh, yeah, a canteen. But the other thing will likely make an appearance.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

12:41 / 28.10.05

God damn, would I love to see a two page spread of Jericho Hill.

Oh, man, I just hope if they go lowercase on this one they get Todd Klein to do it.

PLAESE. (Fifth Element Spelling On Purpose)

14:09 / 28.10.05

From reading the press release at Newsarama, it sounds an awful lot to me like Stephen King is not actually writing this book:

World Fantasy Award-winning writer Stephen King, long acknowledged as the master of modern horror, and Marvel Comics join forces this spring to launch a ground-breaking new comic book series...

The comic series will mark the first time Stephen King has produced original content for an ongoing comic book project...

"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...

Available in paperback from Scribner is a two-volume concordance to the novels compiled by Robin Furth, who is also contributing to the Marvel comic project...

Note the frequent circumlocutions that avoid, at any point, saying that this is a comic book written by Stephen King and pencilled by Jae Lee. It sounds like what Marvel have really done here is just gotten a licensed comic based on a page and a half of notes from King, scripted by somebody else entirely. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but would it have killed them to use the word "written" at some point in regards to King's input on this project?

14:12 / 28.10.05

Oh, and I forgot the single most painful one:

King's unparalleled storytelling power will inform new stories that delve into the life and times of the young Roland...

Keith, like a scientist

14:31 / 28.10.05

good call

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

15:02 / 28.10.05

There's more deets at the Newsie article.

"A man's quest begins with a boy's test."

Sounds like an adaptation to me.

Roland:Origin!

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

15:22 / 28.10.05

As far whether or not King himself is writing it, well, it seems like all those "questionable" words that've been highlighted are just giving props to the fact that Jae Lee is just as much a part of the process as he is.

And Robin Furth, as LoreMaster for the DT saga had plenty to do with the last three books of the series, as she was hired to basically be continuity caretaker of the series and make sure that everything lines up properly.

Man, you know the more that I think about this, the more excited I am about the potential for this series to tie the entire saga together more tightly. As most of you know, the first three books were written way before King knew exactly where the story was headed, and the last three are covered head to toe with foreshadowing and little connective details. If this series could serve to put those sorts of details through the course of the first few books, shit man. That would be so effing cool.

Or is it just that I want to see Jae Lee draw Eddie Dean SO GODDAMNED BADLY.

15:29 / 28.10.05

>> Note the frequent circumlocutions that avoid, at any point, saying that this is a comic book written by Stephen King and pencilled by Jae Lee.

Unfortunately, I think you're right and this will just be King giving his name and approval and outline. Sounds that way at least.

15:51 / 28.10.05

And Robin Furth, as LoreMaster for the DT saga had plenty to do with the last three books of the series, as she was hired to basically be continuity caretaker of the series and make sure that everything lines up properly.

Hired by King himself? I hadn't heard this.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

15:54 / 28.10.05

Yes indeedy.

18:13 / 28.10.05

Joe Fridays at Newsarama is now all about the King deal, and it's officially some kind of weird jam collaboration in terms of the writing process. I can't quite figure it out.

Quesada does say some stirring and quite possibly true things about the potential for this to be a gateway drug of sorts for people who normally wouldn't read comics -- the problem there is, I feel like THE DARK TOWER's core audience probably wouldn't find much to love in Marvel's other books, and it's not like they're gonna carry ads for the Vertigo line or something like that...

18:18 / 28.10.05

...but then, establishing basic visual literacy (please oh please let Lee be a decent storyteller on this) in a wider audience is victory enough, really. And with mainstream media coverage accelerating, the people who read these books might actually hear about another comic book that sounds interesting to them without having to immerse themselves in the seedy underbelly of society that is comic book "fandom."

(Sorry, seems like I can't say anything in one post these days.)

18:19 / 28.10.05

cool thing it's King on a creator owned property and not him only playing with MU toys.

because this, along with today's announcement of a Captain America book by FIRST BLOOD's author could have been one of the most boring Comic news of late.

unless... it's a sign to Marvel improving its brand value by opening up a Vertigo label of sorts and have these novel/movie/TV guys create some original stuff with shared rights for licencing in other medias.

18:56 / 28.10.05

... it's officially some kind of weird jam collaboration in terms of the writing process. I can't quite figure it out.

It's classic Marvel method, really. King is providing plots, while Jae Lee is handling the page-by-page, panel-by-panel breakdowns himself. Dialogue and captions will be provided by a player to be named later.

That's the same method Stan Lee used to "write" 30 comics a month back in the day: he'd give the artists rough plots—with some artists, like Gene Colan, he had to be fairly explicit; Kirby, he just let do whatever the hell he felt like doing—then write the dialogue once he saw the finished art.

Based on the two sequential pages we've seen, I think Jae Lee's up to the storytelling task. Can you not hear the words "The man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed" coming off those pages? God and the Man Jesus!

Keith, like a scientist

19:09 / 28.10.05

i've decided I don't really care what the working arrangement on this is...it sounds too fucking cool for school. And the Jae Lee illustrations are absolutely perfect, much more perfect than even the original Michael Whelan DT stuff for the books. I think Lee is going to really make this a great addition to the DT stories.

As long as it doesn't totally conflict or mar the books, it should be fantastic.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

19:17 / 28.10.05

Yeah, at first glance I hadn't realized exactly what that first page of art was and then it hit me. Fucking astounding. Lee is clearly up to this as far as storytelling goes and, clearly, no one at Marvel is going to let this be in any way half assed. (We'll see what happens when the lettering comes around. What?)

As far as the writing process goes, I'd be surprised if that final dialogue writer is not King himself. And if it doesn't turn out to be King, it will presumably get some kind of polish by him before it sees print.

I'm actually quite intrigued by King writing via Marvel Method, as it's certainly a new thing for him. Should be interesting if he ends up doing the dialogue.

Too bad about No Eddie Dean. There's always the next few miniserieses. (Tet Corporation Tales? Oh Please God Yes.)

Keith, like a scientist

19:46 / 28.10.05

[geek]YES! The Tet Corporation: The Early Years[/geek]

20:23 / 28.10.05

>> NRAMA: And then the final scripting?

>> JQ: Right now, we’re concentrating on getting the visual rendering of the story finalized. The actual scripting will be the finishing touch.

The actual quote about the scripting.

01:41 / 29.10.05

Hey Yotsuba & Benjamin, Im curious who THAT Jae Lee is. The first 25 Google results are only for this Jae Lee & a few different Lees with hyphenated names

02:03 / 29.10.05

The artist of Marvel's Inhumans, Sentry and Fantastic Four: 1234 series most recently, re: sequential art. Done a lot've covers of recent. Started out as a 2nd phase Image guy, iirc, but grew out of it.

Some old Namor art:

FF1234 #2/tpb cover:

Edit: Oh, you were referring to the abstract. Never do that. No-one reads the abstract, and now I look a dick.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

03:43 / 29.10.05

Actually that was just a Snarky Super-In Lost joke, as Jae Lee was the listed name of an unnamed character in a recent episode. (NO SPOILS).

Keith, like a scientist

04:19 / 29.10.05

I just realized that this means we can look forward to Roland of Gilead action figures in the next year.

Wahey!

04:56 / 29.10.05

Ooooh, Roland action figure... *drools over laptop, causes electrocu-

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