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The Gunslinger Born

Illustrated by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove
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About The Book

Enter once more the world of Roland Deschain—and the world of the Dark Tower...now presented in a stunning graphic novel form that will unlock the doorways to terrifying secrets and bold storytelling as part of the dark fantasy masterwork and magnum opus from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King.

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” With these unforgettable words, millions of readers were introduced to Stephen King’s iconic character Roland Deschain of Gilead. Roland is the last of his kind, a “gunslinger” charged with protecting whatever goodness and light remains in his world—a world that “moved on,” as they say. In this desolate reality—a dangerous land filled with ancient technology and deadly magic, and yet one that mirrors our own in frightening ways—Roland is on a spellbinding and soul-shattering quest to locate and somehow save the mystical nexus of all worlds, all universes: the Dark Tower.

Now, in the graphic novel series Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Beginnings, originally published by Marvel Comics in single-issue form and creatively overseen by Stephen King himself, the full story of Roland's troubled past and coming-of-age is revealed. Sumptuously drawn by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, plotted by longtime Stephen King expert Robin Furth, and scripted by New York Times bestselling author Peter David, Beginnings is an extraordinary and terrifying journey into Roland’s origins—ultimately serving as the perfect introduction for new readers to Stephen King’s modern literary classic The Dark Tower, while giving longtime fans thrilling adventures merely hinted at in his blockbuster novels.

Bringing the dramatic history of Roland into chronological order—as originally published in the novels The Gunslinger and Wizard and GlassThe Gunslinger Born begins with a reckless act of courage that gains Roland his first set of guns and earns him and his friends, Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns, a special mission to the town of Hambry...not only for their personal safety but on behalf of the Affiliation—an alliance resisting the ruinous advance of “the Good Man,” a monster named John Farson. But the expedition will quickly become Roland’s first experience of the evil forces that he will encounter again and again throughout his life, and in a myriad of guises. And he will also discover the overwhelming power and pain of true love, through which, more than anything, he will learn beyond a shadow of a doubt what things are worth killing for....

About The Authors

© Shane Leonard
Stephen King

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Robin Furth

Robin Furth is perhaps the only person around who knows more about the Dark Tower mythos than Stephen King himself, and is the author of The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance.

Photo Credit:
Peter David

Peter David is a prolific writer whose career, and continued popularity, spans more than twenty-five years. He has worked in every conceivable media—television, film, books (fiction, nonfiction, and audio), short stories, and comic books—and acquired followings in all of them.

About The Illustrators

Jae Lee

Jae Lee is an Eisner Award winning comic book artist known for his interior illustration and cover work for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, and Dynamite Entertainment.

Richard Isanove

Richard Isanove is one of the comic book industry’s premier color artists, skillfully transforming traditional black-and-white illustrations into richly rendered final compositions on such acclaimed series as Wolverine: Origin and Neil Gaiman’s 1602.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Gallery 13 (August 28, 2018)
  • Length: 208 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781982108212

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More books in this series: Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Beginnings