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The Journey Begins

Illustrated by Richard Isanove and Sean Phillips
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About The Book

Enter once more the world of Roland Deschain—and the world of the Dark Tower...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 adaptation Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, 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 ongoing saga is revealed. Sumptuously drawn by Richard Isanove, Sean Phillips, Luke Ross, and Michael Lark, plotted by longtime Stephen King expert Robin Furth, and scripted by New York Times bestselling author Peter David, The Gunslinger adaptation is an extraordinary and terrifying journey—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 transformed from his blockbuster novels.

The barony of Gilead has finally fallen to the forces of the evil John Farson, and the surviving young gunslingers were massacred at the decisive Battle of Jericho Hill. But one has risen from the ashes: Roland Deschain. Now as the last of the gunslingers, Roland sets out in search of the mysterious Dark Tower—the one place where he can set the events of his out-of-sync world right again. Along the way, Roland will battle forces from his worst nightmares as he trails the elusive Man in Black—the inhuman sorcerer who holds the key to Roland’s desperate search.

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 Never Flinch (May 2025), the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), 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

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.

Sean Phillips

Product Details

  • Publisher: Gallery 13 (February 5, 2019)
  • Length: 128 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781982109851

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More books from this illustrator: Richard Isanove

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