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The Error That Almost Was [Jan 16, 2007]
2007-03-29 15:38:51

At the end of last week, we released Dark Tower #1 to the printer. The usual procedure goes something like this:

--We get all the material in from the artists
--We give it to our production department, aka “The Bullpen”
--The Bullpen puts it all together, along with the ads and covers
--We run it around to everyone who needs to review and approve it
--We send it back to the Bullpen for any necessary corrections
--Once all the corrections are completed, we send the final digital files to the printer
--The printer sends us a black-and-white final proof of the completed book

Normally, this last step is very simple because at this point, everything should be completely finalized. However, this step gives us a chance to notice any serious problems that might have been overlooked—for example, if the pages are out of order or we sent the wrong version of a page to the printer.

We very seldom make changes at this stage, because of the additional expenses for Marvel and the additional steps it requires in the printing process.

But because of the public attention to Dark Tower, we need to be extra careful with this one. So Marvel’s Print Logistics people, Amy Vandevender and Raphael Rodriguez, have taken additional steps to get us high-quality color copies of these final printer proofs before the books go on press, just to be extra sure.

So today, we had a chance to look over those proofs for issue 1. We also invited Jae Lee over to the office to take a look as well. Sure enough, Jae found something.

It was a pretty small oversight, but still something that a serious Dark Tower fan would notice and care about: In one panel, a word balloon is pointing to the character Alain, when it should be pointing to Cuthbert. Their faces are in shadow and the distinction doesn’t affect the story. But, the tone of the line is much more in keeping with one character’s personality than the other. To keep it as such would ring as a false note with the fans, and they are the ones relying on us to remain consistently true to the source.

And so it was that John Barber made arrangements with the Bullpen, Raphael and Amy to make the correction and replace the old file with the new one. It was a tiny added step, but we know it will make a difference to readers. And now Ralph, John, Jae and I can all sleep a little easier, knowing that this tiny but significant oversight was corrected.

That is, at least, until our printer deadline for issue 2.

Thank you very much for the respect you approach this work with. I do appreciate it!

Posted by TheHade on 2007-01-17 15:12:57

Thumbs Up!
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! For taking such care with this comic series!! So many of us Stephen King fans are disappointed when his works are lended to other mediums, and I for one am really excited about this partnership with Marvel, and want to be impressed! Thanks again!

Posted by cbouchard on 2007-01-17 19:00:16

I can hardly wait
As a mad king fan i am so wired about this upcoming series.Can hardly wait, and to have it done by my absolute fav comic publisher Marvel im in seventh heaven and havnt even seen it yet !

Posted by xwing1 on 2007-01-18 09:32:02

Wow
You really do take a lot of care to get it right. Well done guys, and well done Jae Lee - you are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO observative! Can you put the dodgy page on here for us to see?

Posted by theamazingsimon on 2007-01-21 10:41:23

TLC
I agree that it's good to know, for all of us COnstant Readers, that Marvel is making sure that this book gets the TLC it deserves. I only wish that Marvel ad the time and resources to take suche care with all of it's titles. A perfect story can be marred by even the tiniest error - the case of the mis-directed word baloon being a prime example.

Posted by Vic von Doom on 2007-01-21 14:51:07

That's why I love Marvel.
The attention to detail is astounding, thank you for looking it over with a fine tooth comb. Hopefully, this series(The dark tower) does well and opens the door for more King/Marvel cross-overs in the future!!

Posted by whos_the_champ on 2007-01-22 08:56:46

Watching The Clock!
This is gonna be fun to read. Everyone should be buying this book!

Posted by Islam on 2007-01-22 16:19:41

midnight!
I'll be at my comic shop at midnight waiting for this one. looking forward to it.

Posted by darthdad on 2007-01-23 23:32:08

wow this the best story i ever read

Posted by Webbie14 on 2007-01-25 07:24:58

i have a small question
in the syposis, it said something about the crimson king, but in the book series, Roland doesnt know who the crimson king is until book 6 or 7 (if i'm wrong, someone please correct me).

Posted by wiccan_lad on 2007-01-26 21:17:42

Thats weird
That sounds weird.Good thing it never happened to me i just joined today.But man oh man is that ever weird!You know the X-MENthings well anyway the x-men comics and stuff was the only reason i joined.I love the x-men there so cool.Iwish i could have cool powers like that.Wait I can make snowballs exslpode and im sorta like a cat.Cool eh!well bye.

Posted by PinkKitty on 2007-01-31 22:13:30

COOL!
YO WAS UP I THINK GAMBIT FROM THEX-MEN IS HOT.
THESE ARE 3 GOOD REASONS I LOVE HIM.
1.HIS ACCENT IS REALLY HOT.
2.HES HOT.
3.AND HIS POWERS ARE SO COOL!AND PLUS MY FAVE CARACTER BESIDES GAMBIT IS ROUGE.GOOD THING GAMBIT AND ROUGE ARE IN LOVE.

FUN FACT:DID U KNOW THAT SINCE GABIT LOVES ROUGE SO MUCH HE LET HER TAKE HIS POWER SO THAT SHE CAN TOUCH THINGS WITHOUT TAKING ANYONES POWER.BUT WHEN SHE TOUCHES OTHER PEOPLE THERE CLOTHES DISINERGRATE.THATS ONLY BECAUSE SHE ACIDENTALLY TOUCHES THERE CLOTHES WHEN SHE MAKES HER POWERS COME UP.COOL FACT EY!?

Posted by PinkKitty on 2007-02-01 20:56:35

So Excitied!
I can't wait to start reading the comics. Being such a big fan of both Stephen King and Marvel, I'm glad they came together and created something that all fans will enjoy.

Posted by darthtower1 on 2007-02-03 00:18:52

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About this blog:
The Dark Tower creative and editorial teams give us the behind-the-scenes details on The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born.

About the author:
Stephen King's Dark Tower is adapted for comics by Peter David, Robin Furth, Jae Lee, Richard Isanove, John Barber and a handful of other astute minds. They'll all contribute to the blog.


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