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Greetings from the Tower
2006-12-19 12:14:38

Greetings, readers – welcome to the Dark Tower blog. I’m Nicole, an associate editor at Marvel. And I’m lucky enough to be working on the Dark Tower comic project, which, in my view, is about as awesome in reality as it sounds on paper. So it’s a privilege to be able to bring some behind-the-scenes dirt to Marvel.com and communicate with readers directly on the development of this series.

Let’s kick things off with an introduction to some of the folks working on this comic.

STEPHEN KING:
Stephen King, of course, is the originator of the Dark Tower universe. He wrote the story as a seven-part series of novels beginning in the 1970s and concluding in 2004.

ROBIN FURTH:
Robin writes the plots for each issue of the Dark Tower comic. She’s also the author of the Dark Tower Concordance, a 2-volume encyclopedia of everything there is to know about the Dark Tower universe. She’s the be-all and end-all of Dark Tower expertise.

JAE LEE and RICHARD ISANOVE:
Two of Marvel’s most talented and beloved artists, Jae and Richard are the team behind the Dark Tower comic art. Jae draws the images in pencil (guided by Robin’s plots) and Richard paints them digitally. (The Dark Tower Sketchbook provides a detailed example of how this process works.)

PETER DAVID:
A comic industry veteran, Peter writes the scripts for the DT comic, determining the dialogue and captions after the plots have been written and the art has been created.

CHRIS ELIOPOULOS:
Head of his own lettering studio and comic creator in his own right, Chris transforms Peter’s text into word balloons and captions, and adds them to the art digitally.

RALPH MACCHIO*:
Ralph’s a Marvel senior editor, and he heads up the team responsible for bringing the contents of the DT comic together. As it happens, Ralph is a pretty big Stephen King fan himself, so he had a ready-made knowledge of the DT universe.

JOHN BARBER:
John is my fellow associate editor. Together and with Ralph’s oversight, we see the comic through each stage of development, the goal being to make sure that all of the material is at its best and on schedule.

Those are just a handful of the folks involved in bringing the Dark Tower universe to the comic book page. We’ve also got designers, sales and marketing folks, and countless other members of Marvel’s staff, as well as others who work directly with Stephen and Robin, all coming together to make this project happen. For more on the series, make sure to visit our Dark Tower area!

As we go through all the crazy machinations involved with bringing a massive project like this to life, I look forward to commenting on the story behind the story as it unfolds.

*Not the Karate Kid actor.

thank you, thank you
to have a company like marvel get behind uncle stevie in a venture like this is every dark tower fans wet dream. now if we could just get the movies made...

Posted by joshuaw2323 on 2006-12-18 19:25:52

great news
love the Dark Tower series and looking forward to Gunslinger Born, will there be more tales of The Dark Tower after this mini series?

Posted by steelnexus on 2006-12-18 19:44:14

excited
just wanted to say that im so excited about this book coming out, i read all the dark tower books one summer and i always hoped they would expand it more than just those. who knows maybe if the comics do good we might get a dark tower movie!

Posted by angelmaker on 2006-12-18 21:24:27

One more exciting book from Marvel
After being a "true believer" since I started reading comics in 1978, I fell away from Marvel about three years back, mostly from confusing X titles and changes to Spider-Man. I had the opportunity to meet Joe Quesada and JMS and hear them speak at this years HeroesCon in NC. I was motivated to get back on board after hearing Mr Q speak with passion about upcoming story arcs and I am now elbows deep in Spider-Man, FF4, Moon Knight, and Ghost Rider to name a few. The whole concept of the Dark Tower crossing over is brilliant on a lot of levels and will bring more folks to the LCS's, thereby getting the books more eyes on. I loved the Dark Tower series and my personal fave was "Wizard and Glass", showing the young Roland and his buds on their adventure, and the bittersweet story of his love affair with Susan Delgado. I am very excited to be a Marvel reader right now!

Best-Chris

Posted by dudeman5000 on 2006-12-18 22:53:58

Spelling?
Dear Nicole,

I cannot wait for "The Gunslinger Born"-series to finally start! I love the Sketchbook and I cannot wait to read the up-coming Marvel Spotlight.
So far I don't know very much about Marvel Comics but I love Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" so I'm very grateful for the behind-the-scenes stuff you promised to provide us with in the near future!
By the way, shouldn't Susan's surname read "Delgado" instead of "Delago" at www.marvel.com/classes/displayjunk/templates/dark/dt_characters.htm? At least that's what her name was in "The Dark Tower"-novels?
Thanx a lot for your support!
Long days and pleasant nights, sai Boose,

Mick

Posted by TheHade on 2006-12-19 03:35:50

Re: Spelling?
Good eye! It should be fixed!

Posted by Agent M on 2006-12-19 10:29:34

Jericho Hill, here we come!
As a 21 year follower of The Dark series, i'm more than thrilled to see such attention to detail and passion in which Marvel has taken to this project. Kudos! I'd also like to invite everyone to a party. Drop by and visit www.thedarktower.net and share the wealth.

-David-

Posted by David the Thinny on 2006-12-19 21:25:48

Fantastic!
I just saw the trailer for the first volume (I hope there will be others) and it was excellent...
This is going to be very exciting to see and I can't wait. It is nice to see it treated with such professionalism and with respect to the original work, not to mention expanding it somewhat. Imagine, Stephen King and Marvel Comics together... Wow

Posted by Dixztim on 2006-12-19 22:06:32

The Dark Tower
Thanks Guys for all the hard work your putting into this series the Dark Tower series are my favorite books and since i love comics it works for me both ways so keep it up and good luck Peace

Posted by Jordon Nichols on 2006-12-20 09:10:13

How to Subscribe
Ok, I'm in ..how do I subscribe to this great series ?

Posted by johngioia on 2006-12-20 11:53:03

La Tour Sombre
Great! Another tale about Roland, drawn by Jae Lee (I love UFF first annual)!
I'm a french reader, and I usually read comics in french, but I think I can't wait for this to be translated!

Posted by french_wolvie on 2006-12-20 15:33:53

Nicole,
Will there be more mini-series following The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born? Has Mr. King established the timeframe to be covered (i.e. will these comics detail Roland's adventures from his coming of age all the way up until the Dark Tower I novel begins)? Anyway, I'm super excited about this and February 7th can't get here soon enough.

Posted by mlb999 on 2006-12-20 17:40:08

OK, to answer my own question, the following snippets are from discussion at newsarama.com, apparently with a guy who interviews Robin Furth in the upcoming Marvel Spotlight.(http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=94759)

12-19-2006, 11:28 AM #16
Rob Helmerichs

...The first few issues are an adaptation of the flashback material from Wizard & Glass. From there, it goes on to adventures mentioned in the Dark Tower books but not gone into in great detail. 30 issues are planned, although of course at this stage that has to be considered very tentative.

12-19-2006, 04:27 PM #32
Rob Helmerichs

...My interview with the comic's co-writer (and Stephen King's research assistant) Robin Furth in Marvel Spotlight's January issue.

12-19-2006, 07:19 PM #39
Rob Helmerichs

...Checking my notes, the first seven are the flashbacks from Wizard & Glass retold; the next five are Roland & Co.'s journey home from Hanbury; and the final twelve are his adventures between his return and the fall of Gilead (and the beginning of The Gunslinger).

Posted by mlb999 on 2006-12-20 18:01:53

Dark Tower
Will there be a subscription available for The Dark Tower comic book? Robert Rhymer

Posted by NCJedi on 2006-12-20 18:12:15

dark tower movie??
are all of you absolutely SURE you want a dark tower movie?? look at the track record of King's movies. yeah they do all suck don't they?? you know why?? because not a single one of them mentions or even hints about the dark tower...at al. the dark tower series brings King's other books together, and forces them to make a whole lot more sense. i only want a DT movie if King himself is writing and directing. every other film maker that's layed their poison tipped fingers on one of king's books has made a mockery of it on film. DT movie?? why ruin a good thing...

Posted by sinister62 on 2006-12-20 19:40:49

future DT comics
is there already a schedule for those dark tower comics released after #1???? and...living in luxembourg (where they don't sell original marvel comics!), is there a possibility to get the sketchbook?

Posted by samantababra on 2006-12-21 08:19:45

Dark Tower is one of the greatest King's stories, so it's presige for Marvel to make such comics. By the may, I'm living in Latvia and we don't have a lot of Marvel comicses here:(

Posted by PODvodnik on 2006-12-21 08:54:09

great
another french reader in extazy thanks to you
you make my dream come thrue i love jae lee (namor)
i hope that panini translate this "chef d'oeuvre"
merci et que l'aventure marvel ne s'arrete jamais

Posted by zero cochrane on 2006-12-22 02:49:37

Dark Tower subscription?
Will there be a subscription to the Dark Tower series? I am very interested in signing up! Thanks.

Barb Q.
Bandon, OR, USA

Posted by Barb Q on 2006-12-22 10:33:54

Can't Wait
Really excited about seeing my favorite fictional hero come alive in Marvel Comics. I think that it is the perfect medium for this body of work. I've been a fan of the Dark Tower Series for many years and I read with a mixture of sadness and joy the last few pages of the final novel "The Dark Tower", with the knowledge that there would be no more. This opens all kinds of new "doors".

Hile Gunslingers! To me!!

Remember the Faces of your Fathers...

Andre Todd Bruni

Posted by gunslinger69 on 2006-12-26 07:25:42

Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays, and thanks for the many responses to the blog. Here are some answers to your questions.

To TheHade:

Thanks for the correction to the spelling of Susan Delgado's name at www.marvel.com/classes/displayjunk/templates/dark/dt_characters.htm - the typo has been fixed.

To MLB999:

We're currently planning a total of five volumes of the Dark Tower comic, but the timing of their releases is yet to be determined.

To NCJedi:
The Dark Tower comic is only available through retailers, not through subscriptions.

To Samantababra:

Sorry, but right now the Dark Tower Sketchbook is only available in the U.S.

Thanks again for your comments, and keep 'em coming.

Cheers,
Nicole

Posted by Nicole Boose on 2006-12-26 11:14:43

Array

Enter a response to this blog post:

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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