The Gunslinger Born (The Dark Tower Graphic Novels, Book 1)

This book came in perfect condition and was even plastic wrapped! It was really a great gift! The picture's in the book are very colorful and alive!

I came to the "Gunslinger Born," somewhat nervously. I've not read the entire series - or more accurately, I've been stuck on "The Wastelands," unable to get further into the Dark Tower. But lately I've gotten into reading graphic novels, and I know King has been interested in them as a medium (Just look at the main character in "Cell"). That said, some of the reviews here seem quite upset over missing material. I don't know how to respond to that (maybe it was a "flow" problem), since I didn't read the individual issues. But I was concerned about having a "Grindhouse"squeeze play on my wallet. However, after reading the "Gunslinger Born," I can say that is clearly a first class effort. The art is mind blowing, and finely balanced out with a story that moves along with a poetic economy rarely found in King's novels (and I'm a big fan - but I can tick off a list of King novels where 50 to 100 pages would not have been missed). The weird Western Fantasy may, in the long run, turn out to be King's greatest creation. (My only nit was that I didn't know what a "thinny"was, but a quick Google search ironed that out.) The book left me wanting to see/read more in the DT graphic novel series, but also left me wanting to go back and finish the original King books.

One additional comment. If one reads the forward by Marvel senior editor, Ralph Macchio, and King's endnote, you sense a bit of tension between Macchio's "negotiations" and King's later comment regarding comic writing as being, from his point of view, little different than "script writing" - which I read as King signaling a desire to be more involved on the writing end. With all due respect to King, who has written some of my favorite novels, I hope not. The Marvel crew that is in place is clearly their A Team, a team that totally understands the medium and how it works - along with the attendant dangers of adapting books for sequential art. It's an extreme high wire act that get's high marks for Book No. 1. I look forward toward seeing where they take the story now.

I intentionally waited for this version of the Gunslinger Born series because I thought it would be great to have the entire comic series in one hard back edition. Boy, was I mistaken! The Editorials Review stated "Roland's past is revealed". Yes, it is! Again! I read it ALL in Wizard and Glass. I read nothing I didn't already know. The artistry was great, but I wanted something new. Be warned! Apparently, you have to get the individual ones in order to get any new information. Which can't be purchased new anymore from Amazon. I will definitely wait for more reader reviews before I purchase anything again. Thanks for nothing, Marvel!

I have to start this by saying I never intended to buy this graphic novel. This may sound a bit odd because I am a huge fan of Stephen King, most notably the Dark Tower series. The reason I wasn't going to check out this book is because it is based on a flashback which occured in the 4th novel, "Wizard and Glass". The extensive flashback is the main reason I did not like this particular book. A lot of people love the story because it gives us insight into Roland's past and shows some of the events that shaped his personality. When I read the novel I became aggravated by the mind boggling length of the flashback which in my mind was interrupting the real story. Like I said I wasn't going to buy this graphic novel but the price was too good to pass on. I'm big enough to admit what a mistake this would have been.

Peter David does an amazing job bringing the story to life. If I didn't know better I would think King had written this himself. Granted, the material is from King's writings, but David does a marvelous job filling the holes between events that occured in the novel. As for the pencils Jae Lee was an excellent choice. I first became familiar with his work about a decade ago. Since then his technique has become quite refined. Several of the pages in "The Gunslinger Born" should be counted as art, they are that good. I have seen cover art look clean but never have I seen so many panels within a book look this good.

In closing I would say that I haven't been this moved by a graphic novel since catching up on the collected "Sandman" stories. As a reference I would place "The Gunslinger Born" right up there next to "Season of Mists" and "Brief Lives". I cannot give a graphic novel any higher praise. This material is so good that it has made me rethink my previous opinion of "Wizard and Glass", so much so, that I am planning on re-reading the enire Dark Tower series very soon. I won't rush through the "boring" flashback in book 4 this time.

I bought this for my cousin. He Loved it. He had read all the books in the series, and just went nuts over this book. Thank you!