Title: Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #2 Comic Review Publisher: Marvel Comics Writer: Stephen King (Source Material), Robin Furth (Consulting Writer), Peter David (Script) Artists: Jae Lee (Penciler), Richard Isanove (Painter) Publication Date: March 7th, 2007 Score: 9.5 (Out of 10)

Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born Issue #2 Review

A t the outset of the second issue of STEPHEN KING'S THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN, we meet Stephen Deschain, Roland's dad, Gunslinger, and the leader of all of New Canaan. He sends Roland, newly a Gunslinger, and his two untested friends Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns on an undercover mission to the town of Hambry, in the Barony of Mejis. Though the story that they are giving the locals is that they are Government Surveyors there to count cattle, they are actually supposed to be watching out for collusion with the fearsome John Farson, the man leading the rebellion against Stephen's just rule. Of course things aren't as simple as they seem, and we are introduced to a group of evil outlaws called "The Big Coffin Hunters" and their lord The Crimson King. Elsewhere, we are introduced to Susan Delgado and her tale of loss and woe. Though we aren't shown in this issue exactly how these things will all come together, rest assured that they do, and not well for everyone involved.

As with the first issue, the second issue of STEPHEN KING'S THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN does not disappoint. The production values are no less impressive than they were in the inaugural issue, with gorgeous, full color art by penciler Jae Lee and painter Richard Isanove, with a stellar script adapted from Stephen King's original story by Peter David. In addition, there is a prose short story at the end of the comic, written by Robin Furth (Stephen King's personal assistant, author of STEPHEN KING'S THE DARK TOWER: THE COMPLETE CONCORDANCE, and Dark Tower expert and scholar), which explains tells us the story of the birth of the Crimson King and the creation of Maerlyn's Rainbow, the collection of multi-hued magical crystal balls which includes the pink one introduced in this issue's main storyline. These short stories are an especially welcome part of the series, as it not only explains parts of the Dark Tower Universe that new readers may need to understand what's going on, as well as adding depth to this strange universe and its history.

While it is true that there is little here that is new for those who have read WIZARD AND GLASS (the fourth book in the DARK TOWER series from which this story arc is excerpted; it was a long flashback in the novel, taking up the majority of the book's narrative), it is certainly not a waste of their time. First of all, it serves as a great refresher course, since WIZARD AND GLASS was originally published a decade ago, in 1997. Secondly, it presents the narrative for the first time in a coherent, linear order; the original book jumped around and sidetracked. The original didn't show us all of the characters from their point of view. Since it was a story being told by Roland to his friends, we only saw what he did. Thirdly, it is just a pure joy to see such a great piece of literature being recreated so beautifully. Jae Lee is one of the greatest pencilers working in the industry right now, and somehow Richard Isanove only makes the original artwork look better with his gorgeous, lush paints. The characters look just like I always imagined they would. Susan Delgado is especially well done; even though she is incredibly beautiful, she is not the big chested floozy that most comic books seem to think the perfect woman is. Even her vulnerability comes through in the art, making you understand how Roland could have lost himself so completely over her.

In short, the second issue proves that the incredibly high standards and quality of the first issue was no fluke. The card stock cover, the beautiful full-color art work on glossy paper, the storybook prose stories that flesh out the main narrative, and the overall faithfulness of the adaptation continue to show how seriously Marvel is taking this comic series. If they can continue to deliver on the quality, and continue to remain faithful to the source material, this could very well become one of the best comic series that they have ever delivered. Here's hoping they keep up the incredible work.