The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home
Encyclopedia
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
, a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's sci-fi western novel series of the same name
The Dark Tower (series)
The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. It describes a "Gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. King...
. The first issue was published on March 5, 2008. It is the second of five such miniseries
The Dark Tower (comics)
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born is a seven-issue comic book limited series, published in 2007 by Marvel Comics. It is the first story arc of five based on The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King. It is plotted by Robin Furth, scripted by Peter David, and illustrated by Jae Lee and...
based on those novels, following the 2007
2007 in comics
-January:*January 10: Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predator released.*January 24: The Boys is canceled with issue #6.-February:*February 2: Newsarama reports that The Boys has been picked up by Dynamite Entertainment....
mini-series The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born.
The story depicts the title character of Roland Deschain as he returns to Gilead from Mejis. Whereas The Gunslinger Born was largely based on the events of The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, The Long Road Home showcases mostly new material not found in any of the novels.
The series is written and illustrated by the same creative team as The Gunslinger Born, which includes writers Robin Furth
Robin Furth
Robin Furth is the personal research assistant to Stephen King and the author of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance, which was published by Scribner on December 5, 2006...
and Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
, and illustrators Jae Lee
Jae Lee
Jae Lee is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Inhumans and The Sentry, both with Paul Jenkins.-Career:Lee first rose to prominence in the industry for his work on Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, Inhumans , and The Sentry, as well as his creator-owned character Hellshock at...
and Richard Isanove. On March 5, 2008, David and Lee appeared at a midnight signing of the first issue of the series at Midtown Comics Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, as they had done the previous year with The Gunslinger Born.
Publication dates
- Issue #1: March 5, 2008
- Issue #2: April 2, 2008
- Issue #3: May 7, 2008
- Issue #4: June 4, 2008
- Issue #5: July 2, 2008
Plot
In continuation of the events of The Gunslinger Born, Roland Deschain and his ka-tet, Alain Johns and Cuthbert Allgood, are on the run from the Hambry posse, hoping to return to Gilead with Farson's prize, the evil seeing sphere known as Maerlyn's Grapefruit. The young gunslingers argue over Roland's insistence on carrying Susan Delgado's body to give it a proper burial, and during this, Roland shoots the Grapefruit. It transmogrifies into an enormous eyeball with tentacles that attach to Roland, drawing out his consciousness and into the sphere's dream-like realm, called End-World. There he encounters the spirits of the deceased Big Coffin Hunters. Alain and Cuthbert continue fleeing, carrying the unconscious Roland with them, barely escaping their pursuers via a dangerous river.Meanwhile, a hapless, mentally challenged child named Sheemie
Sheemie Ruiz
Stanley "Sheemie" Ruiz is a character in the Stephen King series The Dark Tower. He is a boy who works in a bar in Hambry. He is gifted with "the touch", or telepathic powers. He has the ability to teleport and create locations that exist out of time and space...
, the village idiot of Hambry, and a friend of Roland, comes across a military control center called a Dogan (featured in the novel Wolves of the Calla
Wolves of the Calla
Wolves of the Calla is the fifth book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. This book continues the story of Roland Deschain, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Jake Chambers, and Oy as they make their way toward the Dark Tower...
), where his presence reactivates a long-dormant robot. The robot appears to electrocute Sheemie, filling him with energy in order to "experiment" on him. This act gives Sheemie the gift of telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
, teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
and rapid healing
Healing factor
A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability of some characters in fiction to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate...
.
In the dream-like realm of End-World, Marten Broadcloak taunts Roland with the assertion that it is he whose machinations led to Roland's situation, and will lead to his eventual death. Alain and Cuthbert cross a dilapidated bridge with Roland's lifeless body, though at the cost of Cuthbert's horse, whom Bert is forced to euthanize, before destroying the bridge to elude the posse.
In End-World, Roland encounters a future version of himself as an adult. Broadcloak further taunts the young Roland with the assertion that his adult self killed his friends, and now walks alone on an endless path to the Dark Tower. Alain tries to reach Roland's mind with his psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
abilities, and is drawn into the realm, while Cuthbert fends off wolves from their camp. Alain is eventually ejected from the Grapefruit. Roland's body awakens, but apparently without the benefit of Roland's consciousness, and kills one of the wolves with its bare hands. Alain is again pulled briefly into the Grapefruit, from which he is again ejected after challenging Marten. As he reappears before Bert and the again-lifeless Roland, the trio are now confronted by a group of wolves. In fending off the wolves, Alain repeatedly shoots Sheemie, who has appeared at their camp. However, his wounds are instantly healed, and he also heals Alain's injuries. He then looks deep into the Grapefruit, and after mounting his mule, enters it.
In End-World, Marten delivers Roland to his master, the Crimson King
Crimson King
The Crimson King, also commonly known as Los', is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He is the antagonist in the novel Insomnia the main villain due to a plot twist in Black House and one of the main villains in the latter half of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.-Fictional...
, who tells Roland that they are both descended from Arthur Eld, and therefore, are akin to cousins. The Crimson King wants Roland to help him open the Dark Tower in order to destroy the many worlds spun from it, and restore the King's rightful kingdom of disorder and chaos, which he will rule with Roland. When Roland rebuffs his offer, the King tortures Roland with his magic, but is thwarted by Sheemie, who forces Roland out of the Grapefruit. Sheemie's whereabouts are unknown after this.
The trio return home to Gilead, where Roland's father, Steven, and the rest of the townsfolk are elated at their return, having been informed by agents of Farson that they had perished. Roland does not inform his father about the Grapefruit, which he keeps to himself. Alain and Cuthbert keep the secret out of loyalty, but fear that Roland is a changed man for his experiences, and that the young man they knew when they first set out to Hambry is lost to them.
Reception
The first issue topped the March comic sales figures, with an estimated 123,807 sold, 20,000 more than the next comic, New Avengers.Related releases
In July 2008, Marvel released The Dark Tower: End-World Almanac, written by Robin FurthRobin Furth
Robin Furth is the personal research assistant to Stephen King and the author of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance, which was published by Scribner on December 5, 2006...
and Anthony Flamini
Anthony Flamini
Anthony Flamini is an American freelance comic book writer.-Comics Work:Writer*All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1-12...
. In September 2008, Marvel released the first issue of the sequel series The Dark Tower: Treachery
The Dark Tower: Treachery
The Dark Tower: Treachery is a monthly, six-issue comic book mini-series, a prequel spin-off of Stephen King's sci-fi western novel series The Dark Tower, the first issue of which was published September 10, 2008...
. In October 2008, Marvel released "The Long Road Home," in a hardcover collection of the comic book series.
External links
- Robin Furth Interview at NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
- Robin Furth and Ralph Macchio Interview at Comic Book ResourcesComic Book ResourcesComic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...