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Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Beginnings #1-5
Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Beginnings Omnibus
Enter once more the world of Roland Deschain—and the world of the Dark Tower...now presented in a stunning graphic novel omnibus form that will unlock the doorways to terrifying secrets and bold storytelling as part of the dark fantasy masterwork and magnum opus from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King.
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
With these unforgettable words, millions were introduced to Stephen King’s iconic character Roland Deschain of Gilead. Roland is the last of his kind, a “gunslinger” charged with protecting whatever goodness and light remains in his world—a world that “moved on,” as they say. In this desolate reality—a dangerous land filled with ancient technology and deadly magic, and yet one that mirrors our own in frightening ways—Roland is on a spellbinding and soul-shattering quest to locate and somehow save the mystical nexus of all worlds, all the Dark Tower.
Now, in the graphic novel series Stephen King’s The Dark Beginnings , originally published by Marvel Comics in single-issue form and creatively overseen by Stephen King himself, the full story of Roland's troubled past and coming-of-age is revealed. Sumptuously drawn by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, plotted by longtime Stephen King expert Robin Furth, and scripted by New York Times bestselling author Peter David, Beginnings is an extraordinary and terrifying journey into Roland’s origins—ultimately serving as the perfect introduction for new readers to Stephen King’s modern literary classic The Dark Tower , while giving longtime fans thrilling adventures merely hinted at in his blockbuster novels.
This single-volume omnibus edition includes the complete graphic novel series The Gunslinger Born ; The Long Road Home ; Treachery ; The Fall of Gilead ; The Battle of Jericho Hill .
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
With these unforgettable words, millions were introduced to Stephen King’s iconic character Roland Deschain of Gilead. Roland is the last of his kind, a “gunslinger” charged with protecting whatever goodness and light remains in his world—a world that “moved on,” as they say. In this desolate reality—a dangerous land filled with ancient technology and deadly magic, and yet one that mirrors our own in frightening ways—Roland is on a spellbinding and soul-shattering quest to locate and somehow save the mystical nexus of all worlds, all the Dark Tower.
Now, in the graphic novel series Stephen King’s The Dark Beginnings , originally published by Marvel Comics in single-issue form and creatively overseen by Stephen King himself, the full story of Roland's troubled past and coming-of-age is revealed. Sumptuously drawn by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, plotted by longtime Stephen King expert Robin Furth, and scripted by New York Times bestselling author Peter David, Beginnings is an extraordinary and terrifying journey into Roland’s origins—ultimately serving as the perfect introduction for new readers to Stephen King’s modern literary classic The Dark Tower , while giving longtime fans thrilling adventures merely hinted at in his blockbuster novels.
This single-volume omnibus edition includes the complete graphic novel series The Gunslinger Born ; The Long Road Home ; Treachery ; The Fall of Gilead ; The Battle of Jericho Hill .
800 pages, Hardcover
Published October 10, 2023
21 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,500 books886k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 18, 2024
Bruh I am NOT OKAY.
You can read my individual thoughts for each part in my reading progress, but basically this was a rollercoaster.
I really loved the beginning - seeing Roland's battle with Cort play out in such vivid detail was a great opener and it made me very happy. Then watching the gang's adventures in Hambry, knowing how things were going to go down, was quite a thrill. I've always loved Cuthbert and Sheemie's relationship so it was cool to see it here.
The road back to Gilead was a new story created for the graphic novels, and while it was nice to have some new material I felt this one dragged on a bit. It was great for Bert and Alain to have their time to shine but I slowed down a bit at this point as overall it just didn't interest me as much.
Seeing Gilead in its glory was a lot of fun, though, and the new stories that came out here were fantastic. There's so much lore to this world, but throughout the seven-novel series we discover very little about Roland's early years in the city. So it was nice to get a glimpse of how things were, even if they didn't fit quite as seamlessly as I hoped they would.
The Fall of Gilead was absolutely gut-wrenching. This is something we readers of the novels knew happened, but details have always been vague. I've always wanted to know how such a magnificent, powerful place fell to ruin, but seeing it all play out was heartbreaking. There was always a polite distance between Roland's past and his present in the novels, so being confronted with that in-between time and witnessing everything falling apart is really brutal. My heart ached for these characters I'd come to know so well.
I do really love the characters of the series, so in the graphic novel format we do unfortunately lose so much of the nuances of who they are. I was glad to have read the novels first, so I knew these characters better.
This is also, I think, why the last volume was not enough for me. I knew tragedies were coming but they were so quickly left behind in the graphic novel version, due to the nature of the format. There's so much awfulness, pain, death, tragedy, but six issues is just not enough time to feel and grieve it all. It wasn't at all like I'd pictured when reading the novels so I wanted more.
That said, Robin Furth and team have absolutely delivered here. Robin's knowledge and understanding of King's world is incredible and she handles it with great respect, understanding and love. The artwork suits the story perfectly, and the characters are vivid and memorable. The way the stories have been transported into the graphic novel format is simply incredible, and as someone obsessed with the novels I was so incredibly grateful for how brilliantly this was done.
The graphic novel collection also includes short stories and insights into mid-world, which was an unexpected delight. This colours in our understanding of Roland's world and enhances the overall experience. I loved all the extra details, but I did get impatient at times so skipped some of the end stories with the intention of going back at a later time.
Overall, this made my heart happy. Bruised, battle-worn and weary, but happy.
A must-read for fans of the novels, and highly recommended for people wanting to access such a massive story in a slightly easier format. Also just a fantastic read for graphic novel fans of darker fantasy and horror.
I loved it - I hope you do, too.
You can read my individual thoughts for each part in my reading progress, but basically this was a rollercoaster.
I really loved the beginning - seeing Roland's battle with Cort play out in such vivid detail was a great opener and it made me very happy. Then watching the gang's adventures in Hambry, knowing how things were going to go down, was quite a thrill. I've always loved Cuthbert and Sheemie's relationship so it was cool to see it here.
The road back to Gilead was a new story created for the graphic novels, and while it was nice to have some new material I felt this one dragged on a bit. It was great for Bert and Alain to have their time to shine but I slowed down a bit at this point as overall it just didn't interest me as much.
Seeing Gilead in its glory was a lot of fun, though, and the new stories that came out here were fantastic. There's so much lore to this world, but throughout the seven-novel series we discover very little about Roland's early years in the city. So it was nice to get a glimpse of how things were, even if they didn't fit quite as seamlessly as I hoped they would.
The Fall of Gilead was absolutely gut-wrenching. This is something we readers of the novels knew happened, but details have always been vague. I've always wanted to know how such a magnificent, powerful place fell to ruin, but seeing it all play out was heartbreaking. There was always a polite distance between Roland's past and his present in the novels, so being confronted with that in-between time and witnessing everything falling apart is really brutal. My heart ached for these characters I'd come to know so well.
I do really love the characters of the series, so in the graphic novel format we do unfortunately lose so much of the nuances of who they are. I was glad to have read the novels first, so I knew these characters better.
This is also, I think, why the last volume was not enough for me. I knew tragedies were coming but they were so quickly left behind in the graphic novel version, due to the nature of the format. There's so much awfulness, pain, death, tragedy, but six issues is just not enough time to feel and grieve it all. It wasn't at all like I'd pictured when reading the novels so I wanted more.
That said, Robin Furth and team have absolutely delivered here. Robin's knowledge and understanding of King's world is incredible and she handles it with great respect, understanding and love. The artwork suits the story perfectly, and the characters are vivid and memorable. The way the stories have been transported into the graphic novel format is simply incredible, and as someone obsessed with the novels I was so incredibly grateful for how brilliantly this was done.
The graphic novel collection also includes short stories and insights into mid-world, which was an unexpected delight. This colours in our understanding of Roland's world and enhances the overall experience. I loved all the extra details, but I did get impatient at times so skipped some of the end stories with the intention of going back at a later time.
Overall, this made my heart happy. Bruised, battle-worn and weary, but happy.
A must-read for fans of the novels, and highly recommended for people wanting to access such a massive story in a slightly easier format. Also just a fantastic read for graphic novel fans of darker fantasy and horror.
I loved it - I hope you do, too.
December 25, 2024
This graphic novel collects the initial arc of Marvel comic book adaptations of Stephen King's post-apocalyptic western Dark Tower novels, comprising 30 individual issues published from 2007 through 2010 under the subheadings of The Gunslinger Born, The Long Road Home, Treachery, The Sorcerer, Fall of Gilead, and Battle of Jericho Hill (some but not all of which I had previously read). The first of those is a fairly straightforward retelling of the flashback sequences from the books The Gunslinger and Wizard & Glass, while the rest flesh out events that had been mentioned obliquely on the page but never before depicted in much detail.
It's a fun read for Tower junkies, ably plotted by King's research assistant Robin Furth and scripted by comics industry veteran Peter David. The creators capture the tone of Mid-World well, and if the art by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove is somewhat heavy on shadows and light on defined facial features, at least it serves to emphasize the heightened mythic atmosphere of the saga in this era. There's definite closure in finally seeing the doom that came upon the protagonist's kingdom and his family's order of knightly gunslingers, as well as the desperate last stand of its few remaining survivors.
At the same time, the illustrated version is no substitute for the original prose, and the hero's star-crossed romance with Susan Delgado feels particularly abridged from the familiar tragedy. I think this text probably works best as a supplement for existing fans who can enjoy -- and debate the canonicity of -- the added scenes with Roland meeting the Crimson King, setting his early sights on reaching the Dark Tower, and so on, rather than newcomers being introduced to the franchise here. That's especially true given how the plot to this volume ends pretty anticlimactically, without even a personal showdown between the young man and Gilead's warmongering enemy John Farson.
I'll be reading on regardless, but I wouldn't categorize this as a must for anyone else.
[Content warning for gun violence, suicide, sexism, ableism, incest, rape, violence against children, body horror, and gore.]
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It's a fun read for Tower junkies, ably plotted by King's research assistant Robin Furth and scripted by comics industry veteran Peter David. The creators capture the tone of Mid-World well, and if the art by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove is somewhat heavy on shadows and light on defined facial features, at least it serves to emphasize the heightened mythic atmosphere of the saga in this era. There's definite closure in finally seeing the doom that came upon the protagonist's kingdom and his family's order of knightly gunslingers, as well as the desperate last stand of its few remaining survivors.
At the same time, the illustrated version is no substitute for the original prose, and the hero's star-crossed romance with Susan Delgado feels particularly abridged from the familiar tragedy. I think this text probably works best as a supplement for existing fans who can enjoy -- and debate the canonicity of -- the added scenes with Roland meeting the Crimson King, setting his early sights on reaching the Dark Tower, and so on, rather than newcomers being introduced to the franchise here. That's especially true given how the plot to this volume ends pretty anticlimactically, without even a personal showdown between the young man and Gilead's warmongering enemy John Farson.
I'll be reading on regardless, but I wouldn't categorize this as a must for anyone else.
[Content warning for gun violence, suicide, sexism, ableism, incest, rape, violence against children, body horror, and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
August 16, 2024
Didn’t know what to expect at all since I haven’t read anything from the writer or seen anything from the artist before. I just knew I had to read this because of its connection to Stephen King’s work and the good reception.
The writing is great. Decent characters and good narration. The overall story and world is interesting as well. At first I didn’t like the art very much, because of the overuse of the smudge tool and extreme darks in every scene. I got used to it though, and it is very good despite the flaws. Most importantly it vibes very well with the story.
There is of course the mandatory arrogant girl that cuts her hair short, is better than everyone and “hates men”. Also, the writer has the original idea of lifting her above all the men by:
“Any man would say it couldn’t be done”, but…. roll the drums… “lucky for Roland, he has a woman with him”.
How every writer in the US got this virus at the exact same time is fascinating to me.
She doesn’t disturb the overall story too much though, and there aren’t other such annoying events or characters. What I have to warn more about though, is the dark and grim world here. If you don’t like that type of story then this is not for you. It’s everything but a feel good story. That’s fine for me, but I know many who would think this is just a masochistic read.
There’s no question that I will continue and read the next omnibus in line, and also see what other stuff the writer has done
The writing is great. Decent characters and good narration. The overall story and world is interesting as well. At first I didn’t like the art very much, because of the overuse of the smudge tool and extreme darks in every scene. I got used to it though, and it is very good despite the flaws. Most importantly it vibes very well with the story.
There is of course the mandatory arrogant girl that cuts her hair short, is better than everyone and “hates men”. Also, the writer has the original idea of lifting her above all the men by:
“Any man would say it couldn’t be done”, but…. roll the drums… “lucky for Roland, he has a woman with him”.
How every writer in the US got this virus at the exact same time is fascinating to me.
She doesn’t disturb the overall story too much though, and there aren’t other such annoying events or characters. What I have to warn more about though, is the dark and grim world here. If you don’t like that type of story then this is not for you. It’s everything but a feel good story. That’s fine for me, but I know many who would think this is just a masochistic read.
There’s no question that I will continue and read the next omnibus in line, and also see what other stuff the writer has done
April 10, 2024
A graphic novel adaptation of events described in the original books The Gunslinger, Wizard and Glass, and likely from some of the other Dark Tower books. It's been a bit since I finished the original series, so I'm a bit unsure of when some things were described in the original books. Events such as Alain's death and The Battle at Jericho Hill are given more context not seen in the original series.
The art seemed kind of weird to me at first, although I liked it by the end. I'm unsure if I just got used to it or if it got better as it went on. Some pages stuck out to me in particular, such as one showing the Crimson King surrounded by the Wizard's Glasses, Sheemie encountering a suspended corpse and a decayed robot, and Roland seeing his future self in the Grapefruit Wizard's Glass. I especially like the Crimson King's and John Farson's designs.
Overall I think this is a great adaptation of the Dark Tower. I have the omnibuses for the Gunslinger and the Drawing of the Three's comic adaptations as well as this one, and I'm very excited to read them. These collections are pricey, at $99.99 each, although they're all half off online (at the time of this review,) which is a steal considering the original price. I recommend any fans of the original book series who are able to to get their hands on this.
The art seemed kind of weird to me at first, although I liked it by the end. I'm unsure if I just got used to it or if it got better as it went on. Some pages stuck out to me in particular, such as one showing the Crimson King surrounded by the Wizard's Glasses, Sheemie encountering a suspended corpse and a decayed robot, and Roland seeing his future self in the Grapefruit Wizard's Glass. I especially like the Crimson King's and John Farson's designs.
Overall I think this is a great adaptation of the Dark Tower. I have the omnibuses for the Gunslinger and the Drawing of the Three's comic adaptations as well as this one, and I'm very excited to read them. These collections are pricey, at $99.99 each, although they're all half off online (at the time of this review,) which is a steal considering the original price. I recommend any fans of the original book series who are able to to get their hands on this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2025
Certainly mandatory reading for all tower-heads, and a great ride although some plot points are changed from the main series
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews