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Stephen King's The Dark Tower #12-15
Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three 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 adaptation Stephen King’s The Dark The Drawing of the Three , 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 lifelong odyssey is revealed. Sumptuously drawn by Piotr Kowalski and Jonathan Marks, adapted by Stephen King expert Robin Furth, and scripted by New York Times bestselling author Peter David, The Drawing of the Three is an extraordinary and terrifying journey—ultimately serving as the perfect introduction for a new audience to Stephen King’s modern literary classic The Dark Tower , while giving longtime fans thrilling adventures transformed from his blockbuster novels.
This single-volume omnibus edition includes the complete graphic novel series The Drawing of the The Prisoner ; House of Cards ; The Lady of Shadows ; Bitter Medicine .
“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 adaptation Stephen King’s The Dark The Drawing of the Three , 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 lifelong odyssey is revealed. Sumptuously drawn by Piotr Kowalski and Jonathan Marks, adapted by Stephen King expert Robin Furth, and scripted by New York Times bestselling author Peter David, The Drawing of the Three is an extraordinary and terrifying journey—ultimately serving as the perfect introduction for a new audience to Stephen King’s modern literary classic The Dark Tower , while giving longtime fans thrilling adventures transformed from his blockbuster novels.
This single-volume omnibus edition includes the complete graphic novel series The Drawing of the The Prisoner ; House of Cards ; The Lady of Shadows ; Bitter Medicine .
464 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 2020
4 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Robin Furth
230 books209 followersRobin 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. It is a compilation of her two previous encyclopedic books dealing with King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower: A Concordance, volume I - which explores the first four books in King's series - and A Concordance II, which gives the reader definitions and explanations of pivotal terms used over the course of the final three books of The Dark Tower. She is now currently working on the graphic novel adaptation of the Dark Tower for Marvel Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 19, 2025
Nearly but not quite the last of Marvel's Dark Tower comic adaptations, as this volume -- already smaller than the first two -- for some reason leaves out the closing arc The Sailor. Instead it includes only The Prisoner, House of Cards, Lady of Shadows, and Bitter Medicine, which collectively represent volumes 61-80 of the 85-issue series, covering the early lives of several key people from our world and how they eventually get drawn into the gunslinger Roland's epic quest.
Most of this material comes from the novel The Drawing of the Three, although Eddie's section in particular has expanded upon the available backstory, to somewhat mixed effect. In general I like his first-person narration, but I don't think we especially needed so much detail about his childhood or how Roland's enemy Walter was apparently trying to kill him back then. The story also doesn't come to any major conclusion at the end, presumably in part because the present publication cuts off before the ending of the comics run. On the other hand, the artistic choices for Odetta's chapters are very striking, and really illuminate her inner struggles with her dissociative identity disorder.
In reviewing the previous two omnibus releases, I observed that the one adapting The Gunslinger was stronger than the one handling Wizard and Glass, perhaps since the weaker Gunslinger source book represented a flawed canvas that could more readily be improved in adaptation. The Drawing of the Three, by contrast, is like Wizard and Glass in being an excellent novel to begin with that the illustrated version fails to wholly replicate or surpass. (The romance here feels significantly shortchanged from the original Stephen King prose, for instance, much as was the case before.)
Ultimately: if you're an existing fan, I do feel this is an interesting attempt at a new take on the tale. But it's not essential or definitive by any means, and it must be noted how many of the threads developed here never wind up going anywhere, as Marvel canceled the overall Dark Tower line shortly thereafter.
[Content warning for drug abuse, racism, gun violence, and gore.]
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Most of this material comes from the novel The Drawing of the Three, although Eddie's section in particular has expanded upon the available backstory, to somewhat mixed effect. In general I like his first-person narration, but I don't think we especially needed so much detail about his childhood or how Roland's enemy Walter was apparently trying to kill him back then. The story also doesn't come to any major conclusion at the end, presumably in part because the present publication cuts off before the ending of the comics run. On the other hand, the artistic choices for Odetta's chapters are very striking, and really illuminate her inner struggles with her dissociative identity disorder.
In reviewing the previous two omnibus releases, I observed that the one adapting The Gunslinger was stronger than the one handling Wizard and Glass, perhaps since the weaker Gunslinger source book represented a flawed canvas that could more readily be improved in adaptation. The Drawing of the Three, by contrast, is like Wizard and Glass in being an excellent novel to begin with that the illustrated version fails to wholly replicate or surpass. (The romance here feels significantly shortchanged from the original Stephen King prose, for instance, much as was the case before.)
Ultimately: if you're an existing fan, I do feel this is an interesting attempt at a new take on the tale. But it's not essential or definitive by any means, and it must be noted how many of the threads developed here never wind up going anywhere, as Marvel canceled the overall Dark Tower line shortly thereafter.
[Content warning for drug abuse, racism, gun violence, 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 23, 2022
This collection is no where near the first two Omnibus that Marvel published (The Dark Tower and The Gunslinger), but nevertheless, it is appreciated that Marvel allowed Robin Furth the opportunity to continue telling Dark Tower stories in comic form.
Unfortunately this collection only includes The Prisoner (Eddie's Story) and Lady of Shadows (Susannah's story), but does not include The Sailor. The storytelling meets expectations and as with the other Dark Tower comics, Robin Furth has a fun and interesting way to introduce new elements into the stories that the book readers are more than familiar with.
The illustrations and coloring are inconsistent. Jae Lee and Richard Isanove really set the bar high with the first Dark Tower comics. The Drawing of the Three are pretty lackluster with illustrations; however I'll admit that the styles used on "Lady of Shadows" was done in an interesting style that made the reader uneasy and really provided an unstable environment, much like Susannah would have been experiencing as Detta/Odetta fought for control.
Pros: continuation of Dark Tower stories in comic form.
Cons: illustrations and art are no where near what the first Dark Tower comics established and this compilation did not contain a companion book or any kind of extra features, behind the scenes look, or interviews like the first Omnibus had.
Bottom line: worth the read and recommended for any fans of the Dark Tower series.
Unfortunately this collection only includes The Prisoner (Eddie's Story) and Lady of Shadows (Susannah's story), but does not include The Sailor. The storytelling meets expectations and as with the other Dark Tower comics, Robin Furth has a fun and interesting way to introduce new elements into the stories that the book readers are more than familiar with.
The illustrations and coloring are inconsistent. Jae Lee and Richard Isanove really set the bar high with the first Dark Tower comics. The Drawing of the Three are pretty lackluster with illustrations; however I'll admit that the styles used on "Lady of Shadows" was done in an interesting style that made the reader uneasy and really provided an unstable environment, much like Susannah would have been experiencing as Detta/Odetta fought for control.
Pros: continuation of Dark Tower stories in comic form.
Cons: illustrations and art are no where near what the first Dark Tower comics established and this compilation did not contain a companion book or any kind of extra features, behind the scenes look, or interviews like the first Omnibus had.
Bottom line: worth the read and recommended for any fans of the Dark Tower series.
July 14, 2020
King is awesome as always.
May 22, 2024
I am removing the individual titles from my history in favor of just counting this graphic novelization of "The Drawing of the Three" and part of "The Wastelands" into a single review...
The artwork is noticeably less sophisticated than the early work done on the Gunslinger: Beginnings and The Gunslinger series from Marvel, but the adaptation is outstanding and faithful to the source material without harming the overall story.
This is a really good way to augment a journey to The Dark Tower for any Constant Reader and I felt that it gave me a unique "in" to the material as I was going from "The Gunslinger" to "The Drawing of the Three" and now into "The Wastelands".
There is a basic re-telling of "Wizard and Glass" in the graphic novel "The Gunslinger Begins" as well and I have read that without reading the novel...yet!
Well worth the time to go through this rendition of the story in my view.
The artwork is noticeably less sophisticated than the early work done on the Gunslinger: Beginnings and The Gunslinger series from Marvel, but the adaptation is outstanding and faithful to the source material without harming the overall story.
This is a really good way to augment a journey to The Dark Tower for any Constant Reader and I felt that it gave me a unique "in" to the material as I was going from "The Gunslinger" to "The Drawing of the Three" and now into "The Wastelands".
There is a basic re-telling of "Wizard and Glass" in the graphic novel "The Gunslinger Begins" as well and I have read that without reading the novel...yet!
Well worth the time to go through this rendition of the story in my view.
December 29, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed this rendition of the novel. The first-person narration from Eddie and Susannah is a surprising choice, but it’s a fun take for those familiar with the novel. I was especially impressed by the artwork handling Odetta/Detta.
September 20, 2024
I think graphic novels just aren't my medium. I probably won't be able to write a quality review for this book for that reason, but I wanted to give a note to explain why the lowered stars. I'm mostly rating for my own enjoyment for this one.
June 18, 2024
Beautiful art. Lot of extra details for backstory of the drawing
October 14, 2024
The Drawing of the Three will always be my favorite book in this series
It's where the ka-tet form
The graphic novel was phenomenal
bringing the story into images
It's where the ka-tet form
The graphic novel was phenomenal
bringing the story into images
April 23, 2025
The other two books I felt really expounded on the ideas from the novels but this one kinda felt rushed and it skipped a big chunk. It’s still a good read but I was expecting more
May 31, 2025
Good and fun first half, but uninteresting second. Regetably, everything after the first omni is forgettable in this series
June 18, 2025
I love this book!
The shore on the Western Sea is the perfect backdrop to introduce Eddie Dean, Odetta Holmes, and Detta Walker.
The shore on the Western Sea is the perfect backdrop to introduce Eddie Dean, Odetta Holmes, and Detta Walker.
October 31, 2023
I love it! The imagery was fantastic. A beautifully written plot, full of suspense.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews