Bitter Medicine

Stephen King's The Dark Tower #15

by Robin Furth (Adaptor), Peter David (Adaptor), Jonathan Marks (Illustrator)

Eddie Dean, the troubled young man gifted with the ability to open doors to other worlds, has smuggled narcotics from Nassau to New York City, but now has to escape a packed airplane guarded by armed Custom Agents! How will Eddie avoid prison and yet also fulfill his contract with the dangerous mobster Balazar? The answer lies in Mid-World, and with a dying gunslinger named Roland! The chilling chapter by writers Peter David (Spider-Man 2099) & Robin Furth (The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance), and artist Piotr Kowalski (Marvel Knights: Hulk)! COLLECTING: Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three - House of Cards 1-5

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Horror, Westerns, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2016

About the author

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. 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.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say that I didn't like this one any more than the last entry in "The Drawing of the Three" series.

It's like the train stopped in meh-ville and now it's parking there long term. The story is okay, but I already know it-I'm reading the graphic novels because I want to learn more and because I like the art. Now that I'm not digging the art the story needs to work extra hard to keep me going with these. At this point, I'm not sure I will keep going.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel must not be making much money on these books anymore as they've hired a bunch of terrible, third rate artists for "The Drawing of the Three" adaptations. It's a real shame because when Richard Isanove was on the books, the art was all top notch and set the correct mood for the books. These stories just feel boring now. And with Jonathan Marks I can't even tell what's going on most of the time. It's just tiresome. I'm starting to have doubts we'll ever see the whole series adapted.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth volume of Marvel's The Drawing of the Three series, which was based on King's second prose novel in The Dark Tower series. It's the fifteenth overall book in their Dark Tower series. It's not exactly an adaptation, but a close-up of the other members of Roland's group and their various origin and development. This one takes Odetta Holmes's to join Roland and company, where she and her alter egos have trouble fitting in. I preferred the earlier books that seemed more central to the overall series with a much wider sweep and more intricate plots. This one is well enough written by Furth and David, just as the earlier books were, but it felt like the series was losing steam, or maybe Marvel was losing interest, or maybe both and/or more. The art, unfortunately, was not to my liking. It wasn't well executed and didn't even try to resemble any of the earlier continuity. It's an interesting book for King's proverbial Constant Readers, but not essential.

[Lukas Sumper · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's consistently good, and still carries the dark tower DNA all the way through. And just that alone makes for a good book.

I am happy there is one volume left to go outside of the gallery 13 box set ("the sailor" why did they not include it?) But there is sadly no news if it gets continued after that.

4.0 out of 5.0 stars

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I generally enjoy these adaptations of King's The Dark Tower, the artists and writers here did a lot of stuff that just drew the life out of the story for me. Enough said for now.

[Alondra Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Odetta, Detta…. Susannah???

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Dark Tower stories - the most epic, consuming series by the most prolific writer of my generation. I've read them all more than once, and listened to them more than once, and when they began coming as comic books, I was so happy - now here we are on the second book of the series, and I still love these comics for the new perspectives and the amazing art they bring to a beloved series.

[Book Nerd]

I really didn't like the art in this one.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bitter Medicine picks up where Lady of Shadows left off, diving deeper into the complex, often perilous journey of Eddie and Susannah as they navigate Roland’s world and their own intertwined destinies. The story balances high-stakes adventure with character-driven moments, exploring loyalty, courage, and the price of choices in a world that is both familiar and unsettling.

I really enjoyed this volume. The artwork continues to impress, capturing the tension, action, and eerie surrealism of King’s universe, and the story keeps you turning pages with its mix of suspense and emotional depth. It’s a strong continuation of the graphic series and a must-read for fans following the adaptation.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this one hard to read. The art was murky and I hate having to study the drawings to maybe figure out what's going on, though it did a good job of relecting the darkness in Odetta's mind. All through the Dark Tower universe, anything to do with Detta and her bile was hard to read, this is no exception. Glad to be moving on to Susanna.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh...what's happening to this series? This used to be a flagship title, with art from some of the top names in the biz. The artwork in this volume is just crap and it's over-colored on top of that. What a mess. The story is much harder to follow than it needs to be. I'd forgotten about the horrible cliche that is Detta Walker--don't think that's going to play very well in a movie version. I hope these things get better or I might have to give up on this series.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume covers the third part of the Drawing of the Three, introducing Mort, while also moving the Mid-World side of the story forward. With Odetta/Detta now in Mid-World, Eddie and Roland are having to deal with her chaos as well as Roland's failing health. The first half is them getting to the next Door, with some interesting work to illustrate the way Detta/Odetta sees the world and reacts to them. The relationship between Eddie and Odetta seems absurdly sped up, though. The second half focuses on Roland using the third door to basically solve all of his problems in one stroke; which works out surprisingly well. The art is over-saturated, but I like the effect, especially the conceptual choices that highlight Odetta/Detta's duality. This volume is considerably faster paced than the previous one, and actually has a real climax, compared to the fizzle of the previous volume. I'm curious to see what's in the final volume of this series, as it seems like this volume basically finished what was in The Drawing of the Three. I'm still interested to see how they're putting these together, although it has definitely dropped in quality from the first few volumes (and the attention it gets as well - the interspersed 'director's cut' materials are literally the exact same formatting and text surrounding the same elements, just choosing a different couple of pages from each issue and provide nothing of real value).

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this Volume of the comic series, we cover a TON of novel material:
- The journey from the Lady of Shadows door to The Pusher door
- Eddie falling for Odetta
- The insanity of Detta
- The entire story of Jack Mort, including getting the guns and the Keflex, and finding out that he is linked to both Odetta and Jake, and his death
- The encounter at the door that creates Susannah from Odetta and Detta

But that puts me at the end of the novel, while still having one Volume of the graphic novel left.... hmmmm..
Either way, another excellent Volume. High recommend.

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, really delving into the characters from the novels. I was disappointed that this is the last book in the run, I would have loved to see the rest of the story, as it were.
The dichotomy of characters in Odetta/Detta was great to see, artistically, and overall, the artwork was great. The style wouldn't work for all sorts of stories, but it worked well for this.
Good pacing, interesting depth, and creative!
I'd only read these if you are familiar with the novels, if not, you might get lost, confused, and miss out on a whole lot of necessary detail.

[Jonathan Fesmire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Adaptation

Robin Further has done an excellent job of adapting the second half of Stephen King's novel, "The Drawing of the Three," in this graphic novel. Plus, we get new insight here and there on the character's thoughts, leading to some "ah hah" moments. The price for the Kindle edition is practically a steal. I'm going to have to get the first half now.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This visualization of what one can consider to be the core store of Odetta/Detta is a beautiful one that makes good use of the treatment for presenting the two personalities at war over the body. The big climax felt a little rushed or lack some of the build up but I suppose this is inevitable given a comic book translation of any long form work, moreso the rather verbose Dark Tower series.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't been as wild about the last few books that I've read in this series. I know a large part of it has to do with the looser artistic style, as well as the plotline involving the Odetta/Detta character. Although her mental illness was a vital part of Stephen King's tale, I'm ready to get back to the principal story of the quest for the tower.

[Ahdom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume continues Odetta/Detta's story with continued storytelling accompanied by more brilliant artwork. This volume moves us toward the climax of the story and finishes the backstory of the latest member of the Ka- tet. Now we move closer to The Dark Tower plot...

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume continues the story of Roland, Eddie and Odetta/Detta/Susanah. I wasn't a big fan of the art as it's radically different from the earlier volumes. I still like this, but the series did seem to be losing steam which is too bad since there was still a lot of good stories left to tell.

[Jason Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent translation

Not terrible. Pretty by the numbers adaptation. The art feels rough compared with the first few volumes. In the combined format it was difficult tracking the protagonist as it switched between Eddie and Susannah.

[frogfairie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Art was much rougher than in the last issue but this was still a great story told well, This was a Good Read.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roland seems much different; the three trying to go to third door, funny. Woman becomes one into Susanna. Roland kills Mort

[Kimber Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty sure I am out of order with the series. This continues with the transformation of two women into a single third. The becoming of Susannah. It is very well done.

[Shiraz Esat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not too keen on the artwork but the story flows well.

[Steve Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roland's quest continues and he has drawn the third of his Ka-Tet into mid-world.

Very nice art work.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captures some of the spirit. Peter David's script enlivens, but the art fails to fulfill the promise.

[Mr. Mustela frenata · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.54

[itchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

That takes care of that.

[Amethyst · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story overall!