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The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #2
The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #2
The second of five comic book mini-series, a spin-off of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. This monthly comic book consists of 5 issues, published between March 5, 2008 and July 2, 2008.
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 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.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2008
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 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 25, 2022
redundancy:
p26: And then those eyelids filled out as the globular eyeballs beneath them took shape, shuttling back and forth in rapid REM movement as if the two creatures were dreaming themselves into existence.
The writers are actually proud of the glacial pace of the story.
p26: And then those eyelids filled out as the globular eyeballs beneath them took shape, shuttling back and forth in rapid REM movement as if the two creatures were dreaming themselves into existence.
The writers are actually proud of the glacial pace of the story.
March 13, 2017
This one feels even shorter than the last issue. We come across Sheemie who is changed by something in Dogan and released. Then from there then we go to Alain, Bert and Roland as they still try to get Roland in his unconscious body back to Gilead.
Roland finds himself talking to Marten Broadcloak who threatens him.
Once again we find Alain and Bert doing what they can to keep Roland safe from harm.
I honestly found this issue to be a little drab unfortunately. All of the colors were muted except for Roland's eyes which the illustrator depicted as pink and glowing (representing him inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit). And I was amused by one of the writers deciding to have big bolded text spelled as KRAK and BLAM. Made me think back to Batman and Robin in the 70s TV show.
"As Roland wrestles with his inner demons, Alain and Cuthbert have problems of a more prosaic nature..."
The extra shows many in Gilead afraid that Arthur Eld is dead after following a ghost of his wife that was floating around. When he returns weeks later he appears to be bloodthirsty and kills anyone he comes across. Two of Arthur's trusted companions, Sir Bertrand Allgood and Sir Alfred Johns decide that they will do what they can to save Gilead and find their king since they don't believe he could be turned. I did laugh again at the illustration of these two men since they looked like Star Trek characters holding a sword and a gun. I'm sure that wasn't the reaction the illustrator was going for. Still this extra made the issue for me.
Roland finds himself talking to Marten Broadcloak who threatens him.
Once again we find Alain and Bert doing what they can to keep Roland safe from harm.
I honestly found this issue to be a little drab unfortunately. All of the colors were muted except for Roland's eyes which the illustrator depicted as pink and glowing (representing him inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit). And I was amused by one of the writers deciding to have big bolded text spelled as KRAK and BLAM. Made me think back to Batman and Robin in the 70s TV show.
"As Roland wrestles with his inner demons, Alain and Cuthbert have problems of a more prosaic nature..."
The extra shows many in Gilead afraid that Arthur Eld is dead after following a ghost of his wife that was floating around. When he returns weeks later he appears to be bloodthirsty and kills anyone he comes across. Two of Arthur's trusted companions, Sir Bertrand Allgood and Sir Alfred Johns decide that they will do what they can to save Gilead and find their king since they don't believe he could be turned. I did laugh again at the illustration of these two men since they looked like Star Trek characters holding a sword and a gun. I'm sure that wasn't the reaction the illustrator was going for. Still this extra made the issue for me.
February 17, 2020
This was an enjoyable though short foray into the world of the gunslingers.
Roland has fallen into Maerlyn's grapefruit and taken to Thunderclap where he is confronted by Marlen who has plans to make sure Roland never wakes in the land of the living again. Meanwhile, Alain and Cuthbert continue to stay ahead of the Hambry posse as they are pursued crimes they did not commit.
Roland has fallen into Maerlyn's grapefruit and taken to Thunderclap where he is confronted by Marlen who has plans to make sure Roland never wakes in the land of the living again. Meanwhile, Alain and Cuthbert continue to stay ahead of the Hambry posse as they are pursued crimes they did not commit.
March 15, 2021
I'm really loving this miniseries of comics, the second installment of the graphic novel series that details Roland Deschain's younger years. Unlike the first miniseries where almost the entire story is a repeat of what us fans find in Wizard & Glass, this second series is made up of almost entirely original story. Although Roland has hinted to some of the occurrences that make up The Long Road Home in the Dark Tower series, written by Stephen King, we haven't gotten the full picture up until now. Stop reading if you have not at least read The Gunslinger Born and the first comic in this series.
The second of five individual comics, this section of the tale bounces between what Roland finds inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit, the evil pink ball that has taken his consciousness hostage, Cuthbert and Alain's attempts to flee the last Big Coffin Hunter and his posse of enraged Hambry-folk, and Sheemie, the mentally challenged boy who is desperate to follow the gunslingers since he finds no reason to stay in Hambry any longer. Unfortunately for Sheemie, his tale isn't exactly a fun one and we discover how he becomes who he becomes in the original Dark Tower series.
The new story and new detail added to Roland's previous hints in The Dark Tower are truly enlightening and dig their hooks in for a long-time fan such as myself. But even for someone approaching the epic series for the first time through comics it still has a lot of merit. The artwork is continuously breathtaking and alarming, just as King would want it I'm sure. The story itself is riveting, albeit much faster as comics tend to be. I look forward to the rest of the miniseries.
The second of five individual comics, this section of the tale bounces between what Roland finds inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit, the evil pink ball that has taken his consciousness hostage, Cuthbert and Alain's attempts to flee the last Big Coffin Hunter and his posse of enraged Hambry-folk, and Sheemie, the mentally challenged boy who is desperate to follow the gunslingers since he finds no reason to stay in Hambry any longer. Unfortunately for Sheemie, his tale isn't exactly a fun one and we discover how he becomes who he becomes in the original Dark Tower series.
The new story and new detail added to Roland's previous hints in The Dark Tower are truly enlightening and dig their hooks in for a long-time fan such as myself. But even for someone approaching the epic series for the first time through comics it still has a lot of merit. The artwork is continuously breathtaking and alarming, just as King would want it I'm sure. The story itself is riveting, albeit much faster as comics tend to be. I look forward to the rest of the miniseries.
February 12, 2021
The Katet have to escape and what the hell is going on with Sheemie?
A fast paced issue with some funny and tragic moments that reminded me of the Neverending Story and a certain scene with a horse. Sigh!
A fast paced issue with some funny and tragic moments that reminded me of the Neverending Story and a certain scene with a horse. Sigh!
March 5, 2020
Complementa muy bien los acontecimientos que suceden a Mago y Cristal. La química del ka-tet es muy orgánica.
June 11, 2023
4 bag comic
November 14, 2016
It ticks all the boxes for being 'my thing' but it didn't hit home...at all
March 11, 2017
The first volume was a pretty straight adaptation of the Wizard and Glass novel, but this one starts to round out parts of the story and world we didn't see in the novels. Really liking it so far.
July 28, 2009
Where
The Gunslinger Born
follows Roland's gunslinger apprenticeship pretty faithfully to King's original telling, The Long Road Home traverses a previously uncharted portion of the gunslinger's tale. Namely, it tells of the journey--nay, flight--of Roland and his friends from Hambry back to Gilead.
I like the story for two main reasons (other than simply being a new story). Foremost, I like it because ultimately it is more a story about the other members of Roland's ka-tet - Cuthbert and Alain - than Roland himself. This is primarily because Roland is unconscious for most of the trip. But don't worry, Roland does make appearances in the story, because as anyone who has ever read a King story knows, "unconscious" does not mean "inactive."
Secondly, I liked the story because it has one of the few genuinely happy endings in the gunslinger oeuvre. Well, mostly happy, since anyone who has read through the rest of the oeuvre knows what's yet to come; but still, it's purt'near as close to a happy ending to a gunslinger story as you'll ever run across. And sometimes you just damn well need a happy ending.
I like the story for two main reasons (other than simply being a new story). Foremost, I like it because ultimately it is more a story about the other members of Roland's ka-tet - Cuthbert and Alain - than Roland himself. This is primarily because Roland is unconscious for most of the trip. But don't worry, Roland does make appearances in the story, because as anyone who has ever read a King story knows, "unconscious" does not mean "inactive."
Secondly, I liked the story because it has one of the few genuinely happy endings in the gunslinger oeuvre. Well, mostly happy, since anyone who has read through the rest of the oeuvre knows what's yet to come; but still, it's purt'near as close to a happy ending to a gunslinger story as you'll ever run across. And sometimes you just damn well need a happy ending.
January 3, 2017
This is the second story arc of Roland and The Dark Tower, and it picks up right after The Gunslinger Born. Roland has Merlyn's Grapefruit and they are trying to flee back to Gilead. Along the way Roland gets trapped in the grapefruit and has to face horrors as well as the Crimson King.
I enjoyed this story arc better than the first because this was all new material, so I was being told a tale of Roland than was previously untold. But I will admit it wasn't great, just good. In fact I really can't see someone really getting into this story unless they've read The Dark Tower by King because so much of it is based on other events that have been previously told, and events that happen reference the books. So you catch those references if you've read the books, but you'll miss them if you haven't.
And once again the best parts of these comics are the in-depth detail about the cannon of The Dark Tower stories and world. At the end of each comic is text that goes of for at least 4 pages explaining some detail of The Dark Tower cannon. I somehow feel that something's not right when I actually enjoy these parts better than the comic story arc itself. Regardless, if you are a fan of The Dark Tower these comics are becoming very valuable companion pieces to the stories.
I enjoyed this story arc better than the first because this was all new material, so I was being told a tale of Roland than was previously untold. But I will admit it wasn't great, just good. In fact I really can't see someone really getting into this story unless they've read The Dark Tower by King because so much of it is based on other events that have been previously told, and events that happen reference the books. So you catch those references if you've read the books, but you'll miss them if you haven't.
And once again the best parts of these comics are the in-depth detail about the cannon of The Dark Tower stories and world. At the end of each comic is text that goes of for at least 4 pages explaining some detail of The Dark Tower cannon. I somehow feel that something's not right when I actually enjoy these parts better than the comic story arc itself. Regardless, if you are a fan of The Dark Tower these comics are becoming very valuable companion pieces to the stories.
July 2, 2009
I ended up finding this book at a library that I visited & had got it out for my brother since he being our mums son, would like Stephen King & it being a comic form of it, just worked. Being him, he never finished it, but I did. I'll tell the truth & say I'm not my mums daughter & I have never read a single Stephen King book through. However, this book I believe is based off of Dark Tower that is written by Stephen King, so I guess I still haven't read an actual Stephen King book, but this book in comic form was pretty nice. With this book I didn't realize in Marvels versions of Dark Tower I had read the last one, so this is book 5 of 5 that they've done to Dark Tower.
The story & the drawings are amazing & I tend not to read a lot of comics, though I don't hate them at all, I just don't read them a lot. And this ones drawings are just amazing & I was very happy that I got it out. I think its worth the read & it won't take long & even if you haven't read the first four, you will still get whats happening in this book, especially with its good storyline.
The story & the drawings are amazing & I tend not to read a lot of comics, though I don't hate them at all, I just don't read them a lot. And this ones drawings are just amazing & I was very happy that I got it out. I think its worth the read & it won't take long & even if you haven't read the first four, you will still get whats happening in this book, especially with its good storyline.
January 28, 2009
Of course I will read anything having to do with The Dark Tower, and while I don't typically read graphic novels, it is kind of fun. I liked how this one filled in a gap from the novels - new information, if you will - especially knowing that everything here had to be approved by King himself. This series is a very interesting collaboration, and I am thrilled that it revolves around my favorite book series.
March 5, 2015
At the back of this book, Peter David the author of these comics, explains that Stephen King continued to be involved and approved of these stories even though they've now ventured into previously undocumented territory. This is good news; it means that DT fans can basically accept this telling of the time between Mejis and the Battle of Jericho Hill as canon. It's awesome to spend some time with Cuthbert and Alain since, outside of W & G, they are only alluded to.
January 2, 2011
A good continuation of the first set of the Dark Tower comics. The authors of the book strike out into their own territory here, and mostly follow the spirit of the original series. There's one scene with Sheemie, (the muddle headed bar boy from the previous work), that jarred me badly, but if Mr. King is willing to accept what the authors/interpreters are doing, I can let it slide.
January 10, 2016
I am a huge fan of the dark tower series and really enjoyed seeing the caracters brought to life in this format.
February 18, 2017
The first installment with material not from Sai king himself, but written like he wrote it himself.
Wonderful adaptation of an equisit story!
Wonderful adaptation of an equisit story!
February 1, 2017
Il secondo capitolo è decisamente meglio del primo, anche perché "finalmente" abbiamo la possibilità di esplorare avvenimenti che King ha solo molto vagamente accennato nei suoi libri.
January 7, 2021
No hay mucho que decir, si estás leyendo la saga de la Torre Oscura, está novela es imprescindible y tiene muy buena calidad en las imágenes.
January 19, 2009
This took some interesting liberties with the character of Sheemie...
July 16, 2017
Pretty good story. Does a good job replicating the feel of the King original, but also takes liberties comics can take. I enjoyed the artwork and depictions of the characters, especially the raven.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews