After years of languishing in development hell, a cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series finally got released. The results are.....eeh? It's telling that the blurb on the DVD cover states "it delivers Idris Elba as an action star".
Even putting aside the fact that the series is lengthy and deep, this outing had several things working against it. With only a 95 minute run time, a lot feels glossed over. There's a lot more telling than showing and Roland's big arc feels rushed.
The latter part is also due to the fact that Jake is made the main character. I get it, he's from our world, so he can be the audience identifier. On the other hand, when you're coming in to see Idris Elba, Tom Taylor doesn't really cut it. He does OK for the most part, but that wasn't what we were sold. This problem does fix itself once Jake makes it to Mid-world and partners up with Roland, but it does lead to a first act that feels slow and is generally unwelcome.
There is also a noticeable lack of tension at several points. The action sequences are largely well done and have their fair share of highlights, but it still feels hollow.
What really props this take up is the two leads. Granted, Elba doesn't have a whole lot to do, but when he has material to work with, he brings what he can. While he does well showing off Roland's badassery, I think the fish out of water scenes in New York will leave a more lasting impression on viewers.
McConaughey, on the other hand, works really well as Walter aka The Man in Black. He's clearly having fun with it, but he's also able to bring a good amount of menace to his performance. He is also able to use Kilgrave's skill set much more effectively. Yeah, that's right, he came off much creepier and unnerving than Tennant.
As this is an attempt to streamline the narrative, there are lots of little homages to specific aspects of the books. Fittingly, the movie also makes nods to other King works. Jake is a psychic now, with it specifically being referred to as "the shine". Roland also uses a spider as an example when talking about the dark forces that exist beyond the barrier of the multiverse. Heck, even the main plot itself of using psychic kids to power a big machine is taken straight from "Black House". The people behind this were clearly familiar with the material, they just didn't have the time to bring it all together as effectively as one might hope.
One thing that Dark Tower fans were quick to note was that Roland still had the horn. This was meant to indicate that this wasn't so much an adaptation of the books, but a sort of sequel. It was a clever way to explain the differences and give the producers some leeway, but I'm afraid even that only goes so far. I mean, even the nature of the tower itself is different. I don't know if you can handwave that with "time loop". Not much is made of the horn or the time loop, though Walter does have one line where he compares Roland's quest (as well as their overall conflict) to a dog playing fetch. I thought it was an amusing wink to the fans.
This is hardly the worst King adaptation out there. It's not awful, there are things to like, but it is an underwhelming undertaking. I think a longer run time would have really helped get us invested in this world. As it is, it's just blah. I know the intent was to turn this into a multi-movie franchise, but I'm not sure how that would work. Walter's dead (though they could write that off as some sort of trick.) The movie does allude to the Crimson King, but would he just do the same thing? Would some other dark force be enlisted that would force Roland to go to the tower? I have no idea, but it's a moot point as the movie didn't do so hot at the box office and a sequel seems unlikely. I've heard rumors that they are trying to do a TV series based on the books. The way the story is structured they could "reboot" it by just making that another loop and still keeping it all canon. We'll see if that ever comes to fruition, though. In the meantime, this one doesn't hurt, but there's no real reason to go out of your way to see it. It's worth a rental at best, but there are better options out there.
*I'm not sure why the screen capture keeps showing up for "Earth". The embed code should work, but if for some reason, it plays the first video again you can follow the link and watch the "Knight" video here
In addition to a new trailer for 'The Mist', we were treated to not one, not two, but three new trailers for the 'Dark Tower' movie.
Now, it should be noted that these are not full trailers. "Teaser" is the more accurate term. Still, dropping three in one go is still a pretty big deal. Each one only lasts about 30 seconds, so it amounts to a full trailer, sort of.
Sadly, there's not a whole lot of new material here. In fact, some of the teasers use the same sequences as the others. This wouldn't be a problem if the teasers were spread out over several weeks, but having them all come out on the same day makes it more noticeable.
I'm still digging McConaughey's take on Flagg/Walter/The Man in Black. He should make for a great villain.
Similarly, Idris Elba's voice over for the other two trailers is definitely an asset. It's put to better use in the first teaser, in my opinion, but hearing him recite the gunslinger oath is certainly a treat.
The first trailer is also probably the strongest in terms of laying out what the general plot hook is. If you're unfamiliar with the series or didn't catch the original trailer, this lays out what the deal is in pretty succinct fashion.
I do kind of wish that we had just gotten one entire trailer. I can see what they were trying to do, but it didn't work as well. It is a bit strange to say that these 30 second tidbits didn't bring a whole lot when that's the average length for a commercial. I guess when it comes to movie ads, we've been spoiled by two minute teasers. The fact that it redoes what the first trailer did also works against it.
On the plus side, I don't think there's anything here that will push potential viewers away. On the flip side, I don't know if this really did anything to up the hype.
After being teased yesterday, the first official trailer for "The Dark Tower" hit the internet. I think a lot of people were curious just how this series was supposed to be adapted. Even if you were to go with the "movie for each book" approach, that's still a lot of content to cover. There were also certain plot points that wouldn't translate well to screen.
From the look of the trailer, this is going to be streamlined, which is probably for the best. I'm not sure how many movies are being planned. There was talk of doing a TV series to go alongside the movies, but I don't think anything really came of that, at least not yet.
It looks like this movie is going to draw from the first two books. Considering "Drawing of the Three" is a much stronger entry, that does make sense, as it will hook the viewers right off the bat. There's no mention of Eddie or Susannah, but again, this is just the first movie.
As to faithfulness to the source material (which admittedly isn't as relevant as usual considering the approach they took with this movie,) I think the biggest change is the fact that Jake is not only aware of the tower and the multiverse, but seems to take an active role in seeking Roland out. I suppose it saves the exposition dumps, though at the same time, it did seem like some of the conversations fell into that trap.
It also seems like there are only going to be two worlds, as opposed to an infinite multiverse. It fits in with the streamlining goal, though I think at this point, people wouldn't have that hard a time grasping the concept. Even taking that into account, Jake's line about billions of people being killed seems like a gross underestimation of casualties. Then again, there could only be a handful of inhabited planets (like in Dragon Ball Super) so maybe he's not that far off the mark?
Elba looks like he's going to be a solid Roland. That's not really a surprise, though. It was nice to see him rapidly load his gun. That was a trick that I wasn't sure would translate well to screen, but they did about as good a job with that as you could ask.
On the other side, McConaughey looks like he's having a lot of fun playing the villain. Some people were skeptical of this casting choice, but I was always on board with it. That's going to be really entertaining to watch.
It is a bit strange that the trailer is structured in such a way that it looks like this is Jake's story. I can understand the logic of him being the audience identifier, but it might still raise some eyebrows.
All in all, I thought the trailer was solid. I wasn't blown away, but it offered a pretty good glimpse into what we'll see without walking us through the entire plot. It looks like we'll get some impressive confrontations between the two leads and the scope is well established.
We've even got a release date, August 4. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
*Originally published as an April Fool's Day article. Thus, this isn't actually happening (though it totally should.)
Shared universes are all the rage. Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe took off, everybody has been scrambling to replicate the formula. DC has two shared universes, with CW's "Arrowverse" on television (which is doing quite well) and the DC Extended Universe in film. Universal is relaunching its horror franchises in a shared universe and the new "Godzilla" and "King Kong" movies will be taking place in the same world.
However, Stephen King was building a shared universe in his books for decades, long before it was cool. His books frequently make quick mention to events that transpired in other novels and characters from earlier works have made cameo appearances in later entries.
It all came to a head in his "Dark Tower" series, which featured multiple nods and links to Stephen King novels and appearances from several characters from earlier stand alone novels. Those who thought that the series was the be all end all for huge crossovers in the "King-verse" got a big surprise when it was recently announced that Stephen King's upcoming novel was going to feature another assembly of characters spanning several books.
According to official sources, the still unnamed novel is summarized thusly...
When another evil arises to threaten the multiverse, it is up to Roland Deschain to assemble another ka-tet to confront the evil head on. Mere guns and orizas won't do it, so the gunslinger gathers pyrokinetic Charlie McGee; telekinetic Carrie White; psychics Danny Torrance, John Smith, and Abra Stone; healer John Coffey; and Lois Chasse to ensure the continued safety of existence itself.
It's unclear whether this will span several novels or just be a single (likely door stopper) novel. Given that it is gathering King's heavy hitters, readers are sure to be getting something epic.
- I really enjoyed the metaphysical and cosmic aspects of the story. It adds a jaw dropping sense of scope to things.
- Seeing the characters essentially develop superpowers made the comic book geek in me rather happy.
- Not only does the book act as a follow up to "It" but it also ties into the "Dark Tower" franchise. It gives ardent King fans plenty of material to work with.
Cons
- Political commentary kills the pacing of the book, doesn't add anything, and can get rather irritating.
Overall
There's quite a bit to like about the book, but alas it does have problems. I would suggest getting the audiobook as it is oddly a smoother fit for that medium, but it is certainly worth picking up.
Ron Howard Wants a Crack at Stephen King's 'Dark Tower' Series
I came across an article on CHUD saying that director Ron Howard is interested in adapting Stephen King's Dark Tower series to film.
You'll recall that for a while, J.J. Abrams had plans for the series, but decided to bow out after deciding that he couldn't do the series justice. Along with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman are said to be the ones who will be working behind the scenes.
Rather than do a series of movies, the plan, according to the rumor, is to have the movie act as a sort of pilot for a television series.
This is a weird plan, I must admit. I know both have their pros and cons (movies give you a bigger budget, but TV gives you more room to tell a story) but by straddling the fence like this, I don't know if you're going to please anyone.
The only similar example I can cite was Buffy, but that wasn't planned that way and while the show does make a few vague references, the film isn't really considered "canon" and both stand on their own.
Another thing to consider is time. As readers have pointed out, adapting a story this long takes a lot of it and you can't hide the age of your actors. That being said, there are alternatives *coughanimatedseriescough*.
According to the rumor, Universal is the studio who will back the project.
Nothing is official as of yet. Chud is a reliable movie news source, but I haven't come across anything else that confirms the story as of yet. Something could come of it, and maybe it won't. Given the history of this franchise and attempts to bring it to film, I'm leaning towards the latter, but we'll have to wait and see.
Edit: A writer at Aintitcool posted an articleon the topic, so it seems the story is making some waves.
J.J. Abrams Announces That He's Off the Dark Tower Project
*Originally published on 11/13/09
An article was posted at aintitcool saying that J.J. Abrams is dropping off of the film adaptation of the Dark Tower books.
For a long time, I figured this was just stuck in development hell, but than I found out that he was simply putting it on hold until he finished with his televsion series, Lost. I have read rumors that this is the last season, so with that in mind I started to become curious as to whether or not this would take shape.
I'm not surprised, but I'm a bit disappointed at the same time. I was curious to see if he could pull it off, and if so, how would he go about it? With Abrams no longer attached, it will most likely be a while before something comes of this. It may die out, or it could be like the Dragonball and Watchmen movies where it takes a decade, but it does finally get done. If this is the case, let's pray it's closer to the latter than the former in terms of quality (in fairness, DBE wasn't nearly as terrible as I thought it would be going in).
Quint, the author of the article, states that an HBO series would be a better fit and I have to say that I agree.
Following up on yesterday's announcement that a new Dark Tower book may be on the horizon. The article elaborates saying that it would take place between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla.
As a special treat, I'm going to post a video of a Q & A King did for a recent book signing in Dundalk, MD a couple of days ago. You know, I used to live in Maryland. I actually wasn't too far from Dundalk...Fate is mocking me ladies and gentlemen.
The crowd is a bit hard to hear, but the poster was nice enough to add text boxes so that we would know what questions were being asked. King is surprisingly funny in front of the mic. He also makes some pretty big announcements like a possible HBO series for Under the Dome as well as other projects like the Cell film.
I mentioned before how it was a pretty big week and it seems to only be getting bigger as far as King news goes.
The Dark Tower Casting Call
*Originally published on 10/27/09
If you look on youtube, you will find several fan made "trailers" for a possible Dark Tower movie series. Some are more well done than others. Most just take footage from other movies and cut it in such a way that it looks like it could actually be from the book. With the possibility of the book series coming to the big screen, I thought it would be fun to try and cast this puppy. It's not going to be easy, but we'll see how things turn out.
Roland: A lot of the trailers have Clint Eastwood as Roland. This makes sense as King himself said that he had Eastwood in mind when writing the role, more specifically Eastwood in the old westerns. Sadly, I think he's too old. If there were just one movie, he might be able to pull off a decent job, he was actually really good in Gran Torino, a film that I didn't expect to be able to take him seriously in at all, but there are 7 books so it will be a huge undertaking. As such, we'll have to find someone younger.
Though he plays a great cowboy, alas Sam Elliot is also too old, maybe they can work those two into some sort of supporting role. That would be pretty cool.
I'd suggest Val Kilmer, but that's only because he was so great as Doc Holliday in Tombstone. As awesome as Holliday is, personality wise, he's not a whole lot like Roland; they're two completely different characters. Wyatt Earp on the other hand... you know, Kurt Russell could be pretty good now that I think about it. He's not too old and he's no stranger to the cowboy genre.
I like Christian Bale, but he may get tired of playing in franchises. Also, I worry that he'll go back to his Batman voice for Roland. If he just talks normally, he could turn in a strong performance.
Jake: The trailers I saw had Haley Joel Osment. I can't think of any other child actors to be honest, and he does have acting chops so I'll go with it. He's kind of faded from the limelight so it would give him a chance to get back into film. What was the last film he was in? AI?
Susannah: Halle Berry was the fan pick. She is an oscar winning actress, on the other hand she botched Storm in the X-Men movies and starred in Catwoman. Maybe Abrams and crew can get a better peformance out of her. I don't know if she can pull off Detta's personality though. If only Samuel L. Jackson had a distaff counterpart, that would be perfect.
Eddie: There are a slew of great actors who could take this role.
Edward Norton would be great in the role. He tends to play likable characters with a bit of a sense of humor and his characters do tend to have issues, so playing a coke addict wouldn't be beyond his abilities.
Hugh Jackman would also be good.
I've heard a few people suggest James Franco. That would work too, he can act in both serious and comedic movies. He's also played a drug addict before, though it was pot not coke and it was played for laughs, still, I could see him pulling it off.
Oy would most likely be CGI, that's really the only way I can see him being pulled off.
Now who would play Walter/Flagg/the man in black? I'd say Jamey Sheridan for consistency, but he doesn't look anything like he did back when he played the role back in The Stand. I got it, Brad Dourif. He's getting up there age wise, but I'm certain that he could pull it off.
Blaine would have to be voiced by Corey Burton. He's done the AI thing a few times now, voicing Brainiac in the Superman cartoons as well as voicing Red Tornado in The Brave and the Bold, but he's still really good at it and he can bring out all the creepiness that Blaine has to offer.
What say you readers? Who would you put in the roles of these beloved characters? I'm curious to see who others have in mind and it should make for some fascinating discussion.
What Would a Soundtrack to the Dark Tower Sound Like?
*Originally published on 12/11/09
While it's true that J.J Abrams has dropped out of the Dark Tower project, putting the movie back in development hell for who knows how long and sadly, there is still no word on any sort of animated series, it's still fun to sort of brainstorm and think about what a possible adaptation would be like. I did it before with the cast, but lately I've been thinking about the soundtrack. I think it goes without saying that Hey Jude would be in there, but as for the overall score, I wonder which artist would be best suited for the project.
There are a lot of great composers out there to choose from. John Williams has created some great stuff, but I don't know if his style suits the mood of the overall series. Danny Elfman is a versatile musician who's work covers all sorts of genres. He'd do a great job I think.
James Horner has done some great work over the years. The soundtrack to Glory was freakin' amazing and having worked on that film, as well as Wrath of Khan and the upcoming Avatar, he's not intimidated by the epics.
I wouldn't mind reuniting Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The soundtrack to The Dark Knight still blows me away every time I listen to it.
While fine composers all, none have really worked on a project this big. While several franchises have gone on for several movies, I think that the only film series to have a scope this big to date would be the Lord of the Rings trilogy that was released a few years ago. Composer Howard Shore did a great job with the score to that series and I think he could do a great job with this as well.
Whatever composer gets hired will probably need a little bit of help. They need to get musicians who dole out epic tracks on a regular basis and for that I have two suggestions.
The first is Nightwish, I've mentioned them a couple of times before but I think they'd fit here. Their music has always had an epic fantasy feel to it and even one of their songs, 7 Days to the Wolves, was inspired by the series. I don't know if I'd include that track, it's a good song but it's a little too on the nose. Still, I think they'd be happy to come up with an original track or two.
The group I think best suited for this though is E.S Posthumus. Who is E.S. Posthumus? That is a good question. Truth be told, I only discovered this group a mere few days ago. Their music is described as epic classical with orchestral and electronic sounds. All you really need to know though is that they rule. Listen to tracks like Pompeii or Ebla, that style of music would be perfect. You could make the argument that it suits the trailers for the films more than the actual soundtrack, and you would have a point, but I think that it would work really well in film as well.
What say you constant readers? Who would you like to see score Mid-world should the series ever get adapted in some way, shape or form?
New Dark Tower Web Series to be Launched...I Think
*Originally published on 10/19/09
A post on Stephen King's website announced a new Dark Tower project they created with Metro DMA. If it seems like I'm getting a lot of my King news from his main page, it's because I kind of am. While I frequent sites like Newsarama and Aintitcool, they don't really post about stuff like this very frequently so I turn to Stephen King's main web page to get updates and such. I don't post every update because that would become redundant, but the big stuff like this, I figure it can't hurt to put out a little heads up to the readers.
They posted a video trailer. I don't really know what they're advertising though. The impression I got was that it's going to be another web series similar to N. On the one hand, it's frustrating because I don't know what the product is, on the other it builds up a sense of mystery and that breeds excitement and interest.
Whatever it is, it will be released on November 30. So we can find out then. It's a cool trailer and I got the impression that this is going to be additional material that expands the mythology so it should be interesting.
Preview Video for Discordia is Launched
*Originally published on 12/1/09
You may remember that an announcement was made about an upcoming Dark Tower web series called Discordia. With the release date drawing nearer, a preview video has been released, which can be found on Stephen King's homepage.
The video's pretty dark; I mean that in a literal sense I could barely see anything. From what I could see it just looked like an empty room so it didn't really do anything for me. When this was first announced, I expressed confusion about the fact that I didn't know what it was that they were releasing and I'm still not sure. Even Wikipedia doesn't have any information about what this thing is going to be or what it's about.
There's less than a week to go before this thing gets released. I kind of forgot about it myself, so it's a good thing that they released this to revive excitement about the upcoming project. I'll be interested to see how this turns out.
First Chapter of Discordia Goes Live
*Originally published on 12/14/09
The mystery Dark Tower project that has been brewing for months finally came to light the other day. I was expecting another sort of animated web mini-series, something akin to N. That's not what this is, however.
No, this is a web game. You play a member of the Tet corporation and you get sent out to find magical artifacts and orbs. It's not the most fast paced game, but it does make you work. I ran the mouse over every screen in the bar (and there are quite a few of them) only to come out with only a handful of items. At first, I figured the other items would be in other locations, but I haven't been given the option of going somewhere else, which leads me to believe that the other items are in there somewhere.
You need to login, but all they need is an email address and a password so there isn't some lengthy registration form or anything. This also allows you to save your progress so that you don't have to start over every time you play.
The artwork for this was really good, everything was very detailed. It's clear that Robin Furth, who directed the project, really likes the slow pan out as a lot of the opening introductory shots are that style.
The shooting range "tutorial" was pretty tough. Near the end of the round, the models only pop up for a second and I often found myself overshooting my target so that the mouse moved just past the dummy, giving it enough time to go back under without getting hit. I haven't gotten into combat in game yet, but we'll see if enemies become a factor in later levels.
It's an interesting game though. I suggest checking it out. It's free so that's always a good thing. While a console release for a Fallout/Borderlands style RPG Dark Tower game would've been pretty cool, this is a pretty impressive release in its own right.
Both Marvel's website as well as Stephen King's announced today that a new series of Dark Tower comics entitled The Gunslinger would be released in 2010. Like the previous series, it will be a thirty issue series that is broken up into smaller mini-series. You can see the various announcements here and here.
I figured that after the battle of Jericho was covered, that that would be the end of it. It seems that this isn't the case. The same team will be working on the comics so I don't think we have anything to worry about as far as quality goes.
I'm curious to see if this is an adaptation of the first book or not. It has the same title and the announcement says that it will detail how and why Roland began his pursuit of the man in black. My guess is that it will start shortly before the first book and by the the end of the thirty issue run, we'll have reached the palaver that Roland has with the dark mage at the end of the first novel. It will be a partial adaptation with some new material thrown in there as well.
Then again, the very first issue opened with Roland in the desert and this whole thing has been a flashback. We might finally cut back to the present and just go from there. We'll have to wait and see how they play it.
Another question that arises is if this is a comic adaptation of the first book, will we see the remaining six? If that is the case, fans of the Dark Tower comics will be entertained for quite some time. I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves though. This is big news for fans of the books and comics. I myself am pretty excited to read it.
I've never played Dungeons and Dragons. It's one of my shortcomings as a nerd. Lately though, I've been rather curious about that whole subset of nerd culture. What piqued my curiosity? I honestly couldn't tell you, it just kinda popped in there.
It occurred to me that Stephen King's Dark Tower series would lend itself to a similar type of game. Epic fantasies tend to be the genre of choice and it wouldn't be the first literary series to get a board game. Lovecraft's Call of Cthulu has a board game, as does George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.
The thought occurred to me that The Talisman could work as well, but at the same time, you could use the Territories as one campaign setting under the larger Dark Tower framework.
The whole "class" system becomes a problem as the book has mostly gunslingers. I suppose you could also use the sisters of Oriza, but at the same time, I'm sure fans would be happy to play as the characters from the book. You can also give them the option of playing the villains in the series to mix up gameplay.
There was a Dark Tower board game released sometime in the 80's. It's extremely rare and the copies available on eBay are quite pricey, but there's nothing there to suggest to me that they're based on the books; they just share a title.
I doubt anything will actually be made. While King's franchise is gaining mainstream exposure, that sort of product only appeals to a fringe demographic. On the other hand, those other games continue to be made and the aforementioned D&D has been going strong for decades, so maybe it's not outside the realm of possibility. It's something worth considering though. Having the weight of King's name to back it up will help attract buyers and it would make for an interesting gaming experience.
Uwe Boll Set to Direct Film Adaptation of 'The Stand'
*Originally published on 4/1/10
Breaking news in the world of King. After months of keeping the project buried in secrecy, it's been announced that fan favorite director Uwe Boll, best known for film adaptations of video games like Alone in the Dark and the Bloodrayne series, will be tackling Stephen King's post-apocalyptic classic, The Stand.
Aaron Seltzberg and Jason Friedberg, who are best known for their parody films like Epic Movie, Date Movie, and Disaster Movie, will be branching outside of their usual field to write the script and tackle a new genre of film. When asked how faithful, they intend to stay to the book, the writers replied,
"We read the book, it was OK. We think we can do better. So for you sticklers out there, don't be surprised if you see a lot of 'improvements', creative liberties and changes and what-not in the film."
Keaunu Reeves will be taking the lead role as Stu Redman, Carmen Electra will play Nadine Cross, Mother Abagail has been changed from an elderly black woman to a man named Father Albert, who will be played by Christopher Walken. The rest of the cast has yet to be announced but the ideas they had in mind were described as "doozies".
It seems the film will have something of an environmental theme throughout the film. The writers are quoted as saying,
"We were watching 'Fern Gully' and 'Captain Planet'. We realized that this movie and show were way too subtle. We plan on really beating the audience over the head with this in as preachy and condescending a way as possible"
The movie has a release date of December 20, 2012.
OK, if you haven't figured it out by now, not a word of this is true. So, fear not true believers, it ain't happening. I figured I'd embrace the spirit of the holiday. Happy April Fools day!
While we've still got a few books to go before we reach the first entry in King's Dark Tower series, I've been thinking about the untapped potential of the series lately. I already talked about the anti-climactic battle with the Crimson King, as well as the coda, to which I'm still pretty ambivalent. There's something else though that came to mind when I think about what the series could've accomplished.
This series was supposed to be Stephen King's rug, one of its main purposes was to tie the literary room together. It did this quite well. It acted as the spine of King's work that cemented the idea that all of King's works were part of an intricate web.
This was also supposed to be King's mega-event. As an avid comic reader, I can tell you that most events like this have a team of heroes assemble to battle whatever threat may be looming on the horizon. This was the case here as well, Jack Sawyer did his part in Black House, Father Callahanand Patrick Danville returned, and even the joining of the ka-tet isn't too dissimilar from a comic book plot.
The most apt comparison would be to DC's now classic Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was one of the prototypical universe spanning events that required all of the heroes to join forces to save the day. If you think about it, the Dark Tower books are a crisis on infinite earths. Both feature an ancient entity who is bent on destroying all of existence to serve its own ends. The villain in the comic, named the Anti-Monitor, required pretty much every hero, along with the villains, to unite to wage war on this threat.
While King had a few characters return, more probably could've been worked in. Psychics played a pretty big part in the later novels, Danny Torrance or John Smith making an appearance wouldn't have been that out of left field. While Eyes of the Dragon is a Dark Tower tie in, the characters only get mentioned. I'm also pretty sure that a pyrokinetic would've been a useful ally, why not recruit Charlie in the war as well? Or maybe the telekinetic Carrie?
It also works for the villains as well. One of the main subplots was Stephen King getting hit by a van, rather than have him avoid it, he could've gotten hit and taken in by that world's Annie Wilkes. Most of King's fandom has accepted and embraced the idea that He Who Walks Behind the Rows is in fact Randall Flagg, I wouldn't have minded seeing that worked in somehow. The Ka-tet could've wandered into Gatlin and gotten themselves into another fine mess. Heck, even an offhand mention of it (similar to how Flagg gave a shout out to Trashcan Man in The Wastelands) would've been pretty cool.
On the other side of the coin, some people were getting frustrated with the fact that King was linking everything to the series and turning everything into a tie-in. Throwing all the characters in, as I'm suggesting, probably wouldn't have helped in that regard.
What say you, readers? Should King have cranked the crossovers up a notch or was he pushing it as is? Would trying to include characters from more of his books just cluttered the issue or would it have made it more epic?
After years of anticipation, fans were finally given the conclusion to King's epic Dark Tower magnum opus. The buildup was huge in the King community, speculation ran wild about what would be at the top of the tower at the nexus of the universe.
Oh, there are going to be major spoilers below about the end so if you haven't yet read the series, you might want to find something else to read.
After Roland defeats the Crimson King, he bolts towards the tower and rushes inside. As he ascends the levels, he sees moments from his past. This makes sense as, much like the nexus from Star Trek Generations, time has no meaning in the tower.
Roland reaches the top, only to be flung back to the desert where he is once again pursuing the Man in Black across the desert with no memory of what had happened. The last sentence of The Dark Tower (both the series and book 7 itself) is the same sentence that opened the saga seven books ago.
Roland, however, is not stuck in a loop as he now has the horn that was lost at the battle of Gilead. This tells us that there is still hope for Roland to escape his own personal Groundhog day.
I think King knew how divisive this ending was going to be. The narrator even stops early on to say that the journey is the most important thing and that it's probably best if you stop here. If the reader really wants to know what happens and what's inside the tower, then the narrator will tell us, but recommends stopping at the point before Roland actually enters as what our minds come up with would ultimately be better than whatever is actually there.
I myself am rather torn. I can see how it's fitting and can be seen as the right ending. Roland's obsession with the tower was often costly and there is something karmic about what happened, but still something about it never sat right with me for some reason. I think I finally figured it out.
The Crimson King set out to topple the tower and destroy all realities as we know them. It was through an elaborate set of circumstances that Roland and his ka-tet were able to stop him. By throwing Roland back to the beginning of his quest, the multiverse is essentially putting itself in peril over and over just to show Roland the cost of his obsession. Why? What happens if Jack Sawyer doesn't manage to destroy the great combination? What if Randall Flagg just says "screw it" and kills them all at the end of Wizard and Glass? What if Blaine's supercomputer brain actually manages to handle Eddie's "riddles" and they can't escape Blaine's suicide run? What if Roland succumbs to the rock lobster's poison? There are way too many variables.
Roland having the horn shows us that not everything is the same so victory is not guaranteed.
What of the other characters? Are they doomed to cycle through the same events over and over again too? Even if they don't know it, it still seems harsh. They may think that it's a brand new day but we know differently. Maybe Roland is in his own sort of pocket dimension or something, I don't know, have I mentioned how much I hate time travel?
I'm kind of curious to see what would've happened if the series' version of Stephen King didn't make it. I always saw his transcribing the events as a sort of psychic link, much like it was in the old comic books with Barry Allen and Jay Garrick. They say in the books that it's essential that "King" survive to finish the books, but if he didn't, would they all fade into nothingness? Would that give the Crimson King an edge that gives him the victory he was vying for? I don't know, we can only speculate I suppose.
I vaguely recall hearing mention of King planning on reworking the books a few years ago. I've heard nothing of it since, which suggests it was all bunk. I'm glad, because while I have my own personal issues with the ending, that was the ending that King saw most fit and he should stand his ground on the issue. Trying to pander to the fan base to please them rarely, if ever ends well.
You'd be surprised how many articles will just come to you simply by aimlessly wandering Amazon
For some reason, I always saw The Dark Tower as something of a cult favorite among King fans.
Yes, the books were written by one of the most successful writers of the past few decades and the comics have been a huge hit, but it never came off as "mainstream" to me. It was a franchise that only ardent Stephen King fans knew about and were familiar with. There was talk of bringing it to film, and it even has its own page on TvTropes, but it still never crossed that line in my mind.
Well, I think it just took another step. I found out that there was actually Dark Tower jewelry. Yes, you can buy pendant chains, cuff links, tie bar clips, and lapel pins that feature the ka-tet symbol, the sigul of the Crimson King, or the Eld logo. Apparently, they are very rare as there is only one used item available for each one, yet they're not too expensive.
At first, I was perplexed as to why someone would wear a pendant with the Crimson King symbol on it. I mean, he's an agent of pure evil who tried to destroy the multiverse. Then I remembered that I myself own a Dark Knight t-shirt with the Joker on it so that complaint went right out the window.
The only other time I've seen literature inspired jewelry was with Lord of the Rings. I don't remember what the website was, but I found out that you can buy elvish rings and earrings.
I don't know when these were made available. I was suspicious at first, just because I found it odd that there was only one of any given item available, but the seller rating is pretty high so it appears to be legit.
Every once in a while I like to do an article that's a bit more fun and easy going. It's juvenile and doesn't really accomplish much but my brain likes to imagine confrontations between fictional characters and try to decide who would win. I wrote one article for Associated Content that pit Batman against Superman and I wrote another that pit Superman against Wonder Woman. This time my brain decided to pit Roland Deschain, hero of the epic Dark Tower series against western DC Comics bounty hunter Jonah Hex.
Both are one man armies that can, and have, decimated entire towns single handedly. They have both reached the status of legend in their own respective worlds. Both are quick on the draw and have cat-like reflexes. Both men are very driven and will fight to their last breath in a fight.
Forget the O.K. Corral, this is the gunfight to end all gunfights. Neither one of these characters will be going down in one shot. Both are extremely resilient. Jonah Hex has been mortally wounded several times in the comic yet lives on to fight. Roland spent a large chunk of The Drawing of the Three with poison from rock lobsters pumping through his veins and still managed to shamble onward. I guarantee you that both will have emptied one, if not both, of their guns at least once before this fight is done. Still, I think Jonah's got the edge here. He's endured a lot of torture at the hands of his foes and rarely does it ever phase him.
As quick as Jonah is, I think Roland's got him beat here. Remember, he was able to hypnotize people by rotating a coin over his fingers so quickly that it practically became a blur. Jonah's fast on the draw, but that's practically supernaturally fast. In a fight like this, even milliseconds count. Roland will be able to get the first shot off. It may be just barely, but really that's all he needs to get the advantage.
Roland also has an advantage in that he's been training since childhood. Jonah did fight in the Civil War and has been a bounty hunter ever since, but Roland's got him beat.
If it gets to close combat, I think Jonah would have the advantage as he seems to have more of that brawler mentality.
I really have no clue who would win, which just makes me want to see the fight that much more. Of course, seeing as both characters serve on the side of justice and follow codes of honor, they probably wouldn't fight. If they did, the best guess I can come up with is that they'd both end up dead. Neither one would go down easy and both characters are in for the fight of their life, but that's the best I can come to a concrete conclusion to this showdown.
The thought crossed my mind earlier that there is a pretty good possibility that Susan Delgado was fridged. It had never occurred to me before, but the thought hit me recently, most likely as a delayed result of reading all the comics again.
For those unfamiliar, "fridged" is a term used to refer to a character death (specifically a female) that was unnecessarily cruel, cheap, done for shock value, and usually just done so that the main hero can avenge her. Comic writer, Gail Simone pointed this out in an essay a few years back and even made a whole list of characters to show the disproportionate treatment women got.
At face value, yes, Susan was fridged. Her death spurred Roland to go to the tower and being burned at the stake is a rather bad way to go (to say the least). The fact that she was with child definitely doesn't help matters. It was certainly a tragic end, but given the history of the Mejis, human sacrifice still hadn't been completely phased out.
At the same time the line's rather blurred. I mean, what sort of story would begin with the couple living happily ever after? Also important to note is the fact that everybody Roland knew died. It wasn't just Susan, but his whole first ka-tet that met a grim fate. This was a pretty important element in Roland's behavior. He remained distant because death seemed to follow him around like those storm clouds in old cartoons.
As the comic points out, characters met ends far more gruesome than Susan did. Look at Charles in the latest series of Dark Towercomics I reviewed. I would agree with the narrator that he got it a lot worse than she did.
Character deaths are common, especially in epics like this. Sooner or later a female character is going to meet a tragic end. It doesn't mean that the writer has issues with women, it just means that the story just happened to unfold that way.
I remember, back when King was early in the series, I think he had just finished The Wastelands, someone sent him a letter asking how it was going to end. King responded that he really didn't know. He's said on more than one occasion that he doesn't really plan his books out, choosing instead to just let things happen as his imagination sees it. As such, it was just a part of natural character development as opposed to adding something just for shock value.
There's also the fact that the more I think about it, the less I buy this whole "fridging" thing. It's a rant for another site, I don't want to go too far off topic, but let's just say that the more I think about it the less I agree with it.
I'm surprised the topic hasn't come up before to be honest. Especially in comic circles, nowadays, they freak out if Lois Lane gets a papercut.
Ultimately, I have to lean towards yes. Despite my qualms with the general movement, Susan's death does seem to meet the basic criteria. I wouldn't go so far as to say her death was cheap though. It was a pretty powerful scene and Roland made sure never to forget the sacrifice she made, nor did he forget her final words as she passed on to the next world.
What do you guys think? Could the story still have worked without Susan's tragic end? What if she hadn't died and Roland didn't go on his quest for the tower. Would the multiverse fall or would Ka find another reason for him to make his odyssey? It's true, Farson was still around so he could go on the grounds of trying to alter his actions, but it was Susan's death, more than anything that he wanted to negate; it makes you wonder what alternatives there were.
When the Crimson King was first introduced, readers were given the impression that he was an almost omnipotent agent of evil. He was so powerful that even Randall Flagg, the primary villain in King's epic The Stand, was a subordinate.
The buildup was really well done. The way they talked about him in Insomnia and Black House, our intrepid heroes were up against astronomical odds. This was going to be a battle of epic proportions where reality, all realities, hung in the balance. One lone gunslinger vs. a Satan like entity, going mono e mono at the edge of the universe; it was going to be so cool.
Yet, when the climax came, the Crimson King was reduced to a cranky old man throwing grenades from a balcony. In an anticlimax that puts even Super Shredder to shame, the Crimson King is literally erased by a magic artist. What happened!?
In Black House, Speedy tells Jack Sawyer that a head on assault of the Crimson King would be stupid and that they wouldn't stand a chance. He goes on to say that Roland and his Ka-tet are doing most of the work, but Jack's job is to provide some back up by destroying the King's huge psychic machine thingy.
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure Jack could handle a crazy guy on a balcony. Then again, there is the chance that the old man was just a representation and not the King's true form. It wouldn't be the first time a powerful entity took on simpler shapes. Pennywise was a shape shifter and even the spider was just an image that our mind could comprehend as opposed to its true appearance. An entity willing to topple the nexus of the universe would have to be insane, so maybe, despite everything, he was still the Satanic entity that he was originally built up as.
The common theory is that the machine that Jack destroyed fueled the King's power, much like the slime was Vigo's power source in Ghostbusters II. This is a distinct possibility, nothing was said of it in the Dark Tower book, but as that was told, pretty much, from Roland's perspective, there was no way he could know if that had an impact as he had no idea that the machine existed in the first place.
Another idea, posited by King himself, is that this is a statement regarding the nature of evil. It talks big, but is ultimately little more than whining and throwing things. This may have worked with a different author or if the series were self contained. However, if everything King has written ties together, we know darn well that evil is quite capable of being a viable threat. I already covered my list of King's top ten villains, but there's a whole schmorgasboard of great villains to choose from, each of them powerful and intimidating in their own unique way. The epic stature of many King villains shows that evil is not something to be trifled with.
The Dark Tower comics have done a pretty good job of restoring the Crimson King to the badass villain that he was supposed to be. He's a puppet master, using those around him to serve his own ends. Even with this, his quick end taints what could've been a great villain legacy.
A new Dark Tower book in the works?
*Originally published on 11/12/09
According to Stephen King's website, the master of horror is apparently plotting, or at the very least brainstorming, another book in his Dark Tower series. If you're anything like me, your reaction upon reading this is, "Aroo?"
Sadly, it doesn't link to any article that expands on the idea. We only get a blurb. The working title is said to be The Wind Through the Keyhole.
Will this be an eighth book or will it be a tie in much like Insomnia and Black House? I do not know. My guess is the latter, but it could very well act as a sequel. There's also the possibility that it's more along the lines of The Sisters of Eluria or the comics where it focuses on Roland, but takes place before the beginning of the first book.
The blurb says that it will be at least another eight months before King even begins writing the book so this is one of those things best kept on the back burner just so you don't drive yourself crazy waiting for it.
It's still pretty big news for any fan of the epic saga. Fans were worried that King might not have even been able to finish the story and now we find out that not only will he have finished it, but he'll go one step beyond and give us another book. As if a new release wasn't enough for a big week, we get the announcement that another entry in King's magnum opus might be on the horizon.
