Stephen King is bringing his dark visions to a new medium: comic books. The extension of his stories to this arena is by no means a stretch of the imagination. His tales of terror and suspense will meld nicely with the niche that has been made fashionable to broad audiences again in recent years with film adaptations of series by the likes of Stan Lee and Frank Miller.

King’s first foray into this market will focus on his series of novels revolving around the Dark Tower and its relentless pursuer, Roland Deschain, the last of the Gunslingers of Gilead. This series consists of seven lengthy novels which were written over a period of roughly twenty years, concluded with the final release in 2004. Stephen King considers the series his life’s work and had at least once pondered ending his writing career with its completion. His fans are grateful he had second thoughts.

While many of his stories have been made into films and TV series such as: Carrie, The Stand, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile; none of the Dark Tower novels have been adapted to the screen. This could possibly be due to the numerous installments of the series, although the Harry Potter novels have proven that to be possible.

As a long time fan of Stephen King fan I’ve read nearly every novel and short story compilation book he has ever put out. I’m currently amidst the final novel in the Dark Tower series and am thoroughly enjoying it. As I tried to explain to the teller at Barnes & Noble the Dark Tower books are really Westerns mixed with some magic and fantasy. The main character, Roland, is the last of his kind, a gunslinger trained to be a merciless and unrivaled guardian of those in need. As his world died around him he took on a life goal of reaching the Dark Tower, the center of his world, and unravel its mystery.

The first three books in the series were a little slow moving and limited in its story as it focused on a sole character moving across a barren world. But in the fourth novel, Wizard and Glass, King takes a restrospective tour through a period in Roland’s youth and delivered one of his best novels ever. The following three novels have all been exciting and well above the first three, but it’s the insight to what made Roland the man he is that delivers the best in the series.

Whether you’re an enduring fan, a once turned off reader, or a complete newcomer to the tales of Stephen King’s mind I highly recommend the Dark Tower series. If you lack the patience and discipline to complete the task of reading all the novels you now have the option of picking up the Marvel comics. I know I will.