Ka is a wheel, Ka like the wind

[thehefner]

Reading a review for the DARK TOWER comic on aintitcool.com, one of the talkbackers raised an idea about the comic series that got my heart racing with such glee and excitement, something that would redeem all problems I have with the series, something almost certainly too smart and too good to be true.



The comic series, as you might know, is set in Roland's past. We know for certain that we'll see the battle with Cort, elements of the love story with Susan in Hambry, etc. And the word is good that we'll even see the fall of Gilead, the battle of Jericho Hill and the death of Cuthbert. All this is great stuff for DT fans, but all in all, I don't think anyone thought it'd actually shed new light on anything important.

And then I read someone suggest the following: "All that matters is that Roland keeps the Horn after the Fall of Gilead."

My god. Oh my god.

Then someone else added: "He needs to keep the horn, save Jake, not palaver with Walter, prevent all the beams from breaking, fight the Crimson King before the latter goes insane, and encounter Robert Browning instead of Stephen King. Then I'll be happy. Of course, if they don't keep going with the comics past the beginning of the Gunslinger, it's moot."

Holy shit, man. Holy shit. If they do that, if King and Furth actually do that, ohhhh my god, that would totally redeem the end of DARK TOWER. I mean, ok, the chances of all that happening are slim (the only one I don't care about is the Browning one), but what if that's what this mini-series is? What if it's the start of Roland actually getting it *right* this time around?

Because man, if Roland could be saved (and if the Crimson King couldn't be reduced to a feeble undead crazy old dude with a sack of grenades, how fucking anticlimactic was that?!?!), I will be in utter geek heaven. Please, please let some measure of this happen, King. Don't let this just be "DARK TOWER for beginners."

The first issue of DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN by Marvel Comics is coming out tomorrow. Let me know if you want a copy and can't get one easily, and I'll hook you up.

Comments

[charisma18.livejournal.com]

Dude, if you hook me up, I will totally get you back. I'd love a copy.

I've heard the horn issue brought up before, but the one that I find most compelling is that Rolad won't truly reach the top room of the tower until he keeps Jake from falling.

The biggest moral, if you can call it that, that I took from reading the series (and I actually have found it very applicabl at times) is simply: if you are willing to sacrifice everything and everyone to reach your Tower, then you won't be worthy of entering it when you arrive.

Actually, how's this for a crazy monumental idea: turn the series into movies, or better, a mini-series on HBO. Take us all the way through all 7 volumes. Do it pretty much exactly as it was in the books. Maybe a few changes here and there, but let those changes be easily explained by transporting the medium to film.

Then, at the end, as Roland reaches the tower, have him reach into his OWN pack and take out the horn. He blows it, and the hardcore Dark Tower fans suddenly realize that what they've been watching this entire time is the same story only Roland has kept the horn the whole time. Let them realize that this is truly the final time that Roland will reach the Tower. Fade to black as the doors close behind him. And end it there.

Truthfully, no matter how pissed we'd be, it's much more powerful if we never know what awaits at the tower's top room anyway. It would be enough (at least for me) to know that Roland has finally reached the end of his long and painful road.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I will bring a copy to either of the cast parties and leave it with Jaki, if I don't see you there myself. Sound good?

That moral had never occured to me until I read those comments I posted above, and your saying it really seals the concept in my mind. It's an excellent moral... buuuut boy oh boy, I still don't want the series to end where it did.

I really hope the comics (and maybe mini-series even) do it that way, because dear lord, THAT would be how I'd want it to end. And I am totally agreed, we absolutely do not need to know what's in the Tower. It doesn't matter, fuck what the pissed fans might think. All that mattered was saving the Tower and reaching the Tower. I mean, for god's sake, how would anyone even attempt to describe what the axis of all universes looks like?! You might as well write a detailed physical description of God while you're at it.

The comics will be released as a few seperate mini-series. The first 7, "The Gunslinger Born," will essentially be "Wizard and Glass" with Cort thrown in. The rest will be all-new material, including almost certainly the fall of Gilead and the battle of Jericho Hill. And as the first mini-series opens with Roland chasing after Walter, one can only hope we shall at least see him with the horn.

[gnort.livejournal.com]

so there are going to be more after the 7 issue mini? Bitchin, from what I've read people say it sounded like it was a springboard but they were always ambiguous about it. I figured it was just going to be the seven issue series that was being done. I'd hoped there would be more, cause I'm greedy like that. I now know there is and I am pleased.