The Beginning of our Gunslinger

The Gunslinger is brought to life in this graphic novel.

I have all of the feels right now. Seriously. Watching how our Roland goes from being a young boy to a true Gunslinger in this issue hit all of the high notes.

Roland Deschain who will one day walk alone to the Tower, I see you. And it is wonderful.

“I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.”

If you ever wanted to see actual scenes that were later on shown in Wizard and Glass I say run out and get this as soon as you can. I actually shivered a few times.

Robin Furth does a great job of hitting all of the high notes in this graphic novel.

We get to see Roland come to the realization that his father’s adviser, Marten Broadcloak (The Man in Black) has been having an affair with Roland’s mother. This of course has Roland seek out his teacher Cort and demand a trial of manhood in order to receive his guns in order to kill Marten. The actual fight was brutal in graphic novel form. I maybe squealed in revulsion a few times. But what gets me is that you see something that Roland will continue to do from childhood until we come across him in The Gunslinger, he sacrifices those who are dear to him in order to finish his goals. I do love Roland, but you can see how easy it can be to start to hate him.

Seeing Cort, Alain, and Cuthbert, as well as Roland’s mother and father up close and personal made them seem even more real to me. I actually have more pity than anything with regards to Roland’s mother. I think I despised her while reading “Wizard and Glass” but we now know she was just getting manipulated. Maybe she thought she was protecting her son. The graphic novel also spells things out more clearly than the books did. I always wondered why the Crimson King was so fixated on Roland. I have been reading all of the books and tie-ins since I was a kid, and I was always baffled what was going on there. At least this novel spells out why both the Crimson King and The Man in Black are trying to manipulate Roland. Because a prophecy has foretold something (don’t they always?)

The colors/panels were so detailed. I loved how everything just meshed well. We get to see a glimpse of a world that was the last stand against the darkness that will come in later years.

This issue had a lot of goodies at the end that I enjoyed, though I will say that they were a bit hard to read though. I wasn’t able to zoom that well. Still, I am ridiculously happy and glad I read this. I have been meaning to read this series this year, so am tickled I got started so soon in 2017.

Speaking of reading. I am so re-reading The Dark Tower series again this year. Probably around Halloween. Or maybe when I go on vacation in May. I don’t know if I can wait so long again. I miss my ka-tet.

This issue ends with Roland’s father coming face to face with him and yeah. Something is about to go down.