Stephen King's Dark Tower graphic novels to be republished by Gallery 13

The Dark Tower is rising again. Gallery 13 announced Tuesday that it has acquired rights to the comics based on Stephen King’s epic fantasy book series and will republish them as graphic novels beginning this year.

“I’m delighted to see my stories in this exciting format, where they can reach new readers,” King said in a statement.

King’s story of the gunslinger Roland Deschain and his journey through parallel worlds to a massive black edifice at the center of the multiverse has been told on multiple platforms. The Dark Tower was originally published as a seven-part book series that began in 1982 and finished in 2004. More recently, it was adapted into a film starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Starting in 2007, The Dark Tower also served as the basis for a series of comics, originally published by Marvel.

There are two distinct storylines among The Dark Tower comics. The first set, Beginnings, tells the story of Roland’s coming of age in the fantasy land of Gilead and builds off flashbacks from the fourth book in King’s series (Wizard and Glass). It consists of five graphic novels — The Gunslinger Born, The Long Road Home, Treachery, The Fall of Gilead, and The Battle of Jericho Hill — all co-written by Peter David and Robin Furth, with art from Jae Lee and Richard Isanove. The second set is a direct adaptation of The Gunslinger, the first book in The Dark Tower book series, and consists of six graphic novels — The Journey Begins, The Little Sisters of Eluria, The Battle of Tull, The Way Station, The Man in Black, and Last Shots — again co-written by David and Furth with art from Isanove.

Gallery 13 is set to republish Beginnings this summer, with The Gunslinger Born hitting stores Aug. 14 and another installment every two weeks. The Gunslinger cycle is set to republish starting in spring 2019.