The Dark Tower 4: Fall of Gilead

Comic Info

The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead #2

Reprints The Dark Tower: The Sorcerer and The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead #1-6 (June 2009-January 2010). Marten Broadcloak is making his move, Roland is imprisoned for killing his mother, and Cort is caught in a trap by Farson’s followers. With the stakes raising, can Roland’s father maintain control of Gilead or will the fabled kingdom fall to the forces of Farson.

Written by Robin Furth and Peter David, The Dark Tower Volume 4:  Fall of Gilead continues the comic based upon Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series which began in 1982.  Following The Dark Tower Volume 3: Treachery, the series features art by Richard Isanove and contains both The Dark Tower:  Fall of Gilead limited series and the stand-alone issue The Dark Tower:  The Sorcerer.

The story has been a long time coming. If you’ve read the Dark Tower books, you know that Gilead didn’t end well and eventually Roland is going to lose is ka-tet…you just don’t know when. This series marks the beginning of the end, and the beginning of the adventure that Stephen King wrote about in The Dark Tower:  The Gunslinger. The series moves way too slow, and there is hardly any story per issue because of the supplemental material in the back (which they general don’t feel is worth reprinting in the collections).

The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead #6

The art continues to be strong in The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead, though it is quite minimal. The characters are a bit over inked and it is difficult to tell some of Roland’s friends apart, but it is still worlds above the art of many comic books.  This is also amazing in the fact that The Dark Tower continues to be on time in stores.  Many times when a comic really has decent art, it ends up being late (or when the art is actually pretty crappy…aka early Image).

In general, this is a pretty good series and this is one of the better volumes in the series. It provides the build-up you’ve been waiting for and now I look forward to getting on into the books written by Stephen King instead of original backstory fill-ins.  I always found Stephen King’s books girthy enough and the story presented in Wizard and Glass (which was related in the first limited series The Dark Tower:  The Gunslinger Born) provided enough back story for me.  There is a lot of ground to cover between Roland and the Dark Tower and I worry that the series won’t be able to cover it in the competitive comic book market. The Dark Tower 4:  The Fall of Gilead is followed by The Dark Tower 5: The Battle of Jericho Hill.

Related Links:

The Dark Tower 1:  The Gunslinger Born

The Dark Tower 2:  The Long Road Home

The Dark Tower 3:  Treachery

The Dark Tower 5:  The Battle of Jericho Hill

The Dark Tower 6:  The Gunslinger—The Journey Begins

The Dark Tower 7:  The Gunslinger—The Little Sisters Of Eluria

The Dark Tower 8:  The Gunslinger—The Battle of Tull

The Dark Tower 9:  The Gunslinger—The Way Station

The Dark Tower 10:  The Gunslinger—The Man in Black