Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill [Hardcover]

Peter David (Author), Robin Furth (Author), Jae Lee (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A bold new story featuring Roland Deschain and his beleaguered ka-tet on the run following the complete destruction of their beloved city of Gilead! And when such as gilead falls, the pillars of reality itself - the six beams holding all of existance together - begins to crumble. The satanic plan of the Crimson King to return all of existance to the primal state of chaos is nigh. Plus, just in time for the fun, it's the return of master storyteller Jae Lee to the role of penciler! Don't miss it! Collects Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill #1-5.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (August 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785129537
• ISBN-13: 978-0785129530
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #2 in	Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Marvel
  #2 in	Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Horror
  #2 in	Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Fantasy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Sort of anti-climatic, August 29, 2010

By	Derrick O'Rourke "Prof. G. Tripp" (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill (Hardcover)

This volume felt a little anti-climatic. The previous volume was brilliant and a real sense of significance and urgency came across well. This one is a little bit of a let down. The plot is practically the same as the others in terms of a hero is blackmailed into helping the villains. Also, I'm not so sure how Roland survives at the end. The art is very good & approporiate though. I'm still looking forward to the next volume but I hope it picks up again.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great episode of the Dark Tower story!, August 28, 2010

By	Michael Carl Debenedictis "Michael DeBenedictis" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill (Hardcover)

I pre-ordered this 5 months before it was available for sale. As soon as I received it I opened my Amazon package and read the whole thing. I thought this was another great chapter of the Dark Tower saga. As the entire DT story goes it's not the typical western, sci-fi, adventure, action, drama, so on type of story and it's best attributes are it's flawed characters, deep seeded story line, the underlying community feeling, gritty reality, and fearless dives into the tumultuous world of Mid-World. This chapter did not disappoint in the least. I immediately pre-ordered the next hardcover bound edition to come out in January 2011 and can't wait to see it's interpretation and continuation of the story. I'm just waiting for the DT graphic novel that ends with the words "the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed" to truly cap off a great adventure!

5.0 out of 5 stars When Gilead falls so do parts of one of the Beams, August 17, 2010

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill (Hardcover)

In the comic books adapted from Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, Gilead has been crumbling away for a long time now... but it's still a wrench when it's gone. And in "Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill," we see what is left after it falls -- a wrenching bloody battle, a bleak rotted world, and the strength of a young man who loses everything.

Gilead is gone forever, Midworld is "dying," and the only remnants of it are Roland Deschain and his ragtag ka-tet. Roland's plan: to reach the legendary Dark Tower and use its power "to set things aright," by following the Beam. And nine years later, Roland and the ka-tet reunite on Gilead's ruins, and form a half-hidden rebellion bent on bringing down Farson.

But he is not the only danger to them -- slow mutants, crazy cults, bandits. Worst of all, one of Roland's men has been blackmailed into a treacherous pact with Walter O'Dim, and for the sake of his child he has turned against his own friends. And at long last, the battle comes to the ka-tet at Jericho Hill...

There's a line in the fourth chapter that sums up this entire comic book -- "Sometimes you think you see the light, and you think the dawn is coming... and so you don't realize that, in fact, the darkness is laughing at you because it knows it's closing it." At first it seems like the worst is behind Roland and Co., and there might even be a small sliver of hope.

But of course, anyone who knows what's ahead for Roland knows what will happen in this story. Using King's book as source material, Robin Furth produces four chapters of Robin-Hoodesque fighting and training in secret, and a fifth chapter that is the stuff of Shakespearean tragedy -- murky, blood-spattered battles in which Roland loses even more people that he loves. Yet nothing will break the gunslinger's spirit.

Along the way, we see some grotesque glimpses of the ruined Midworld (a religious sacrifice upon a gas pump), countered with some devastatingly beautiful moments, such as Roland's final moments with Bert ("Then blow that damnable horn"). Most of the gritty, realistic artwork is cloaked in shadows and silhouetted by red mist -- perhaps meant to show the Crimson King's power growing.

Problem? The first fifth of the graphic novel is a rather fragmented, talky part, mostly used for exposition rather than storytelling.

Just when it seems that things are getting better for Roland and his ka-tet, the events of "Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill" slowly grind them into the dust. A powerful, bittersweet piece of work.