kandicez's review against another edition
4.0
I can never say enough about the art in this series, so I don't need to say more.
I think the story deserved three stars, the art five for an average of four. This story was a let down. The battle of Jericho Hill has always been so huge in my mind. I mean this is where he loses that damn horn! This was just...meh. Tragic, but not even exciting.
I was also a bit unimpressed with the passing of nine years. I know time must pass, but I would rather have had an entire installment showing those years passing instead of the two and half pages we get. At first I was disappointed that no one looked older, but Roland only seems to look about 35 in [b:The Gunslinger|43615|The Gunslinger|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554220416l/43615._SY75_.jpg|46575] and is eons old, so I quickly got over that.
Getting over the whimper instead of the bang I wanted from the battle will take much longer.
I think the story deserved three stars, the art five for an average of four. This story was a let down. The battle of Jericho Hill has always been so huge in my mind. I mean this is where he loses that damn horn! This was just...meh. Tragic, but not even exciting.
I was also a bit unimpressed with the passing of nine years. I know time must pass, but I would rather have had an entire installment showing those years passing instead of the two and half pages we get. At first I was disappointed that no one looked older, but Roland only seems to look about 35 in [b:The Gunslinger|43615|The Gunslinger|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554220416l/43615._SY75_.jpg|46575] and is eons old, so I quickly got over that.
Getting over the whimper instead of the bang I wanted from the battle will take much longer.
love_schwizzle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
aarni's review against another edition
5.0
Utterly heartwrenching. These comics have been an incredible addition to the greatest book-series in the world (to me :D!) and this finally tells the story of the battle that sent Roland on his journey alone. Shed tears. Still not a fan of Jae Lee's illustrations, but the smooth, oddly unsettling style fits the world of Dark Tower; the world that's only now starting to move on; the world that is broken. Love it.
mackle13's review against another edition
4.0
If you've read the Dark Tower novels - and I really do recommend you read them first - then you pretty much know the tragedy of this story.
That didn't stop a little part of me, however, from hoping that somehow, someway, things would turn out better this time you hear the story... and it also didn't stop the hitch in my chest when it didn't.
*le sigh*
Two down points, though:
1) I wish there was more consistency in the artwork between volumes. Some of the characters change to the point where they'd hardly recognizable until someone mentions a name or something.
2) I'm a little tired of the storyline. It's been used in almost every volume so far, and it'd be really awesome if there was a chance in plotline from time to time. I mean, I get that that's sort of Marten's thing, but it's growing a bit wearisome.
That didn't stop a little part of me, however, from hoping that somehow, someway, things would turn out better this time you hear the story... and it also didn't stop the hitch in my chest when it didn't.
*le sigh*
Two down points, though:
1) I wish there was more consistency in the artwork between volumes. Some of the characters change to the point where they'd hardly recognizable until someone mentions a name or something.
2) I'm a little tired of the
Spoiler
traitor withinlaurla's review against another edition
this is volumes 1-5
"a crazed preacher's words stroke the fires of his people's hatred for anything thats not, well... not them."
"a crazed preacher's words stroke the fires of his people's hatred for anything thats not, well... not them."
easolinas's review against another edition
4.0
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.
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.
bookash's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not allowed to cry at work.
I'm not allowed to cry at work.
I'm not allowed to cry at work.
This was the most heartbreaking of all. So much betrayal and brutal death. This cycle of the graphics are complete and now I move onto the story I know so well.
I'm not allowed to cry at work.
I'm not allowed to cry at work.
This was the most heartbreaking of all. So much betrayal and brutal death. This cycle of the graphics are complete and now I move onto the story I know so well.
schmoterp's review against another edition
3.0
Whenever my mind wanders into Mid-World, it is only a matter of time before I do something to appease my gluttony for this story. When I learned that a graphic novel series had been written, I was giddy with anticipation. Thus far, I had not been too disappointed...until now. This has been by far my least favorite of the series. And I while I abhor and loathe the movie, this effort may be more damnable. At least I can hate the movie producers for condensing/butchering a 7-part Stephen King opus into a single feature-length film....movie producers make decisions for profit, not for the integrity of the art. But this.....this is supposed and parcel of the experience. I found Battle of Jericho Hill lacking in all respects save for the artwork. The story was mundane and mediocre. The dialogue was boring and felt without feeling. The deaths of Alain and Cuthbert deserve more.
I give this a 3. It probably deserves a 1. I give it a 3-star rating only because of the story that precedes it and that which comes after. The Dark Tower isn't as much about making sense as it is about being visceral. This one doesn't even come close to hitting the mark. This one has forgotten the face of its father.
Yeah...I know...corny as the name The Good Man, but that doesn't make it untrue.
I give this a 3. It probably deserves a 1. I give it a 3-star rating only because of the story that precedes it and that which comes after. The Dark Tower isn't as much about making sense as it is about being visceral. This one doesn't even come close to hitting the mark. This one has forgotten the face of its father.
Yeah...I know...corny as the name The Good Man, but that doesn't make it untrue.