Lady of Shadows

Stephen King's The Dark Tower #14

by Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David

Enter once more the world of Roland Deschain—and the world of the Dark Tower…presented in this stunning third graphic novel of The Drawing of the Three series that will unlock the doorways to terrifying secrets and bold storytelling as part of the dark fantasy masterwork and magnum opus from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King.

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

With these unforgettable words, millions of readers were introduced to Stephen King’s iconic character Roland Deschain of Gilead. Roland is the last of his kind, a “gunslinger” charged with protecting whatever goodness and light remains in his world—a world that “moved on,” as they say. In this desolate reality—a dangerous land filled with ancient technology and deadly magic, and yet one that mirrors our own in frightening ways—Roland is on a spellbinding and soul-shattering quest to locate and somehow save the mystical nexus of all worlds, all universes: the Dark Tower.

Now, in the graphic novel series adaptation Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three, originally published by Marvel Comics in single-issue form and creatively overseen by Stephen King himself, the full story of Roland’s saga continues. Sumptuously drawn by Piotr Kowalski, Jonathan Marks, Juanan Ramirez, and Cory Hamscher, plotted by longtime Stephen King expert Robin Furth, and scripted by New York Times bestselling author Peter David, The Lady of Shadows is an extraordinary and terrifying journey—ultimately introducing a generation of new readers to Stephen King’s modern literary classic The Dark Tower, while giving longtime fans thrilling adventures transformed from his blockbuster novels.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Horror, Westerns, Graphic Novels Comics, Adventure

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2016

About the author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.

Reviews

[Lukas Sumper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see the rating and wonder if people read the same thing I did. In some ways this was a step up from the 2 previous books in the series, even the art starts looking great again in my opinion but it for sure is either a love or hate it kind of style. It's probably one of the toughest to read in the whole series because of the heavy themes about racism/segregation and also mental illness.

If you think back to where we were in this series with shooting up monsters this departure into serious topics feels like a slap to the brain.
Which is probably the reason people dislike it so much as this can get people depressed.

Great layered origin story, but really not meant for the faint hearted.
A solid 4.5 out of 5 stars for me.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deeper delve into the heart, mind, and history of Odetta Holmes of Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three, in graphic novel form. Technically brilliant, the art is spookily surrealistic, the color palette dark, the dialog well done and the plot well paced.
But, the second half or so of the deeper part of the deeper delve left me cold. It featured occurrences I don't recall from the book (although I could be wrong), showing not so much Odetta's personality as a number of historical degradations of Blacks in America. Not wrong to tell these stories, but it began to seem heavy-handed and un-King-like.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK... I think I might have to be done with these. They are just getting frustrating with all of the story changes and additions. I see what they are doing - making it like Walter is trying to prevent Ka from ever allowing the Ka-tet to form, so he's stepping in much earlier and trying to kill the members before they can become members... but it just seems gratuitous, and it's not enjoyable for me, because I've read these books 800 times, and I KNOW their story, so this feels like a rip-off version simply out to add excitement and tension... but it's not necessary.

I did like the art in this one better... probably because it fit better with the sepia toned flashbacks to Odetta's history. I will say that I did like the Civil Rights aspect of Odetta's story, and I'm glad that they didn't strip or alter that, as they did with some of her other formative traits.

Overall though, I'm just not finding these so compelling that I feel like I need to continue. Maybe if I find them on the cheap at a sale... but otherwise, they are no longer worth the price to me. :(
What a shame.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third volume of Marvel's The Drawing of the Three series, which was based on King's second prose novel in The Dark Tower series. It's the fourteenth overall book in their Dark Tower series. It's not exactly an adaptation, but a close-up of the other members of Roland's group and their various origins. This one tells the first part of Odetta Holmes's story, and we see the problems she faced with discrimination her alter ego, and we see the early influence of the Dark Side. I preferred the earlier books that seemed more central to the overall series with a much wider sweep and more intricate plots. This one is quite well-written by Furth and David, just as the earlier books were, but felt in some ways more simplified. The art, unfortunately, was not to my liking. It's interesting, but not essential.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The expansion of Odetta's backstory was interesting (especially the Civil Rights stuff) but the art was so bad that I just wanted this book to end. The art looked like you were looking at it through a muddy puddle. If I hadn't read the book before, I wouldn't have known what was going on half the time.

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Lady of Shadows" is the story of Odetta Holmes.

Odetta, or Detta as her other self is called, is part of Roland's Ka-Tet in the Dark Tower series. This is her story. Odetta grows up in the deep South and faces painful and traumatic experiences due to violence by the Klan, egged on by Walter O'Dim. Walter seeks her elimination due to the part she will play in Roland's group.

The story then moves onto the family moving North. Here Odetta suffers from the attack that will leave her with the schizophrenic condition she is known for in the book series. The story culminates with Odetta being pushed in front of the train and the resulting consequences.

A good "origin' story for Odetta. She was never one of my favorite characters, but this volume was good. I did appreciate the Walter O'Dim parts where he gives more background on the specific acts of violence designed to eliminate Odetta.

While the story is good, the art fails to measure up. So while it is a good story, the character of Detta (who I personally find goddamn annoying) made me care for this less than some of the other tales. The art certainly did not help. It's a shame and had the art been of a better quality it might have moved my rating to a 4.

[Mikepottz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in this hardcover graphic novel has somewhat better illustrations than the first two. The Drawing of the three is my favorite in the novel series. Odetta/Detta has a brick dropped high from a building by the evil, sick fuck Jack onto her head. Jack covers his heinous act. Later on he pushes her onto a train track. Off goes those legs (illustrations awesome) can feel the severed limbs, blood and gore dripping, oozing. She is now drawn into Mid-World. The Quest continuing and now look forward to Eddie and Susannah falling in love. Tower Junkies enjoy.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly, the adaptation and expansion of The Drawing of the Three to comics is far superior to what was done with The Gunslinger. This volume, focusing of the life of Odetta Holmes, like the previous one focusing on Eddie Dean really captures the feel and texture of the character. What makes these work better than those focusing on The Gunslinger are the change in emphasis of the art from being a majority of single panel pages that were static and emotionless. These more recent chapters have a more cinematic sense of panel flow, which is essential in sequential art. but the characters also feel and sound a bit more genuine. This particular volume was well on it's way to attaining a 5-star rating, until the final two pages derailed the entire emotional impact that had been building for the previous 98 pages. Odetta's story also resonates particularly well with current events and incident of institutionalized racism that has been revealed to be almost business-as-usual in police departments across the US. Sadly this poignant connection was not utilized. This is still a powerful story, marred only by the abbreviated ending.

[Gary Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

62nd book read in 2017.

Number 119 out of 626 on my all time book list.

[Alondra Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Reading about Susannah before meeting the ka-tet.

The series of events that brought her to Roland and Eddie, were all plotted and planned. Weird how Ka works.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loving the way they've chosen to adapt the second Dark Tower book! We don't even see Roland and Eddie till two pages before the end!
This next Volume deals completely with Odetta Holmes / Detta Walker, our "Lady of Shadows". Cursed first with multiple personality disorder from getting hit in the head with a brick, then cursed again by losing her legs at the knee (both times being pushed by the same guy), our heroine (soon to be Susannah... wait for it to happen in one of the next two Volumes...) is put through her entire story from birth to drawing, all in chronological order.
The art goes a bit crazy here, but with both the historical context AND the psychotic nature of her mind, it really works well. Strong recommend.
(Really need to reread the novels again soon.)

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Stephen King, and The Dark Tower series is one of his iconic stories. It's been a while since I visited the series and came across this graphic novel of The Drawing of the Three. It's the third in a series for this particular story, and it was easy to pick up where I left off so long ago. Great King story and great illustrations that, at times, are almost like a photograph.

This graphic novel is a great way to revisit the series or to start anew if you enjoy the format over written novels.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ka-tet is nearly complete.

[Γιώργος Μπελαούρης · Rating 5 out of 5]

AT LAST
SOME AMAZING ARTWORK AGAIN IN THIS SERIES
ABSOLUTELY WONDERFULL

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady of Shadows continues the graphic adaptation of King’s The Dark Tower series with rich, atmospheric artwork that really brings the tension and surreal horror of the world to life. The story follows Eddie Dean and Odetta/Susannah as their paths intertwine in ways that are both suspenseful and emotionally charged, exploring themes of identity, fate, and moral choices.

I loved this one. The visuals add so much to the story, making the dark, twisted atmosphere tangible, and the pacing keeps you hooked throughout. King and Furth’s collaboration shines here, making it a thrilling addition to the graphic series.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, though the artwork varies from poor to rather ugly.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like more of a detour than Eddie's story did, because there's so much to Odetta's story that the main narrative doesn't even have a chance to intrude. We intercut between several periods in Odetta's life, as ka intrudes on her in a lot of unpleasant ways. But we also see a strong black woman dealing with racism and civil rights issues and mental health issues. It makes for a good story on its own, for the most part. And the art is very distinctive - it's not quite up to the level of Jae Lee's work in the earliest issues of this series, but it definitely adds to the quality of the presentation with some unique color and design work infiltrating the otherwise pretty straightforward story with reminders of the fantasy world surrounding it.

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of a love/hate relationship. The artwork had its moments of love, where the change in character was well depicted, but at other times, it was just weird. Similarly, the story-telling, at times seemed fluid, and made sense and followed the novels, whereas others, it seemed disjointed and unnecessary.
I appreciated the civil rights insights, as well as more exposition on the "Fo' Pretty" plate, as that gave visuals to what was described in the novels. Of this run, this was the worst book, but a lot of that had to do with the artistic stylings.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title covers the somewhat confusing story of Odetta/Detta in a manner that is quite surreal in terms of visuals. Admittedly I may have been leaning heavily on my knowledge of her story to understand things more than just appreciating the comic on its own since some of the panels can get quite trippy in trying to depict her inner struggle with herself.

It's a beautiful book on the whole and still a compelling story. But not necessarily the high point of The Drawing of the Three.

[Jason Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit ho-hum

I wasn’t a big fan of the art in this book. Perhaps it’s stylized to address the fuzzy and indistinct perceptions of the protagonist. Or perhaps they were stretching for the urban vibe of the 70s. Whatever the reason, it felt like it lacked the dramatic set pieces that I look for in adaptations of existing works. Interesting perspective to tell the story from the perspective of Susannah, but I do feel that King did it better in the novel.

[Shiraz Esat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and presented in a rather interesting manner; very different from all the other comics in the series. Highlights the injustices that were so prevalent less than 50 years ago, in a nation that refuses to acknowledge its disgusting past - it really should learn from Germany, and admit to its sick attitude to some of its own citizens.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume gets into the origin of Odetta (as well as her alter ego, Detta). Very compelling story filling in some holes for readers of the novels. As with the previous volumes, I did prefer the art in the Gunslinger comics, but this art is good as well. I wish the series had run longer, because there's only two more volumes in the series and there is still a lot of story to cover.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The backstory of Odetta Holmes, she of the split personality, and soon to be Ka-tet member of Roland's, is illustrated in this volume.
I wasn't wild about the style of the artwork, perhaps it's meant to show the insanity of Odetta/Detta's personality. Nevertheless, the story of this key figure in Roland's quest is integral to the saga.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

And now we get to Odetta/Detta/Susannah.

I love how we get some thoughts and feelings and a bit of back story that the books didn't give us.
Susannah is a bad-ass character, one of my favorites of all time. I think this did her character justice.

As always the artwork was amazing.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art was very good in this issue, and the story was well told, This was a Good Read.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story telling, but minimal connection to dark tower. Split personality gets legs cut off

[Ahdom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome visual journey through Odetta's backstory. The illustrations in this volume were appropriately trippy.

[Kimber Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one the most so far. It gave a more personal in site into Odetta/Detta.

[Paul Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of these collections! Well told and art that is great for the tale.

[Mr. Mustela frenata · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.34