Horrormeister Stephen King has joined forces with Marvel Comics to launch a new comic-book series adapted from King’s The Dark Tower series of best-selling fantasy novels, Marvel announced. The comic series will mark the first time King has produced original content for an ongoing comic project.

The series will expand the saga of King’s epic hero, Roland Deschain, whose quest to save the Dark Tower is captured in seven novels published over the course of 25 years. The comics will feature new stories that delve into the life and times of the young Roland, revealing the trials and conflicts that lead to the burden of destiny he must assume as a man, the last Gunslinger from a world that has moved on. The comics will supplement and define the saga’s mythology under King’s direction, Marvel said. The series will be illustrated by Eisner Award-winning artist Jae Lee.

The first Dark Tower issue is slated for release in April 2006, with a hard-cover collection of the first six issues due in the holiday season of that year.

Source: SciFi Wire