The Talisman: The Road of Trials #1

November 21, 2009

The Talisman: The Road of Trials #1 #1 (Del Rey Comics)
By Stephen King, Peter Straub, Robin Furth, Tony Shasteen & Massimo Carnevale

Robin Furth probably knows the works of Stephen King better than anyone alive, maybe even more than the man himself. She’s been his assistant, his chronicler, and she’s been a valuable part of the team that has brought The Dark Tower to life at Marvel. But this time, she takes the reigns of the script herself in adapting King and Peter Straub‘s collaboration The Talisman, and after one issue, I have to admit the adaptation is leaving me cold. It’s a wonderful novel and a great story, but the flow of the story here is stiff and choppy, like so many books and movies turned into comics often are. There’s no smoothness to the story, no real organic feel. Everything is kind of forced. Tony Shasteen‘s artwork isn’t bad — it’s got a fantastic feel that is appropriate to the story and suits the work. But it isn’t really enough to make me love this book. If Furth‘s scripting stays at this level, I’m not sure how long I can stick with this book.
Rating: 6/10

The Talisman: The Road of Trials #0

October 30, 2009

The Talisman: The Road of Trials #0 (Del Rey Comics)
By Stephen King, Peter Straub, Robin Furth, Tony Shasteen & Massimo Carnevale

Fabled book publisher Del Rey is getting into the comic book market, and they’re kicking it off with a tie-in to the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel The Talisman. Like King‘s The Dark Tower, this book is a particular favorite among fans of the two authors, so it’s going to be a hard sell to some people. This issue seems to be a prequel of storts, telling a story about the father of the novel’s protagonist, Jack Sawyer, who (like his son) had the power to “flip” between our Earth and a fantasy world where he was a king. As a one-dollar preview, the book isn’t bad. It sets up the characters, although the mechanics of the two worlds aren’t really explained very well. Fans of the novel, of course, will need no explanation, but anyone who happened to stumble into this book otherwise may be confused. The artwork is good — it’s got a nice element of the fantastic to it, even when on the Earth. While this book isn’t a knockout punch, for a buck, it’s not a bad start.
Rating: 7/10