Dr. Doom, The Dark Tower, And Me
"Yeah," Jake said. "It's not exact, I'm sure the masks were modified to make them look a little more like wolves, but otherwise... same green hoods, same green cloaks. Yeah, Dr. Doom."
"And the sneetches," Eddie said. "Have you ever heard of Harry Potter?" -The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla - Stephen King
Greetings from the boiling wastes of Brooklyn in June! I'd like to tell you all about the first time my words were published in a Marvel comic book. It's not what you think.
In 2007, Marvel was gearing up to publish the first of their Dark Tower comic books, and to promote it, they wrangled the creative team for a panel at NYCC, including Stephen King himself, escorted by a cadre of stormtrooper cosplayers, acting as security. Their aim -I'm sure if tested- would be better than previously depicted on film.
I was there, and when it was made clear that the panel would be taking audience questions, I moved without thinking to the line behind the microphone in the aisle. I had no idea what I was going to ask, but I didn't care. This was the moment to talk back to the man who had spoken to me through so many of his books. While King and I write wildly different types of stories, his writing has influenced me in so many ways. It felt like getting to talk to a long lost father for the first time (while also discovering a room full of 500 of his other children). I was sure I'd have time to come up with something good. I'd been on the other side of a panel Q&A a few times by that point, and was well aware of what to avoid...
"Not so much a question, more of a comment..."
"On page 342 of this book, character says X, but in a long lost radio interview, you say Y which contradicts it. Explain?"
"I have a copy of my screenplay here, and I'd love you to read it."
Etc.
Now, I love a multiverse. Dr. McNinja lived in a world between King Radical's "cool universe" and our boring one. Gwenpool managed to escape our dreary dimension to get into Marvel's 616. And I'm currently writing a series about a gazillion different versions of Red Sonja literally called Sonjaversal. And so as I thought back to Wolves of the Calla, I knew exactly what to ask... which unbeknownst to me would be transcribed into the back pages of the Dark Tower comic book.
That's right! Today I stand before you to reveal that I, Christoper Hastings am AUDIENCE MEMBER. Anyway, WOOF. Not great! Thankfully I got the audience back on my side by giving King the alley-oop to show off his Shaun of the Dead t-shirt.
I knew what was on the shirt.
And now, crazy enough... Jae Lee, the artist behind that Dark Tower series, is doing the covers for Sonjaversal. The comic industry is a small one, I tell you.
Our first arc's conclusion comes out next week, June 16th! Find it wherever comics are sold, or also your computer. I very much like this recent kind remark on the series:
RECENTLY IN...
On the run from the authorities in the strictly lawful Ruleshaven, the gang plots to exploit a magical loophole and rewrite the city's constitution to their advantage. Listen! LISTEN!
And finally, hey look, Disney + is making another show based off something I wrote*.
*okay probably not, but there's no denying that logo. If they're making shows based off covers of comics I worked on, I'm putting money on this one being next. It's only a matter of time. But for now, maybe catch yourself up on my telling of Baby Groot's cosmic misadventures.
Thank you for reading, byyyyyeeeee...