Love is in the air at Fanboy Comics! In this magical month of romance and enchantment, the FBC Staff and Contributors decided to stop and smell the roses. In the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, a few members of the Fanboy Comics crew will be sharing their personal love letters to the areas of geekdom they adore the most.

Dear Roland,

I am sure you will be the first to tell me it is folly to love you, Gunslinger.  You are obsessed, cursed . . . of a singular mind that leads you forever on the loneliest of paths.  You are ruled by a self-chosen destiny that acknowledges only that ever-elusive destination, the Dark Tower.  All who are caught up on that path with you are doomed to a tragic end, always in service of the Ka to which you bow.

And so, I cry your pardon, Gunslinger.  I have surely forgotten the face of my father.  Blind to all the warnings, I have fallen to the same obsession and must join you to find the Tower, ascend to its apex, open all its doors, and reveal, over and over and over again, whatever god (monster?) lies in its bowels.  

I embark on this quest knowing that you, Dinh and leader of my Ka-tet, will forever protect (Doom?) me.  You are now and forever the most fearless, determined, heroic, steadfast, loyal, and deadliest of champions.  You patiently teach me the ways of a Gunslinger.  You accept nothing less than the very best . . . measured, of course, against your own indomitable focus and ability.  All that is trivial and meaningless is winnowed away until I am a finely honed killing machine.  

And so, I learn to aim with my eye, shoot with my mind, and kill with my heart . . . or die trying.

For your part, you will love, but ultimately leave, me.  You will risk your very life to save me, but should you fail, will move on with only the slightest hesitation.  The fate of all the worlds (for there are other worlds than these) rests in your unrelenting determination to stay on the Path of the Beam, never lured away by friends or enemies, love or hatred, life or death.  And, I know that when asked, I will sacrifice myself in service of your quest.  The world has moved on, and my part in it is but the work of Ka.

So, for this glorious (Damning?) obsession, I say, “Thankee, Sai.”  And, follow ever onward in your shadow to the Dark Tower.

Love,
Claire Thorne (A Lady of the White)