Illustrator Jae Lee went from a college dropout to an established name in the comic book industry. His latest project, The Dark Tower, has him bringing Stephen King’s epic fantasy novels to life, although namedropping the famous author still doesn’t seem to impress his parents.

As an award-winning comic book artist, Jae Lee has had the opportunity to work with some of the most imaginative writers around, collaborating on stories of fantastic heroes and otherworldly landscapes. But even he couldn’t have predicted that one day he would be bringing to life the work of one of the bestselling novelists in the world: Stephen King.

“This is just the best project for me,” Lee says. “It’s really a dream come true.”

The 34-year-old is illustrating the new Marvel Comics series, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, based on Stephen King’s epic fantasy novels. Handpicked by Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada to create the visuals for the series, Lee was given an enthusiastic thumbs-up from the superstar author himself. “I love Jae Lee’s work,” King said in a statement. “And I think this is going to be a dynamite partnership. Frankly, I can’t wait.”

Stephen King serves as executive producer of the series, while longtime King collaborator Robin Furth plots the stories, comic fan-favorite writer Peter David scripts the dialogue, and Jae Lee, along with colorist Richard Isanove, provides the illustrations. The series will run for 30 issues, with the first seven depicting events from King’s 1997 novel, Wizard and Glass. The rest will cover hitherto untold stories of the series’ hero, Roland the Gunslinger. 

Given King’s extensive fan base, the comic has received unprecedented attention. The debut issue, released in February, even warranted a midnight-release party at comic book stores across the country, a first for the world of comics. It clearly marks Lee as an illustrator at the top of his game. But this hasn’t always been the case.

Jae Lee was born in Korea in 1972, but moved to the United States a few years later when his father, an electrician, joined the Army as a means to get U.S. citizenship.

“There was this guy who was helping people immigrate to America,” explains Lee. “He told my dad that he could get him a passport and line him up with a job. Of course, you had to pay him. So my dad decided to go to the U.S. first, and make enough money and establish himself, so that he could bring us over. But when he got to the States, he realized that the passport was fake, that there was no job, and that it was just a scam.

“At that time, if anybody enlisted in the U.S. Army, you got free citizenship. So that’s what he did, serving four years.”

Arriving in Texas, where his father was stationed, Jae, his mother and older brother found themselves in a difficult situation, with little money and scant knowledge of English.