Jim Henson’s Legends of the Dark Crystal: The Garthim Wars, Vol. 1

Story by Barbara Randall Kesel, Art by Heidi Arnold and Max Kim
Tokyopop, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen (violence, mild language)

Jim Henson’s Return to Labyrinth, Vol. 2

Story by Jake Forbes, Art by Chris Lie
Tokyopop, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen

In 2005, Tokyopop and Jim Henson Productions announced that they would be adapting several Henson properties into graphic novels. Topping the list were cult favorites The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986).¹ Neither manga was intended to retell the original source material. Instead, these adaptations were set in the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth “universes,” using characters and creatures from the original films to tell new stories and, presumably, introduce a new generation of fantasy fans to Henson’s work.

The stronger of the two series, Legends of the Dark Crystal: The Garthim Wars, is a prequel to the 1982 film. The volume opens with a brief prologue explaining the world of the Dark Crystal. For thousands of years, the urSkeks protected the Crystal of Truth, a life-giving force that helped sustain the creatures of the planet Thra. When the crystal shattered, the urSkeks split into two separate races: the wise and gentle Mystics, and the hideously deformed Skeksis, who use the damaged crystal to harvest the life force of other creatures. With the assistance of the Garthim, a fierce-looking race of hermit crabs, the Skeksis hunt Gelflings, a peaceable, elfin folk whose life force helps sustain the Skeksis, giving them unnaturally long lives.

From the prologue, we cut to a pastoral scene as Lahr, a Gelfling shepherd, tends his flock. While scanning the horizon for predators, he spots a pod of Garthim headed towards his village. He cannot outrun them, however, and arrives to find his home in ruins and neighbors missing. Alone and terrified, he encounters a female Gelfling named Neffi, whose village suffered the same fate. The two then set out to help other communities prepare for a confrontation with the Garthim—something the pacifist Gelflings are reluctant to do.

Enlisting a veteran scriptwriter like Barbara Randall Kesel was a smart decision, as the story is unusually coherent, skillfully cross-cutting between several subplots without losing the sense of narrative urgency. Kesel never falls into the trap of making her characters explain the how and why of things; we learn about the Dark Crystal universe by watching them do things. Heidi Arnold and Max Kim’s artwork complements Kesel’s expert storytelling. With their richly detailed backgrounds, creatures, and costumes, Arnold and Kim evoke the world of the original film without slavishly reproducing it. Their character designs are an improvement on Henson’s, as they seem more animated than the original film’s rather bloodless-looking muppets.² Manga purists may object to the extensive use of tone, though the images are generally crisp and easy to parse; only a few fight scenes registered as dark muddles rather than hand-to-hand combat.

Like Legends, the first volume of Return to Labyrinth opens with a prologue to bring readers up to speed with the important events and characters from the film.³ Toby Williams, now a fifteen-year-old boy, is in a funk: he’s a mediocre student and actor who can’t get along with his parents. A self-pitying monologue inspires a stinging rebuke from the Goblin King Jareth, who has been secretly granting all of Toby’s wishes since the day Toby and his sister escaped from the labyrinth. Toby vows to break free of Jareth’s control, but is lured into the labyrinth when a peculiar creature steals a term paper. As his sister did thirteen years earlier, Toby navigates his way to the center of the maze with the aid of fairies, goblins, and a host of other critters for a confrontation with the Goblin King.

Volume two opens with a dramatic revelation: Jareth renounces the throne and names Toby his successor. Not surprisingly, several other powerful figures—including the mayor of Goblin Town and Mizumi, the Queen of Moraine—hope to manipulate the situation to their advantage by undermining the new king’s authority. As Toby struggles to develop his leadership and spell-casting skills, he risks alienating his friends (the posse of critters who aided him in his quest to reach Goblin Town) by failing to honor his promises to them.

I’ll be honest: if I had read volume one when it was initially released, I probably wouldn’t have read the second one. Though Chris Lie’s character concepts were appealing, their execution was not; Jareth and Toby’s appearance varied considerably from panel to panel, and many of the human characters were stiffly rendered. The narrative, like the layout, had a choppy, hectic rhythm that made it read more like a Choose Your Own Adventure story than a solid fantasy novel. With volume two, however, Lie and Jake Forbes show new mastery of their respective crafts, creating a story that flows more smoothly and purposefully. The characters remain underdeveloped—Jareth, in particular, seems like a pale imitation of his celluloid counterpart—but now seem like actors in the drama, rather than shout-outs to fans of the original movie.

Comparing the two series, Legends of the Dark Crystal is much easier to recommend to a general fantasy readership than Return to Labyrinth. Legends boasts a top-notch script, sharp artwork, and appealing characters—qualities that any manga lover can appreciate. In fact, I’d venture so far to say that Legends is one of the best OEL titles Tokyopop published in 2007, on par with King City. Return to Labyrinth, on the other hand, is more of specialty product, unlikely to appeal to readers who haven’t seen the David Bowie/Jennifer Connelly film. Two volumes in, the series still reads like fan fiction and not a stand-alone work. The marked improvement in volume two’s artwork and storytelling, however, suggest that the next installment may be of similar quality to Legends of the Dark Crystal.

1. A third project based on Mirror Mask (2005) has been on indefinite hold; for further details, see Newsarama article Henson @ Tokyopop for further details.

3. In the original film, fifteen-year-old Sarah is drawn into the Goblin King’s labyrinth after Jareth grants her darkest wish: making her baby brother Toby disappear. Sarah has thirteen hours to navigate the labyrinth, reach the king’s palace, and rescue her brother; if she fails to do so, Toby will be transformed into a goblin himself and forced to remain behind.