LABYRINTH & THE DARK CRYSTAL: HENSON @ TOKYOPOP

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

In 2005, it was announced that TokyoPop, the #1 publisher of manga in the US, signed an exclusive deal with The Jim Henson Company to produce original graphic novels based on the latter’s popular fantasy titles.

The first of three Return to Labyrinth volumes was released in August 2006. The story takes place years after the events of the 1986 fantasy film, Labyrinth, directed by the late Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas and starred David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King, a teenage Jennifer Connelly as Sarah Williams and young Toby Froud as Toby Williams. It centers around Toby Williams, who by this time has grown up into a teenager. The second volume, written by Jake T. Forbes with art by Chris Lie, is due in stores on October 9. The cover illustration is by Kouyu Shurei (Alichino).

November 13 will see the release of Legends of the Dark Crystal Vol. 1: The Garthim Wars by writer Barbara Randall Kesel and illustrated by Heidi Arnhold and Max Kim with a cover by Jae-Hwan Kim (Warcraft, King of Hell, War Angels). It will be a prequel to the 1982 film, and will showcase many of the established Dark Crystal characters (such as the Skeksis, the Mystics and Aughra) as well introduce many new characters (such as Larh and Neffi, two young Gelflings).

Newsarama.com spoke with editor Tim Beedle about the deal and he provided an update on the third property, MirrorMask, based on the 2005 film designed and directed by Dave McKean, and written by Neil Gaiman from a story created by McKean and Gaiman.

Newsarama: Tim, what's the inside deal? How did it come about?

Tim Beedle: Our partnership with The Jim Henson Company on Return to Labyrinth and Legends of The Dark Crystal is largely due to the efforts of three individuals. Jake T. Forbes, who was an editor here at TokyoPopP for over five years, was asked by our Publisher if there were any untapped properties out there that he thought could make good original graphic novels, and the two he immediately jumped on were Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. So, we made an appointment with The Jim Henson Company, and found out that they had been thinking the same thing! Michael Polis, whom until recently was their Senior VP of Marketing and Home Entertainment, is a lifelong comic book fan and was really interested in spinning both properties off into comics. The seeds were planted at that point, but they didn’t really sprout until a bit later, when we hired Rob Valois as an editor. Rob had worked for The Jim Henson Company previously and was still very friendly with all his former coworkers there. With him at the helm, a deal was worked out between the two companies and we were off and running!



Unfortunately, and maybe a little ironically, all three of those individuals have since left the companies. However, Jake is still heavily involved with one of the projects. He’s writing Return to Labyrinth.

NRAMA: What was it about these properties that made them perfect for being revisited in global manga format?

TB: Well, just look at Labyrinth’s Jareth. Look at that crazy hair and those eyebrows, those tight pants and that slightly androgynous look. He’s the perfect bishonen manga character! I don’t know if Brian Froud was reading any bishie manga when he designed the look of the character, but there sure seems to be an influence!

Seriously, though, I think to tell a good story in these worlds, which were so well developed in the films and obviously have a lot of corners to be explored, you need the benefit of length. I just don’t think you could tell as good of a Labyrinth or especially Dark Crystal story without having some space to tell it in. I think the ability to tell these stories over multiple volumes is one advantage to revisiting these properties in manga. Another has to do with the audience. A large number of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal fans are women, and as we all know, the majority of comic book readers are male. That’s not so for manga.



NRAMA: Vol. 1 of Return to Labyrinth was released in August 2006. How was the response to the book?

TB: The response was great! I think it’s safe to say that sales exceeded our expectations. Labyrinth fans are amazing. They’re very vocal, but they’re also very supportive. This is the first time The Jim Henson Company has revisited the world of Labyrinth since the film, so obviously there was a lot of anticipation and nervousness about what we were going to do with it. However, I think most of the response has been positive, and the few criticisms we’ve received have been noted and discussed with the creative team.

NRAMA: For the uninitiated, what was the first volume about?

TB: Our sequel, Return to Labyrinth, takes place around 13 years after the events in the film and focuses on Toby, the baby from the movie. He’s now a teenager and is facing all the typical teenage problems, such as getting good grades, dealing with strict parents and just figuring out what he wants to do with his life. He’s also facing a few not-so-typical problems, like the fact that whatever he wishes for seems to be given to him in mysterious, and often malevolent, ways. Oh, and there’s also his new guidance counselor who keeps referring to him as “Jareth.”

Eventually, Toby ends up following a thief who has stolen an important term paper and winds up in the Goblin Kingdom outside the Labyrinth. Determined to get his paper back, he follows the thief and eventually makes it to the Goblin Castle, where he discovers that the Goblin King has big plans for him.

NRAMA: What could readers and fans of the property look forward to in the second volume?

TB: The first volume more or less sets things up. It’s the second volume where things really get interesting. We open with a flashback chapter that focuses on Jareth shortly after the events of the film. We also gain a bit more insight into Goblin society and culture as Toby comes to terms with his new role. We find out a lot more about Mizumi, the Queen of the Moraine Kingdom, who was introduced in the first volume. And finally, we get a clue about how our story ties into the story in the film. Let’s just say that Sarah does play a crucial role in Return to Labyrinth.



NRAMA: The first volume of the long-awaited Legends of The Dark Crystal titled “The Garthim Wars,” which is a prequel to the 1982 film, is planned for release on November 13. Can you tell us more about the story?

TB: The Dark Crystal had challenges that Labyrinth didn’t when it came to creating an original story that could fit within continuity. There’s a sequel film currently in development at The Jim Henson Company, so our story had to fit within The Dark Crystal timeline without stepping on their toes. Since their movie is a sequel, we decided to make our series a prequel. It’s set about 200 years before the events of the first film. Gelflings are hunted by the Skeksis, but they haven’t been completely annihilated yet. Still, it’s a pretty dark period of time. The Garthim are constantly raiding Gelfling villages, and the Skeksis are plentiful. We have a lot more of them in our book than you saw in the film, including a few new ones.

The story focuses on two Gelflings: Lahr, a shepherd, and Neffi, a weaver. After both their villages are attacked and destroyed by the Garthim, they join together and eventually rally another nearby village into taking a stand against the monsters. It’s an interesting story because Gelflings are extremely peaceful creatures. The thought of taking life greatly disturbs them. They possess no weapons. Their trades and crafts are all focused on building things that create, not destroy. Seeing them come to terms with the necessity of war and the brutality of it is a large part of what drives the story in our first volume.

NRAMA: With Genndy Tartakovsky attached to direct Power of the Dark Crystal, which is going to be a sequel to the original Dark Crystal movie, are there plans for TokyoPop to produce movie adaptations or tie-ins as well?

TB: Well, we definitely plan on cross-promoting the manga and the film. After all, The Jim Henson Company is taking great care to build a continuity here, so if fans want to get the whole story, they should see the new movie and read the manga.





NRAMA: Whatever happened to the MirrorMask prequel manga? Who's been tapped to work on the project? Any other info about the project that you could reveal?

TB: I can’t really say much about MirrorMask right now, other than that it’s been backburnered for the time being. We’re really focusing on Return to Labyrinth and Legends of The Dark Crystal right now. Hopefully, we’ll get things going on MirrorMask eventually, but I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime real soon.

NRAMA: Finally – what about your future plans? Is TokyoPop pursuing other The Jim Henson Company properties?

TB: Heh… Well, I really can’t say anything about that. What I can say is that we’ve really enjoyed working with The Jim Henson Company on these two projects. They’re exciting properties and all of us here at TokyoPop have a lot of respect for Jim Henson’s legacy and the work his company has done since his death. Personally, I’d love to work on additional projects with them. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

[TheGrowth]

It looks pretty good

[painters_eye]

...will the Legends of the Dark Crystal be an "all ages read" for say like a 5 year old daughter to appreciate?

thanks

[kingofcities]

How is it possible this came out last year and I knew nothing about it?

Sounds awesome. Art looks terrific. I'm all over both of these.

[I-Ching]

I have to say that I'm pretty excited about Legends of The Dark Crystal. Seems like such a natural transition for them to make the leap to comics with a property like this with a richness to it's untapped potential.

Since I'm only familiar with TokyoPop by name alone is it safe to assume that these previews will remain in black and white upon printing?

I was disappointed in the past with other tv/film properties that were adapted to comics like Masters of The Universe and Dragon's Lair...I'm hoping that Legends of The Dark Crystal doesn't fall into that category.

[genetic freak]

Originally Posted by I-Ching

I have to say that I'm pretty excited about Legends of The Dark Crystal. Seems like such a natural transition for them to make the leap to comics with a property like this with a richness to it's untapped potential.

Since I'm only familiar with TokyoPop by name alone is it safe to assume that these previews will remain in black and white upon printing?

I was disappointed in the past with other tv/film properties that were adapted to comics like Masters of The Universe and Dragon's Lair...I'm hoping that Legends of The Dark Crystal doesn't fall into that category.

They'll definitely be in black and white.

In regards to Mirror Mask, any comics adaptation wont feel right without Dave McKean on art. Seriously, the movie was a McKean artwork brought to life.

[EMeadow]

Originally Posted by painters_eye

...will the Legends of the Dark Crystal be an "all ages read" for say like a 5 year old daughter to appreciate?

thanks

I'm betting not. I woudln't even let my 6 year old niece watch Dark Crystal just yet.

The movie is far more adult than anyone thinks. The opening Skeksis death scene will put the shivers in kids.

Labrynth might be good for a 5 year old but even I'm not sure about that.

Must get those new DVD versions of both films.

[Starleafgirl]

Originally Posted by EMeadow

I'm betting not. I woudln't even let my 6 year old niece watch Dark Crystal just yet.

The movie is far more adult than anyone thinks. The opening Skeksis death scene will put the shivers in kids.

Labrynth might be good for a 5 year old but even I'm not sure about that.

Must get those new DVD versions of both films.

I'm excited to see more from these two movies in the world of comics, but I just wanted to say from my own experience growing up and watching these films, yeah, the Dark Crystal is scary, but it's weird how little kids' brains work -- doesn't it seem like there's an age when nothing will scare them? lol. Anyway, I guess for Dark Crystal, it'd be age 9 and up. Yeah, like me at age 8 or 9, they'd get scared by the bad guys, but that's half the fun of the movie!

Labyrinth, anyone could watch. Anyone. Just that young kids will merely be entertained by the puppets 'n stuff and aren't going to get a lot of the references or maybe even have much of a clue as to what's going on, lol. But the movie's light-hearted enough, even in its dark moments, for young kids, I'd say. I don't think kids are going to be able to appreciate the movie for all its worth till they get older, that's all.

[TBeedle]

Originally Posted by painters_eye

...will the Legends of the Dark Crystal be an "all ages read" for say like a 5 year old daughter to appreciate?

thanks

If the book were a film, I'd imagine that it would be rated PG, which is the same rating The Dark Crystal received in 1982. We've tried to stay consistent in tone to the film. Honestly, it may be a little advanced for a 5-year-old. There are also a few scary parts, but this volume isn't quite as scary as the film. The future volumes, on the other hand, may be a little darker.

[Peasily]

Oops! Wrong thread.

[skl183]

I was gonna buy this until the dreaded words "black and white" came up. Always a caveat with things in this day and age.

[Starleafgirl]

Originally Posted by skl183

I was gonna buy this until the dreaded words "black and white" came up. Always a caveat with things in this day and age.

Like everything that's in color is so great?

No, but, yeah... I prefer things to be in color, personally... sigh. I can't help it if I'm easily appeased by a bright color palette!