The Dark Crystal

Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal #1-2

by David Anthony Kraft, Bret Blevins (Illustrator), Vince Colletta (Illustrator)

On a faraway planet, Jen, the last of the Gelflings, is given the mission of restoring a missing shard to the great Crystal and preventing the tragedy of a Skeksis triumph when the Three Suns merge.

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

David Anthony Kraft was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic.
(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never impressed by the movie like alot of people were but the co mic did a good job adapting it. Recommended

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a comparison between the film Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). It isn’t just to see which is better, although, using a tabula rusa belief it could be argued that nature vs nurture can be used to determine traits, let alone predict success in life, such as career and finances.
Labyrinth starred Jennifer Connelly, who is eye candy and was a crush of mine growing up, so she, and perhaps similar characters, can be used as reference for what a person had as influence to get them where they are today, irrespective and regardless of some of the detail of the films themselves. David Bowie was in Labyrinth but I never really listened to him that much. There is also Legend (1985) with Tom Cruise, which has similar effects to Willow’s (1988) or Dark Crystal’s animatronics and puppeteering with its costume direction. I didn’t have a bias towards Labyrinth growing up just because of the Theseus-Minotaur Greek myth. I liked Dark Crystal too. Growing up playing Zelda games you couldn’t go wrong with any more elf material. If there were any catch it would be that you might be a black sheep to any culture had you not watched the Dark Crystal, or just refused to, while managing to have seen the others. That wouldn’t net you any bonus points to being a desirable bachelor or suitor. To some people it might be hard to tell whether that’s fact or mere coincidence if you just happened to find yourself in that situation. It’s then implied you could get away with just having seen Dark Crystal. There are a few musical numbers in Labyrinth, seeing as how it was written as a musical. Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal has a bar scene where music is playing except no one is singing, which could be a reference to musicals and a jab a karaoke bar nights. What is karaoke, at least compared to singer-songwriter work? They don’t like karaoke that much. Karaoke is a Japanese word, meaning open orchestra, referring to singing a track over a taped accompaniment. It’s still popular today and had a scene in the 90’s (who hasn’t been to a laid back gathering in someone’s apartment pregaming, so to speak, wherein a karaoke machine is on as someone chants “American woman, stay away from me,” during the 90’s, with a fish tank in your dwellings and the rest of it?). It’s popular in Japan if not as much anywhere else. I’ve never done karaoke. On an unrelated note it could all be a plot. Japan lost WWII. As an experiment Japan has its attitude today because of it. Their own art and literature, far from being in a Renaissance level of sophistication, is mostly a veneration to America’s own. So would you be any better immersing yourself in Japanese culture instead of your own? No. Even when you think you’ve had enough of it, running away to change your origins isn’t the answer. It is argued a sequential, chronological order is best. If you were going to read modern Asian arts it’s better if you read your own country’s works starting from the turn of the century. It’s thought Japanese studies only sharpen your samurai attitude, since when things get going there isn’t much room for an Otaku lifestyle. Needless to say I don’t particularly agree with that model of consciousness, because it doesn’t have much to do with the full, untapped potentials of the mind. The more art you’ve absorbed, or collected, the more historical frame of reference you could get, although it’s a hobby, and detracts time away from any science and actual work. Artists use real life ideas for science fiction and their created worlds.

Anyway, the story is about a Gelfling, small Elf-like creatures, named Jen, on a quest to discover the Dark Crystal’s secret and restore its light.

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The film was one of the fantastic wonders of the fantasy trend of the ‘80s of last century, together with Labyrinth and Legend. The story is a good enough tale, enough to be at least enjoyed by the children and boys of that generation. This version, by Marvel Books, summarizes quite enough the movie, and the drawings are fairly enough sufficient and remember that era, but for the canon of today they are just childish. All in all is however a great tale when you are young, good enough to be remembered, retold and transmitted along generations.

[Mya]

I'm using this comic book adaption of the movie as a place holder for the book we watched online.

The Dark Crystal (read along book and record)
Publisher: Henson and Associates, Inc (1982)
ASIN: B000XMFBUE

We watched it here:
part 1, http://www.56.com/u96/v_MTEyMjk3MzI1....
part 2, http://www.56.com/u51/v_MTEyMjk3NDU2....

[mary]

oops i forgot this existed, finally read part two. very lovely adaptation

[Valerie]

There are many characters in this story, including five (?four?--the Mystics and the Skekses are evidently Corsican brothers-type twins) types of people, and others which are of unspecified intelligence. The hero and foundation of the story, however, is the landscape/ecology. Brian Henson stated that his father was impressed by the paintings of Brian Froud, and first set up worldbuilding a complex and beautiful (if warped) cosmology, ecology, etc. Only after the settings and context were finished was the story added.

It's a fine story--but I always find my attention on details: the crystal bats, the tumbledog, the creatures in the Skeksis Alchemist's lab, Aughra's Orrery, Jen's pipe, Kira's beast mastery, the ruins of the Gelfling City, the secondary sexual characteristics of Gelflings, the Landstriders...

The actual story could be packed into a thimble or a 10-minute short film. I'd watch that--but what keeps me coming back is things like the Skeksis orgiastic feast, the rowboat ride through a lovely swamp, and other scintillations of a treasure chest of a world.

If I were called on to produce a sequel (or, say, a prequel from the heyday of the Gelflings), I'd start by elaborating the world and its settings--and only then work on a new facet of the history of the peoples of the world.

Until then, I'll just keep rewatching the original.

[David]

A well done comics adaptation of the film. It maintains a dark and somber tone and enhances some of the mystical/spiritual themes of the film. It also contains still photos and concept art from the film.