The Story of THE DARK CRYSTAL Will Continue in New Comic Book Series
After over thirty years, Jim Henson and Frank Oz's classic fantasy film The Dark Crystal is getting a sequel! It will be in the form of a comic book mini-series called The Power of the Dark Crystal. It's being published by Boom! Studios from an unproduced script that was written years ago.
The Jim Henson Company announced in 2005 that they would be developing The Power of the Dark Crystal as a feature film. At one point, Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack) was attached to the project, but nothing has ever happened with it. Apparently, it's been in very slow development. Maybe they hope that this comic will help spark some new interest in the project and give it the boost it needs to get the movie made.
The comic will be 12 issues long and the story is set decades after events of 1982's The Dark Crystal. It follows "Jen and Kira distracted by the pressures of ruling Thra and no longer in touch with the needs of the people — which provokes a Fireling called Thurma to set out to steal a shard of the Dark Crystal with which she intends to restore power to her realm. Unfortunately, that mission might also restore the Skeksis, as well…"
Lisa Henson, President and CEO of the Jim Henson Company, had this to say in a statement:
“The creativity that went into writing and designing the feature film was such that we wanted our fans to be able to see and enjoy it now through this comic book series. We are very proud of the story that the screenwriters David Odell, Annette Odell, and Craig Pearce wrote. Our partners at Archaia and BOOM! Studios are the only people we could trust to expand and illustrate the story, and we are thrilled that it will soon see the light of day!"
I grew up with The Dark Crystal in my life. This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and I've been wanting to see the story continue since I first saw the movie! I don't know if we'll ever get a movie, but at least we'll get to read the story that it will tell!
The first issue of The Power of the Dark Crystal will be released digitally and in comic stores on February 15, 2017. It will launch in celebration of the movie's 35th anniversary.