MISC. MANGA, *Legends Of The Dark Crystal

Before the current renaissance of comics and novels based on Jim Henson's gamechanging fantasy film, Tokyopop acquired the publishing rights to The Dark Crystal, as well as Labyrinth. Their installment was a prequel taking place at least a century prior to the movie. Split up into two volumes, The Garthim Wars, and Trial By Fire. A third volume was planned, but canceled, possibly due to publishers like Archaia Comics also sharing in the franchise.

Set on a far off planet, the world is ruled by the large bird-like Skeksis, who fear their rule may come to an end one day because of a prophecy claiming the peaceful Gelflings will bring about their downfall. The Skeksis send their giant insect-ish walking suits of armor called Garthim to attack two separate Gelfling villages, each one of which has a single survivor, the male shepherd Lahr, and sewing girl Neffi. The two meet up and head another Gelfling village in the mountains. The Gelflings form a defense against another Garthim horde by using their broken instruments as weapons, and a large net thought up by Neffi. This uprising causes waves in the Skekis hierarchy, giving Lahr and Neffi the opportunity to sneak into their castle in an attempt to free their remaining kidnapped people.

This manga-styled series fits finely in the continuity of the movie. Barbara Randall Kessel did an admiral job adapting the story into a prequel, and Heidi Arnhold with Max Kim crafted the look of Brian Froud's original designs. The only downside is that it was printed on off-white paper in manga-size, when the splendid artwork would have been more enjoyable in at least standard comic book dimensions and at a higher resolution. The series is currently now out of print, and not available legibly online, so you'll have to search some used book stores to try and dig up copies of this hidden gem.