I know I’m a bit behind on the promised site relaunch, but it’s almost ready. A good labor day project, yes? The new banner art is almost ready, and I’m so excited to share it. No more free wordpress templets with Jareth slapped on top, nosiree. It’s time to class this joint up, from the banner down. New fiction, comics and commentary are coming soon. Stay tuned!
Here you are, patient readers – the final goblinology reports from the 38 fabulous entries I received last week. Once again, I wish I could have sent everyone who entered a signed book, but alas, as I’m sure my peers in the goblinology trade know, to dedicate one’s life to the cataloging of goblins (or Faeries, if you’ve got the stomach for the vermin) is to embrace a life of modest means. The satisfaction of a job well done is all we ask! Well, that and the occasional flask of owl wine.
It’s time for a fresh batch of Goblinology results. In case you mentioned the previous installments, here is the initial challenge, here are the top-five and here is the first bunch of runners up. Once again, I’m tickled by the talent on display by these amateur goblinologists. Distilling a creature’s name and history from a single picture is no small task, but these entries have done just that, each with its own unique flair.
Now that the fourth volume of Return to Labyrinth is out in the world, bringing the series to an end, you might be wondering what’s next for the series and for gobblin.net.
I’ll start with Return to Labyrinth, as that’s the easiest question to answer. With volume 4, the series is concluded. There definitely won’t be a volume 5. Whether or not there will be a continuation of any stories established here is entirely up to the Jim Henson Company. So is that it, then? Nothing more to say on the books? Not exactly.
If it were up to me, I’d love to see the books bound up in a 1 volume edition. After all, it’s a lot easier to keep it in stock at stores and libraries if there’s only one book to keep track of instead of 4 sequential volumes. In the event that that happens, I would love an opportunity to add back in a few “deleted scenes,” such as the musical number with the Tessellation Lizards, the “Second Door” from the penultimate chapter of volume 4, and the afore mentioned croquet scene that better established Moulin and Drumlin early on. I’ve got a stack of errors that slipped through, such as switched dialog balloons, sloppy sentences, inconsistencies, and a few oddball things like Sarah’s hair mysteriously going white in vol. 4 (if you were confused by that, I can assure you, I was too!) Maybe see about a new piece of cover art or other color illustrations too.
Will that happen? I don’t know. But I’ll keep you posted.
Now onto the website. For the past 3 years, I’ve run gobblin.net mostly as a Return to Labyrinth community site. I’m extremely grateful to everyone who’s visited, engaged, and contributed to some great discussions. Absolutely, I intend to keep blogging here, but Labyrinth will become less and less of a focus.
I’m also going to remove the discussion pages when I revamp the site. I’ll keep commenting until that day, and I’ll try to answer any specific questions that people might have. Why remove those pages? Quite simply, the Labyrinth universe belongs to the Jim Henson Company, and its fans. I consider myself one of the latter, and I did my services for the former, but the intersection of those roles is at an end. For the last three volumes, I’ve been sort of a one-man marketing machine on this series, on my own time and dime, because I believe in it and because I genuinely love to talk about Labyrinth with fellow fans of the film (even if sometimes we disagree in our interpretations). With this series wrapping up, I think it’s time to hang up my hat as a Labyrinth community manager and focus on talking about new stories.
I sincerely hope that Return to Labyrinth will spark discussion for years to come around the web. If you’re looking for a place to post your reviews, I encourage you to use amazon.com and goodreads. And if you have any questions about the books, you’re always welcome to email me at jakeforbes [at] gmail [dot] com. I’ll still post about Labyrinth when it’s relevant, and I hope you’ll continue to share your thoughts in the comments. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the only thing I personally consider “canon” in the Labyrinth world is the movie itself, with the novelization, art books and the manga series I wrote being part of an “expanded universe” to take as you will. That said, I’ll be thrilled if I come upon fan-fics or art featuring Moppet, Moulin, Skub or other characters that I had a part in creating. Whatever you take away from Return to Labyrinth, I hope you can enjoy it on its own terms without letting it detract from your own dreams.
So, for a few more days at least, business as usual. Just don’t be surprised if you come back to gobblin.net sometime next week and find Jareth missing from the banner. He and the rest of the Labyrinth gang will be in the archives… should you need them.
Fellow Fraggle writer Adrianne Ambrose, who wrote two stories in the first Fraggle Rock comics run, interviews me about Labyrinth, Fraggles and life at her blog. I hope you’ll check it out.
Meanwhile, at About.com’s manga page, Deb Aoki transcribes the Digital Piracy panel from San Diego Comic-Con at which I was one of 4 panelists. I think it was a great discussion and if you’re at all interested on the future of comics/manga on digital platforms, it’s definitely worth a read. It’s so long that she had to break it into part 1 here, and part 2 here. (It’s also your chance to see pictures of me slouching!)
Next week I’ll have another guest writer piece at a major blog that fans of Labyrinth and Return to Labyrinth won’t want to miss. Now it’s time for me to set up that volume 4 discussion page, eh?
When I put out the call for Goblinologists, 38 experts answered. While, regrettably, only five could receive prizes, it would be a travesty if I kept this creative treasure trove to myself. So here is the first batch of runners up. Thank you so much for entering, everyone. Sirs Jones & Froud would be proud.
Thirty-eight people entered the Goblinology contest and with so much creativity and whimsy on display, picking five wasn’t easy. No two names were alike, and only a couple of jobs were similar. Just about the only thing these entries had in common is that they were all VERY SILLY! Which is perfect, as any Goblinologist can tell you that silly is every goblin’s middle name (how it is that not one of these 38 otherwise meticulous goblinologists got that middle name right is beyond me). I wish I could send a copy of volume 4 to everyone who entered, but in the end, these are the five I selected. Read more…
It’s happening. The final volume of Return to Labyrinth is now on sale in bookstores around the country. Amazon orders shipped yesterday and comics retailers will have their stock out tomorrow with the rest of the new graphic novels. I’m sure many of you have already picked up a copy and are itching to talk about. Next week I’ll turn gobblin.net into a place to discuss, debate, and dissect Vol. 4 and the series as a whole. I’ll be happy to answer questions. This week, while the book trickles out to readers, I would like to keep gobblin.net a spoiler-free zone.
For those of you who are champing for a chance to chomp the newest book but for whatever reason can’t get a hold of a copy this week, there is one way you can score a free copy. I will send out 5 signed copies of return to Labyrinth this Friday, and all you have to do to win a copy is help me out with a little Goblinology.
What exactly is Goblinology? Well, it’s highly-scientific, that goes without saying! Basically, Goblinologists are experts and observing goblins and deducing their name, occupation and life story without ever touching, conversing with, folding, spindling or mutilating the goblin subject. There are skeptics who call even the very best Goblinologists brazen fabulists, liars and curs, and they might be right. But just because a Goblinologists observations are in no way grounded in facts doesn’t mean they can’t be true.
Anyway, to win one of FIVE SIGNED COPIES OF RETURN TO LABYRINTH VOLUME 4, all you have to do is come up with a name, occupation and other bit of lore for this yet unclassified gobblin specimen.
Is he a blacksmith? A florist? A dentist? Did he commit any grievous atrocities or is he a hero of the people? I haven’t a clue, but I’ll know it when I see it. After all, in Goblinology, there are no right or wrong answers — just various shades of truishness.
Send your goblin name and a brief goblin bio of this mystery specimen (no more than 200 words, please!) to gobblincontest [at] gmail [dot] com by Saturday 8/7, midnight PST. I’ll pick 5 of my favorite responses and send those lucky Goblinologists a signed book (and if you’re lucky, a Jareth sketch too!).
Feel free to post questions about the contest in the comments, but remember — only descriptions received by email will be considered.
Ever since gobblin.net debuted almost three years ago, this site has hosted dozens of preview pics from Return to Labyrinth. It’s hard for me to accept, but after this post, there will be no more previews. In just three more days, Return to Labyrinth volume 4 will be in stores, and with that volume, the series is over. More reflections on that point later. Right now, I just want to savor the anticipation a little longer.
Today’s preview features Sarah in a most unusual theater. (Even in comics form, it seems Jareth can’t help but mingle with puppets!) What happens here is just the beginning of what Jareth has in store for Sarah and this scene was one of my favorite ones to write.
While this is the last preview picture on gobblin.net, that doesn’t mean there won’t be new Labyrinth art here. I’ll still have previously unseen sketches and interior art in the months to come. And soon, I hope, you’ll find preview art here for other series as well. For now, I hope you’ll savor the anticipation with me for one more weekend.
When you’re at ground zero in the seething maelstrom of hype and nerdgasms that make up the Comic-con’s main floor, it can be tough for a small publisher to stand out, but this year Archaia came out strong as a major force in the comics world with a booth that drew readers in droves. Their tentpole title for 2010: Fraggle Rock! The first volume, collected in hardcover, debuted over a month early at the show to brisk sales and rave reviews. In the event that you’re a Fraggle fan and you missed your chance to pick it up in San Diego, amazon.com has quite a consolation prize — the book is on pre-order at 49% off the cover price. That makes it cheaper than Return to Labyrinth vol. 4, plus this one is in color and hardcover. (How exactly does that work?)
At the Henson panel on Sunday, Archaia announced the full partial lineup of creators involved with the next Fraggle Rock series. That Return to Labyrinth artist Chris Lie and I are contributors is not news, but knowing who our respective partners are is. (“are is” — is that even a proper sentence?) Chris will be drawing the lead story, written by Grace Randolph, fresh off her successful run on Muppet Peter Pan. Also coming up in volume 2, a story by Joe LeFavi. Chances are, you don’t know Joe yet because this is his debut published work as a writer, but if you read Return to Labyrinth, you absolutely know his work. He’s been my story editor for the last two volumes, providing invaluable notes on my scripts in his former capacity as the head of publishing development at the Henson company. Joe’s since launched his own entertainment company, but he’s still working with Henson to ensure that the licensed stories like Labyrinth, Fraggles and Dark Crystal stay true to the Henson legacy. A greater Henson fan and expert you’ll never find. His story is illustrated by Heidi Arnhold, illustrator of the Legends of the Dark Crystal books. Small world!
The story that I wrote, titled “The Ghastly Stain,” is one of the two backup stories in the issue. It will be illustrated by Mark Simmons, someone I’ve known for close to a decade as “Mark the Gundam Guy,” as he’s worked with Bandai as script editor and keeper of the Gundam Official website ever since the venerable giant robot series debuted in the US. I didn’t realize until last year that Mark is also an incredible artist in his own right. Check out his webcomic series “Blood Bite of the Death Dragon” for a taste of his work.
The second Fraggle Rock series debuts this fall.
One other bit of news that came out of the Henson panel, Archaia will be releasing a graphic novel adaptation of an unfilmed Jim Henson screenplay entitled A Tale of Sand. This screenplay, co-written with writing partner Jerry Juhl, was created early in Henson’s career as a filmmaker and is an experimental story reminiscent of the best Twilight Zone episodes. The screenplay will be adapted word-for-word, making this the first Henson-written story to be released since his passing. Lisa Henson will be overseeing the graphic novel’s creation. I confess, I got chills when this project was announced and I can’t wait to find out who Archaia tapped to illustrate it.
Archaia did talk about The Dark Crystal comic. Concept artist Brian Froud will be providing the story and art direction, but he won’t be writing or drawing it himself. It’s going to be a prequel that explores the origins of the Dark Crystal. Augra’s heretofore unseen son will feature prominently. To hear Froud talk about the Crystal, it all sounds very cosmic and mind-bending. I can’t wait to check it out! As for Labyrinth, no details from Archaia yet about how they’ll be approaching that property.
