Every so often I troll youtube for Labyrinth clips, and today I found this lovely pencil animation and original comic book stills piece by Aiijuin. The Jareth and Sarah dancing scene looks absolutely beautiful! And the creator gives a shout out to the Return to Labyrinth manga at the end, which is incredibly humbling and encouraging. Thanks for sharing your work with us, Aiijuin!
It’s been a while since I shared any behind-the-scenes Return to Labyrinth writing dirt, so it’s high time I change that. Let’s talk about music, okay? After all, the music is one of the reasons why Labyrinth is such an enduring film. From the moment the Labyrinth manga series was just a seed of an idea, I knew that music would have to play a pivotal role. In Volume 1, I chickened out and left music to a merely instrumental role (which in a graphic novel means a few musical notes in the background). In volume 2, movie soundtrack lyrics pop up in two key scenes (one comic, one dramatic), and the Wiseman spouts classic rock wisdom. It isn’t until volume 3 that I took the plunge and dared put lyrics in Jareth’s mouth. It could be the best thing in the series, or the the thing that puts me on the outs with Labyrinth fans once and for all. Fingers crossed it’s more of the former.
My first pass on writing a Jareth song were decidedly silly. Those lyrics actually found their way into the “Goblin King’s Revenge” story, so most readers here have probably alread seen them. The song is decidedly broadway/Disney Musical in structure, which works in the context of the silly story it’s in now, but wouldn’t work for the decidely darker chapter that the final song appears in.
The final song, which you’ll have to wait until May to read, I’m afraid, is much more informed by Bowie (at least it is in my head). This is a song sung by the Jareth of “Within You,” only with longing that has crossed into resentment. It’s called “Shadows of a Dream” (which has nothing to do with this blog), and I hope you’ll like it in spite of the doujinshi-esque name. I wish I had the skills to set the lyrics to music. Maybe next year, some enterprising reader will do just that!
Volume 4 will have at least one musical number, this one inspired not by the Jareth/Sarah relationship, but by the nonsense logic of Lewis Carrol and M.C. Escher. It’s the manga equivalent of “Chilly Down.” I haven’t gotten farther than a few random notes, but hopefully I’ll figure out how to pull it together over the holidays. Of course, the lyrics are only half the challenge — somehow Chris will have to draw a chapter inspired by this:
Just to assure everyone that Return to Labyrinth volume 3 is still moving along, how about another look at the Schism from chapter 3– now fully toned! Compare it to the inked version here to get a sense for what a difference screentones make.
Also, if there is anyone else out there who is considering a Komodo Dragon as a pet (as a certain commenter once did), you should probably watch this before you make an errant wish (as, while highly illegal, giving a kid a a Komodo dragon is just the kind of mischievous wish a goblin king would grant!)
Time to get this out of the way. Yes, Return to Labyrinth volume 3 has been pushed back until May 2009, seven months past the original date, and yes, this absolutely sucks. This is just as disappointing for the folks who are working on the series as it is for those waiting to read it. Why is there a delay? I can accept some blame as I was late in turning in the script. Other than that, it isn’t my place to say as I am a freelance writer for hire. That said, it’s been a tough year behind the scenes for the publisher, Tokyopop, and considering how many series were cancelled or put on hold indefinitely, I’m very grateful that RtL has the full support of the publisher and Henson and will be completed in four volumes as intended.
As things have been a little out of control in the comments the past week (for which I largely blame myself for being so quiet of late), I want to make a few reminders:
This is the personal website of Jake T. Forbes, and he (being me) can only answer for the writing.
I understand people’s frustration (I have known no shortage of disappointment at seeing things I’ve been looking forward to delayed), but venting and demands aren’t going to change anything. Feel free to vent in the Venting post below, but if venting about release dates spills into other threads, I’m going to have to close comments.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Star Trek were also pushed back 6 months, so if you dilute your disappointment as I do, it doesn’t feel quite so bad. Look at it this way–you have one hell of a May to look forward to, right?
At least the delay isn’t as bad as the one for news on Power of the Dark Crystal!
Moving forward, I’m going to have to rethink how I approach Gobblin.net. I assumed that I’d only have a couple more months to tease about volume 3 before you’d all have copies and we could start discussing volume 4, but with the delay, obviously that all changes. I’ve brought up the possibility of hosting the first chapter of volume 3 online as a way to tide folks over during the wait – still waiting to hear if that’s a possibility. While it’s too early to discuss the contents, I’ll work out some kind of progress meter on the writing of volume 4 to help keep me stay on track. While the ultimate release date is out of my hands, I want to make sure I do my part to see that volume 4 comes out as soon as is humanly possible.
In the meantime, feel free to post any suggestions of things you’d like me to write about on Gobblin.net in the comments below.
I’ll be back soon with new posts and I’ll see what I can find out about the status of Vol. 3. In the meantime, I find that this video gets me through the day:
So for the past week I’ve been dabbling with the new MMO Warhammer Online (very polished and fun, I must sa–especially the Public Quests). When I finally got my Magus Moppet to the Inevitable City, who should I find hanging out in the Apex but lovable Skub! He seems to have undergone a bit of a face lift, though, and I was disappointed that not only is he sided with the forces of Destruction, but he’s a gambler! For shame, Skub. For shame!
I’m no stranger to fan fiction and even slash fiction, but after seeing the pairings in this article, even I winced. Lance Bass and the Weasley twins? Surely the Weasley Prankster need a firmer male hand to break them. Someone like Iggy Pop, who also happens to be a dead ringer for Filch, and would make for much better sparks!
With that in mind, here are three Labyrinth fan fic pairings which, to the best of my knowledge, remain untapped. Why?! These scenarios practically write themselves! (Were it not for certain disapproving glances, I’d write the first one right now!)
At long last, the Volume 3 cover art is ready to debut! Here we have the trio of baddies — Mizumi, Drumlin and Moulin of the Moraine Kingdom.
If the Return to Labyrinth quartet were a trilogy, I guess this would make volume 3 the Empire Strikes Back edition. In addition to an icy scene, there’s also a wrinkly mystic, so I think the comparison is apt. No gas mining pimp daddies, though. Does Toby lose an arm? You’ll have to wait and see!
Now on to the contest judging! Thanks so much to everyone who entered. To the folks who nominated Jareth and Sarah (re: EVERYBODY!)… er, not so much. At least not this time. There’s still one more volume to go
The prize has to go to “Sarah” who said:
The top right corner will have Mizumi watching over them all. I’m not sure on the colours. I’m thinking maybe a white and black colour scheme with a hint of other colours…
Several people mentioned Mizumi, but only Sarah called out her position on the page (did you raid the Hall of Prophecies?!), plus her color scheme was pretty close. In her honor, volume 4 will have a character named Sarah in it! You would think this contest was rigged! Fine, I’ll get in touch with “Sarah” about a more Gobliny name in her honor.
Thanks to Bryce and the folks at Henson for allowing me to post this preview.
Okay… so it seems like I overpromised and underdelivered on the volume 3 cover reveal timeline. In the meantime, as a monochrome consolation prize, here are a couple of thumbnails from later in the book. Where’s Toby running off to and what does Moulin have to say to him? Sorry, but you’ll have to wait to find out.:P
The “Analog Adventures” festival is now underway. I’d seen Labyrinth on the big screen last year when they ran a few copies around select screens to celebrate the 20th anniversary, but the Neverending Story I had never seen projected before. I remember the first time I saw it — it was over Christmas break and I was probably 7 or 8 and staying at my Aunt Donna’s house in Vacaville. After spending way to much time weighing my options, I selected the Neverending Story and Muppets Take Manhattan. I still remember feeling excited by Atreyu flying on Falcor, terrified by the Swamps of Sadness and Gmork and guilty about seeing the perfectly chiseled nipples of the sphinxes. Watching the film again for the fiirst time in about 5 years didnt disappoint. Sure, there a few awkward audio transitions, and moments of bad child acting and weirdness (like Bastian savoring his apple core?), but they only add to the overall charm. (And it was an amazing rush when the whole audience cheered at the introduction of Atreyu!) What a wonderful film.
A question for the Neverending Story diehards out there to debate — midway through the film, Bastian comments that they wish they’d let him pick the Childlike Empress’ name as his mom had the most wonderful name. Then, at the end, when he does yell out the name, you can lip read that he is mouthing “Moon Child” which is straight from the book (whereas, as far as I remember, the association with mom wasn’t). So was Bastian’s douchie dad married to a hippy, or is that a minor inconsistency?
