Return to Labyrinth: Volume 2

[Belladonna]

Okay--Spoiler Warning: I assume z0ecool has read volume two so I can reply to her comment. Anyone else who hasn't (I assume everyone has since this is a thread specifically dedicated to Volume 2), please don't read the following! The following spoils a lot of the events in volume 2. If you have NOT gotten around to reading it, please DON'T read the following and go to your local B&N or Border or anime shop and pick it up!

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i hate to say it but i'm not impressed with the comics they focus on toby and in fact toby was a baby in the film so how would he know who jareth was or even if he got wished away

Well, it never really says that he knows who Jareth is. He spends a whole lot of time confused. In the first volume he has no idea who Jareth is. He ends up there, but really doesn't know what is going on. He's just after his homework. Then, when he meets Hoggle, Didymus and Ludo (albeit briefly *pouts*), he doesn't get how they would know his sister.

The most telling, of course, is the Museum of Toby in volume two. I think they could've had Toby react more, but he still reacted shocked and incredulous at seeing a museum for himself. He even says he has no memory of any of this. The most powerful moment there is when he and Moppet are looking at the mural of baby him and Jareth (that was really freakin' cool!), and just can't begin to fathom how he is connected to this place. Sarah never told him anything (for obvious reasons--even if he believed her as a child, I would feel bad telling my little brother about how I wished him away and the Goblin King stole him--don't want to give him that kind of trauma!), so he can't imagine what's going on or how he's connected to it.

The most interesting part (which is where I think your main problem will be resolved) is when Toby realizes Moppet looks like Sarah. Even if up to this point his been denying Sarah's association with everything that's happening to him (which he has), he CAN'T ignore the fact that Moppet is an inverted replica of his sister. And a Sarah that's about his age. He's all like O_O;; holy moly.

With the end of volume 2, I can safely say that there's going to be a whole lot more going on with Sarah and Jareth. The story may revolve around Toby, but Toby is still a catalyst for Jareth's ultimate plan. Of which (by volume two) we have kind of deduced has to deal with Sarah. *wide grin*

 

[z0e2cool]

oh okay thanks for clearing that up

 

[Belladonna]

oh okay thanks for clearing that up

No problem! I think what they're doing is pretty interesting--given though, I am more interested in the parts with Jareth and Sarah and with Toby... XP

But I do like Moppet.

 

[Monsoon]

Update for Volume 3

http://www.gobblin.net/2008/01/08/talking-heads-a-return-to-labyrinth-vol-3-update/#more-133

 

[tanuki]

I'm glad they're giving sneak peeks at Vol.#3. Apparently it won't be in stores till fall of this year!

 

[cabbageheat]

Well, I just finished Vol 1 and 2 over the weekend, a fairly quick read. I would agree, once again, with the majority opinion on this new look and story direction Tokyopop has taken a classic.

I don't know exactly what to say about it. Sometimes it hit the right note, other times it was off in nevernever land. Silly things, like Fraggle Rock intros was a bit too much, and really took me out of the story, yet sometimes the writers managed to snag the right comedic elements and story beats. And, the idea of "other" kingdoms, in the realm of the Labyrinth, just simply didn't sit with me. I enjoyed the Labyrinth for what it was, a journey. Not one kingdom, in the midst of others. This begs the very question as to why we needed to go back to it in the first place. To me, and I will go to my grave with this, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth are the two most original films I've sat through in my lifetime, and never felt warranted for a sequel, or prequel or anything else. They've always stood so firm on their own. I've been curious as to what could come after, I will admit, but as I sat through, reading these books, then reading the prequel to TDC via the Garthim Wars, I'm not sure I really want any more from these stories. Why? They simply do not live up to whats come before them.

I give the writers a gold star for their efforts, but these are stories that simply don't need expansion. I know we've been over the manga style, and I for one don't care for it, and it simply does not fit the Henson universe, what-so-ever. The books did lack detail, and felt very amateurish at best. But I guess you have to start somewhere right?

Will I get volume 3? yes. I want to finish the story (I just got all these volumes for about 4 bucks brand new, so they haven't been terribly expensive) but these volumes are hard for me to swallow as Labyrinth cannon. Henson can stamp their seal of approval on these. . I for one, just can't.

 

[RedPiggy]

Silly things, like Fraggle Rock intros was a bit too much, and really took me out of the story, yet sometimes the writers managed to snag the right comedic elements and story beats.

Well, it gave me really neat fanfic ideas...

And, the idea of "other" kingdoms, in the realm of the Labyrinth, just simply didn't sit with me. I enjoyed the Labyrinth for what it was, a journey. Not one kingdom, in the midst of others.

I think they were going for a "Neverending Story"-type vibe, where all cliche lands are all stuck in the same universe.

They've always stood so firm on their own. I've been curious as to what could come after, I will admit, but as I sat through, reading these books, then reading the prequel to TDC via the Garthim Wars, I'm not sure I really want any more from these stories. Why? They simply do not live up to whats come before them.

It's a little fan-fic-y (is that even a word) for me, but hey, I like fanfics, so what do I know? The problem I had, with Labyrinth, at least, is that unlike TDC, it didn't seem as fleshed out with its own mythology. I think the manga's trying to create that. There has been talk on imdb.com about how there WAS no backstory to the Labyrinth until Sarah "freed" Jareth from her imagination, but I like to think we're just now getting a window in what was really never mentioned before. No one in the movie had a real reason for doing anything, except maybe the Fierys, but they just party and don't NEED motivation.

 

[cabbageheat]

Yes. It did feel like a "neverending story" treatment idea, that is for sure. I think that is one of the things that turned me off on it, it felt like it was borrowing too much from other fantasies we've already seen.

I could go on and on about this, and won't here, the last thing we need is another book on this subject, but, I stand by my earlier comments. It just felt, overall, very amateurish, and the feminine, manga/japan anime simply doesn't fit the world that Froud (the farthest from that style) and Henson created over 20 years ago. Too many characters fell flat, looked the same, and all looked like they were females. It was too easy to get confused on gender, and overall character design, since most of them looked exactly the same. Also, the pixelated look of the panels was a bit off putting, and some panels seemed to garnish many details, while a majority of them fell flat, stiff and almost unfinished. I guess what I"m trying to say here is. . I expected better quality. Much better. Also, I guess this is just me, but. . I really expected "color" too, the B&W images just don't do it for me.

But hey, they're out, here to stay, and supposedly cannon, so what can you do? I still feel the movie, should have just been left alone, it stood so well on its own mythology, and simply did not need any expansion. Some classics, just need to be left alone these days.