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The Power of the Dark Crystal #1 Review

Comic Books

The Power of the Dark Crystal #1 Review

I was very excited to see there was going to be a continuation of Dark Crystal. This is one of my all-time favorite movies–in fact, I love it so much I have tattoo of the time spiral used by Aughra to foretell the coming of the Great Conjunction (You can see it in my previous article How Nerdy is Your Ink?).

The Power of the Dark Crystal #1 (BOOM! Studios)

The Power of the Dark Crystal #1 Review

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The Power of the Dark Crystal will be a twelve issue series written by Simon Spurrier. It picks up one hundred years after the shard has been replaced and the crystal has been healed. This message is reinforced three times in the opening pages and quite frankly it became a little annoying by page three. I get it–the crystal was healed. This comic is based upon screenplays for the sequel which could account for the three pages of “the crystal was healed”. Perhaps Craig Pearce, Annette Duffy or David Odell were thinking of a multiple scene montage with a narrator and this was the best way to convey their vision into a comic.

If you recall from the movie, when the crystal is healed the two connected races, Skeksis and UrRu Mystics rejoin as one race, the UrSkeks. The Mystics are a peaceful race that represent logic, science and a simplistic approach to life. The Skeksis are the evil counterparts of the UrRu Mystics. They are vain and greedy. The UrRu Mystics and the Skeksis represent the two sides of human nature, kindness and giving versus greed and vanity. It is the new race the UrSkeks that guards the palace and the crystal in the sequel.

ThePowerOfTheDarkCrystal_001_7

For those of you wondering, Jen and Kira are still alive. They are considered royalty and rule complacently. In fact, they are asleep for the majority of this issue with Fizgig on their laps. I guess I would sleep as often as possible if I were 100+ years old too. The crystal has become monetized. The guards screen visitors for an offering in return for a moment with the crystal. Does anyone else see this as a problem? Didn’t they learn from the Skeksis greed?

Aughra is back and as feisty as ever. She plays a small role in this issue but her tenacity is evident in her few lines. I expect we will see quite a bit from Aughra in future issues; as she is the only one who sees the new arrival of a Fireling as a foretelling. Good or bad? It’s too early to tell. What we do know is the Fireling needs to save her world and she needs a bit of the crystal to heal it.

ThePowerOfTheDarkCrystal_001_11

The art is beautiful. Kelly and Nichole Mathews color palettes are matched perfectly for each scene, whether we are viewing the castle’s landscape from above or the tunnels underneath. There is a beautiful play of contrasting colors between the light of the Fireling and the cavernous tunnels. The whimsy and imagination of Thra and its inhabitants comes through in each of the drawings. One panel that particularly stood out to me was the Firefast. The Firefast is vibrantly colored. The orange, yellow and brown hues depict the underground fiery core of their world. The juxtaposition of crystals and the overhanging cliff create an interesting visual that carries your eye from one memory to the next.

Did I like it? This is a fantastic tribute to the original. Readers will be swept up in the beauty and mystery of Thra and its inhabitants all over again.

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