Hearing that we’re going to get an origin about The Goblin King from ‘Labyrinth‘ initially had me more than worried. However, hearing that it is going to have art by Daniel Bayliss and, more importantly, be written by Simon Spurrier has me wanting this to come out right now. The comic is set to be released by Archaia which is an imprint of Boom! Studios and will give us a close up view as to how David Bowie‘s iconic character came to be.

The 1986 hit had Jareth the Goblin King kidnap Toby who is the baby brother of Jennifer Connely’s character Sarah. She has to travel through the Labyrinth to try and save him. What we’ll be seeing in the comic series is a focus on what Jareth is doing during this time frame and part of it is spent not watching Sarah but telling a bit about how he came to be the ruler of the Labyrinth to Toby. We’ll also be meeting Jareth’s parents who were from 18th-century Venice which should give you an idea of just how long he’s been living here.

According to Lisa Henson, the daughter of Jim, and CEO and President of The Jim Henson Company:

“It’s the backstory of how Jareth came to be in the Labyrinth himself. The Goblin King, he’s not a goblin, he’s human. Many people have asked, ‘Well, how did he get there?’ So, that’s something that we thought we would explore.”

With The Jim Henson Company involved, that gives hope for the continuity of the comic. However, Spurrier is one of my all-time favorite comic book writers and according to him:

“We’re sort of having our cake and eating it. The ‘Bowie form’ version of the character is very much present in our story. But there’s a huge amount of stuff about the people who loved him and he loved. What happened to them? How did this all shake out? How did he come to be who he is? I hope that by exercising both sides of that picture, as well as leaning into all the other amazing things that are fantastic about the Labyrinth as a concept, we should hopefully get our Bowie itch scratched while also enjoying the fantastical, surreal wonder of this world.”

Looks like we’ll be getting more than a single slice of the Labyrinth if we’re getting the whole cake! I’m wondering what other characters might end up being referenced and suspect that I’ll be giving the film another once over prior to the comic being released.

There is no word if the previously mentioned spinoff is still in the works or has potentially transitioned into this comic instead.

Are you looking forward to ‘Jim Henson’s Labyrinth’? Do you feel that exploring the history of Jareth the Goblin King will take away from Bowie’s iconic character or add to it? Share your thoughts below!

‘Jim Henson’s Labyrinth’ #1 will go on sale in February of 2018!

Source: Entertainment Weekly