Last we heard, that long-rumoured Labyrinth movie reboot was still in the works despite the fact that there will never be anyone who can replace David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King. Even if the folks at Sony aren’t able to find a suitable successor to Bowie’s throne, a new comic is on its way to answer the burning questions we all still have about the Goblin King.
Image: Boom! Studios
Today, Boom Studios announced that its Archaia imprint is putting out an ongoing Labyrinth comics series chronicling the Jareth’s life before he was a king. The story, written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Daniel Bayliss, will travel back through time and follow Jareth when he was a mere human living in 18th century Italy. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Jim Henson’s daughter, Lisa – head of the Jim Henson Company – said that the new series will explain how Jareth arrived in the Labyrinth and how a human could come to rule an entire kingdom of goblins.
When asked about how much the new series would attempt to channel Bowie’s spirit, Spurrier described how Labyrinth will build towards the Goblin King’s persona that we saw in the film, while also exploring areas of his identity and history that haven’t been introduced before.
Said Spurrier:
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.
The Labyrinth comic’s premise sounds more than cool until you realise that it’s a series of stories Jareth is regaling the infant Toby with at some point during the original Labyrinth film. One imagines that whatever stories Jareth might have can’t be suitable for a child, but we’ll have to wait until February of next year to find out.
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10 responses to “Boom Studios’ New Labyrinth Comic Will Explore The Goblin King’s Origins”
You remind me of the babe…..
What babe?
The babe with the power.
What power?
power of Voo-Doo
Who do?
Who do?
I just know Jared Leto will get this role, I’m not sure how i feel about that.
I know how I feel about it – Terrified.
Jared Leto is Universally Shit.
Wasn’t it all just a dream? Or is me just over the nostalgia business.
I can live with Leto as the goblin king, but I will not abide Tim Burton. They should give the director’s chair to Katsuhiro Otomo. THAT would be something…