This is really a terrific series for us children of the 80s. The backstory is so cool! ( )

This book takes what was seeded in the first book and weaves it into the Cracking of the Crystal.

It serves as a nice mirrored tale to the movie, the movie plot in reverse with negative themes. This is really pleasnt much of the time but is conversely aggravating as the story sometimes drops into over-constrained fan-service at times (Kira's quip about wings in the movie was a sledgehammer of wit to a young me, but here it seems a weak callout to the audience. There's even a dreamfasting sequence that goes exactly where you'd expect it to.)

This being said, the dynamic of Aughra's role in the world and the nature of the Urskeks has become complex. The crystal's cracking (and the urskek's fall from grace is tragic in a compelling and frustrating way, if not necessarily a morally reductive one.) The potential of the Podling race is shown here, having had but a brief set of cameos in the movie. Once again, the beauty (and menace) of the world and its flora/fauna fluidity is demonstrated effectively. I'm really curious where the story of Aughra's son is going to lead, and evaluations of his character become even murkier.

I've heard the third and final volume got cancelled, which is a tragedy because I really want to know how this story will end up. ( )

These are cool but I think a lot of it just comes from the N word (nostalgia). I watched the movie a couple years ago and remember thinking it definitely wasn't as great as I remember it being. Definitely visually stunning but kind of boring.

I'm not really a huge Froud fan. His style's a little to mushy for me. I tend to like hard lines and intense colors.

I really enjoyed the afterword. It gave a glimpse into Henson's life during the making of the movie and some cool movie facts. ( )

The second part of this comic prequel to Jim Henson's wonderful "The Dark Crystal" shows the cataclysmic event that created the two battling races (Skeksis and Mythics), and how at least one character from the movie played a significant role in that.

The story is wonderful and fits right in with the mythology from the movie, expanding upon it without ruining it. The artwork however, while still very nice, is not as stellar as could be expected -- I wonder what someone like René Hausman could have done.

But the real gem is in the dozen or so pages at the end of this gorgeous hardcover book: a behind the scenes look at how the movie came to be as told by David Odell, one of the writers of the movie. It is a fact-filled exposé, full of delightful stories. ( )