The past few weeks have featured one highly anticipated return and the start of a pair of new comics series that tie into a couple of geektastic film and television properties. If you haven’t already added these three titles to your pull list online or at your local comic shop, now is the time to do so!
Up first is the return of one of my favorite titles, The Stuff of Legend. The last new The Stuff of Legend comic released (discounting any Free Comic Book Day reprints and preview/hype issues) was all the way back in June 2013. The first issue of volume five, “A Call to Arms,” picks up where the previous installment left off all those years ago, with a young boy from World War II-era Brooklyn and his faithful–and sometimes traitorous–toys caught in the clutches of the Boogeyman in the villain’s realm of The Dark, which exists inside the boy’s closet.
While non-readers of the series might be quick to compare The Stuff of Legend to Pixar’s Toy Story, the only thing the two properties have in common are sentient toys. The Stuff of Legend is not child’s play. The comic series explores themes of heroism, survival, honor, and sacrifice from the point of view of a band of toys on a rescue mission to free their owner in a story that has more in common with one of Grimm’s original fairy tales than any Disneyfied animated version of such stories.
As Allied forces fight the enemy on Europe’s war-torn beaches, another battle begins in a child’s bedroom in Brooklyn when the nightmarish Boogeyman snatches a boy and takes him to the realm of The Dark. The child’s playthings, led by the toy soldier known as the Colonel, band together to stage a daring rescue. On their perilous mission they will confront the boy’s bitter and forgotten toys, as well as betrayal in their own ranks. The Stuff of Legend is a haunting and ultimately redemptive tale of loyalty, camaraderie, and perseverance.
The Stuff of Legend Volume V: “A Call to Arms” #1 is available in print and digital format today.
New from Boom! Studios is the Steven Universe ongoing series. The Cartoon Network series is a big hit in my house and remains family appointment viewing whenever new episodes air. My son checks out fan theories online while my girls run around singing songs like “Stronger Than You” all the time. Phrases from the series have made it into my family’s shared language.
The comic series follows Steven and his adventures with the Crystal Gems as they protect the earth from evil, tyrannical gem beings from outer space and their terrestrial creations. Set in roughly the same time period as the most recently aired episodes, the comic will feature mini side-adventures, leaving the major plot reveals to the television series.
We're bringing Steven Universe back to comic books with more Steven, more gems, and more of the characters we all love in an all-new ongoing series! Writer Melanie Gillman (As the Crow Flies) and artist Katy Farina (The Amazing World of Gumball) are teaming up for the start of a new adventure for the entire gang. Based on Cartoon Network's Emmy Award-nominated animated series created by Rebecca Sugar about a boy with magical powers who goes on adventures with The Crystal Gems, a team of beings who safeguard the universe. The show is approaching its fourth season and has earned over 32 million fans of all ages worldwide.
If your family loves Steven Universe, you can pick up the first issue of the ongoing comic series today in print and digital format.
Having grown up geek in the 1980s, one of my favorite fantasy films of the era was Jim Henson’s spectacularly weird The Dark Crystal. Rumors of a sequel materialized then fizzled out over the years, particularly whenever we’d near a milestone anniversary of the film’s theatrical release. This year, coinciding with the film’s 35th anniversary, Boom! Studios is releasing the limited series The Power of the Dark Crystal to serve as the official comic sequel to the film.
Set hundreds of years after the events depicted in the film, The Power of the Dark Crystal introduces a fiery new race of beings who believe that the only way to save their dying planet is by shattering the Dark Crystal that Jen and Kira reunited in the film. If you’ve ever considered revisiting the world of Gelflings, Skeksis, and Mystics, then this is your chance to find out what happened once the Dark Crystal was made whole.
In celebration of the 35th anniversary of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal, return to the world of Thra in an official sequel to the beloved fantasy film. Discover an all-new race of creatures called Firelings that live in a realm near the planet’s core, based on official character designs by Brian Froud. Years have passed since the events of the original film, and though Jen and Kira have ruled Thra as King and Queen, bringing Gelfling back to the land, they have become distracted by power and can no longer feel or see the needs of the world the way they once did. Thurma is a young Fireling tasked with stealing a shard of the Dark Crystal to restore power to her realm. Along the way she’ll befriend the young Gelfling Kensho, bring back the Skeksis and Mystics, and embark on one incredible adventure.
The Power of the Dark Crystal is available today in print and digital format.
