The Jim Henson Company has partnered with TOKYOPOP Inc., the #1 publisher of manga in the U.S., in an exclusive manga publishing deal to bring three of its fantasy titles to fans. Most notable among them is MirrorMask, the feature film from Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman due for release on September 30th of this year. TOKYOPOP’s MirrorMask prequel manga will be plotted by Gaiman, the award-winning writer of the highly successful Sandman comics as well as the novels Good Omens and Coraline. Also included in the deal will be all-new original graphic novel series for the immensely popular properties The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
The MirrorMask prequel will tell the story of the princess' escape from the Dark Palace and how she came to acquire the MirrorMask.
TOKYOPOP also plans to release a sequel manga to Labyrinth, which first hit the big screen in 1986, remained a fan favorite over the years and also served as an inspiration for MirrorMask. Its manga version will follow 13-year-old Toby as he journeys back to the Labyrinth to assume his role as the heir to the Goblin Kingdom. Manga writer Jake Forbes will write this series.
The final title will be a prequel to 1982’s The Dark Crystal, the classic tale of good versus evil that broke ground as the first fully animatronic feature. Henson also recently announced that it is in preproduction on a sequel theatrical film of this cult classic.
