In 1982, I went to the Bangor Opera House in Bangor, Maine, and watched The Dark Crystal.  I was transported.  I loved Fantasy and Science Fiction from the jump.  But this was special, and I knew it.  I was well aware of The Muppets and Jim Henson, but I don’t think I connected the dots between him and this film at the time.  I was like six, and not that clever.  I’ve loved the movie for all these years.  Borrowing a VHS recording of it from my dad, buying it on VHS when they did some nice retail edition in the 90s, and of course, getting it on DVD as soon as it was available.  I even upgraded to blu-ray.  When the NetFlix series came out, I had to watch it, and generally I enjoyed it.  I even picked up the extremely weird Creation Myths graphic novels and the tabletop RPG.  So, when I saw The Dark Crystal Bestiary, I had to pick it up.

This was produced around the time of the NetFlix series, and has a lot of characters and creatures from that, as well as the original film.  It also features some creatures from Creation Myths and The Power of the Dark Crystal, a comic series based on the premise of what was the originally planned sequel to the film.  Sadly, I missed that latter comic’s release, and it’s now going for collector prices on eBay, so I’ll have to keep my eye out in used book stores or something.  Whatever the case, it’s a lot of material to draw upon.  

The write-ups are by Adam Cesare, and they feel properly evocative.  I like that there’s a teetering balance between pastoral, almost naive sweetness and some dark, sometimes horrific bits.  That seems well in keeping with the original film, and with Jim Henson’s way of telling wonderfully heartwarming stories that didn’t shy away from dark realities.  

In a book like this, the star of the show is always going to be the art, and Iris Compiet’s work is phenomenal.  I love that it feels rooted in Brian Froud’s work, without being imitative.  That’s a tricky balance that I think she’s struck perfectly.  Some of the art was also used in The Dark Crystal Adventure Game, a roleplaying game I’ve reviewed here before, I still very much want to get to the table.  The creatures range from sort of goofy, to beautiful, to disgusting, and that’s perfect for this world.  

My two complaints about the book are, I guess, layout related.  One is the font that’s used throughout the book.  It’s a sort of typed cursive, that is just slightly too small, thin, or flowy for my eyes to see properly.  Granted, I probably need new glasses, especially for reading.  But it’s something to consider.  The other issue is the book’s organization.  It starts with the clans of Gelflings, then goes into the Skeksis and their Mystics counterparts.  No problem so far. We then get the protectors of Thra (the world of The Dark Crystal).  Three are unique, Aughra, Raunip, and Lore.  The last are the Podlings, who are almost like extreme Hobbits.  The rest of the book, almost a hundred pages, is made up of the “creatures of Thra.”  These entries are great, but confusingly, they’re not in any order I can figure.  There are many ways they might have been organized.  Alphabetically would be the most obvious.  By region might have worked.  Maybe even by era (the Age of Innocence, the Age of Power, etc.), as some seem to have died out while others didn’t really come onto the scene until a certain point.  But no.  As far as I can tell, there’s no order at all to the creature entries, and that leaves me scratching my head.  

Overall, this book is pretty much a must have for fans of The Dark Crystal or for folks who just enjoy fantastical bestiaries.  It’s always a thrill for me to return to Jim Henson’s world, a setting woven into the mental DNA of my own Conquest of the Sphere stories.  Back in the 90s, I had a strong desire to run a tabletop RPG in the world of The Dark Crystal.  Now there is an official RPG.  But even if I used a different game system, this bestiary will be an invaluable help.  

See my first look video here.

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