Return to Labyrinth Volume 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]

Jake T. Forbes (Author), Chris Lie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Return to Labyrinth | Publication Date: August 8, 2006

After having survived his initial visit, Toby has returned home and has grown up. As he has grown he has noticed that many things have come very easily to him, even when under pressure. Little does he know that Jareth, the Goblin King, has been looking

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598167251
• ISBN-13: 978-1598167252
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jake T. Forbes freelance writer and erstwhile manga editor who has covered, created and curated tales of the fantastic for the past ten years. His ongoing original graphic novel series, Return to Labyrinth, has been a sleeper hit in the manga/YA graphic novel scene, with the latest volume landing at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list. In 2003, he managed the editorial side of Tokyopop's "manga revolution," the transition to serialized graphic novels published the Japanese way that spurred the "manga boom" that has been a publishing phenomenon ever since. As Senior Editor at Tokyopop and Editorial Director at GoComi, and as a freelancer for VIZ Media, DC Comics' CMX imprint and Marvel Comics, Jake has edited or adapted over 400 volumes of comics from Japan, Korea and France including Fullmetal Alchemst, Fruits Basket and Chobits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Labyrinth fans, stay far, far away., December 30, 2006

By 

Feytaline (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return to Labyrinth Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

When I heard rumors of a Labyrinth sequel, my ears perked up. What? Now? WHERE WHERE WHERE? I have been a huge Labyrinth fan since I first saw it years ago--and I still consider it my favorite movie of all time. The Jim Henson Company's puppetry, Brian and Wendy Froud's amazing goblins, David Bowie's ridiculous tightpants... I loved it all. Well, maybe the pants not so much.

I love manga as well, so I was really excited. I was a little peeved when I heard the cover artist was not the same as the inside one--the only reason to do that, I still hold, is because the inside art is lacking something. Oh, and lacking it is. To call the art 'amateur' is a compliment. This is Amerimanga at its worst, generic lines, generic character designs, backgrounds that are as bold as characters--and mutilated goblins that look nothing like Froud's work.

The story was what really made me angry. Instead of following in the typical vein of the Labyrinth, a story about coming of age that may or may not have literally happened, this story centers on Toby, EmoKid Extraordinaire. He's spoiled, he's selfish, he has absolutely no redeeming qualities. While Sarah was selfish, she was at least imaginative. Speaking of Sarah, the lovely girl with dreams is gone. In her place is a depressed SCHOOLTEACHER, who tells Toby to give up on dreams. THIS is supposed to be the future that Sarah won to create for herself? This is what was most insulting about this manga--it assumes that her better choice WOULD have been to take Jareth's offer!

Jareth completely ignores Sarah. That's not so impossible to believe, but he's a little too interested in Toby, in the vein that teenage girls squeal and drool over. To me, this isn't Labyrinth. It's fanservice to the wrong genre.

The original characters made me groan as much as the lack of coherent storytelling. We have the typical 'woe is me' girl who of course Toby's going to rescue, and we need no magic ball to show us that, 'goth' girls with bad personalities to match their bad fashion sense (and designs), and a goblin with a mean temper--not like the original vision, where goblins were not specifically cruel, just stupid and gross. Of course we can't forget the generic Ebil Fairie Queen who is placed as Jareth's nemesis, or her dastardly plot to get him to MARRY. No, not generic at all.

This plot reads like a badly written fanfiction. It doesn't follow things clearly, and there are times when it seems like twelve new characters are being introduced and 'developed' with two or three panels. There's no hint of what's actually going on, there's no solving of the Labyrinth. It supposedly takes place in it, but there's no tribute to it--it's merely a stage for a teenage fanfic to take place on, given shape by the occasional background drawing.

To be honest, I felt very insulted when I finished reading this book. They slapped on the Labyrinth name to something that just isn't the quality of the original--making money off of fans by using the title. The thing is, I am honestly not judgemental about sequels. I do give everything a fair chance. I gave this a fair chance, and I am disgusted. I refer to it as a bad fanfic--I've read ones written by 15 year olds that read better than this. And I'm sure you will, too.

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware! Beware! Go no Further! Stay Away! These aren't false alarms, pay attention!, January 26, 2007

By 

Anne-Marie Gilliland (Near D.C., USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return to Labyrinth Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

I read this after having been warned of its awfulness--just to satisfy my own curiousity. It took all of an hour to complete the torture. The cover is about the only redeeming thing to this work. There is a weird attraction between Jareth and Toby (I'm not against gay themes, but I feel it has no place when Jareth clearly had more fatherly tendencies towards Toby when he was an infant)

They've turned Sarah into a dowdy woman who wears glasses and doesn't beleive in magic or anything like it anymore (possibly the greatest crime). The illustrations are terrible, nothing like the artwork that is associated with the original movie from Brian Froud.

It does read like a really AWFUL fanfic, and this is only part 1 of 3, I can only hope this somehow gets fixed in the next two installments but my hope is slim.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Labyrinth? Not quite.., January 10, 2007

By 

F. Wallace "mediantomb" (Northern Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return to Labyrinth Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

Let's just say that I had higher hopes for this american-made-manga-wannabe, and it just did not deliver.

Allow me to begin my complaints with the cover. For much of the reasons stated previosuly by others, I was put off horribly when I found that the cover artist was not in fact the actual manga artist. Why does this matter? Because the cover is beautiful while the inside looks as if it were drawn by amateur rather than a professional. Labyrinth deserves far more respect, the art of Brian Froud deserves to be honored rather than cheapened. And trust me, the artist in this did Froud no justice. The illustrations reminded me more of a Sunday paper funny rather than a novel. Which would have been fine, but Sunday funnies don't cost $10 a pop. Far more is expected when it comes to manga, even if it really isn't made in Japan. The art should at least properly reflect the medium, the cover did, which just made it worse almost tricking a purchaser into buying it.

The storyline shows small promise I was fine with Toby being the main character. I'm even somewhat interested in learning more about how he handles the situation. But what happened to Sarah? I'll leave it at that.

My review may seem harsh but I've loved the film from my very early years, til even now, far too much to really count this story as part of them. I'll be sure to read the next one (if there is a next one) in the book store before I blow my money again.