BY: Chris Lie, Jake T. Forbes

The Goblin King has kept a watchful eye on Toby, his minions secretly protecting the child... Legions of goblins work behind the scenes to ensure that Toby has whatever his heart desires, preparing him for the day when he will return to the Labyrinth and take his rightful place beside Jareth as the heir to the Goblin Kingdom...

That day has come...

But no one has told Toby.

Jareth, the Goblin King – The mysterious Jareth doesn’t particularly like ruling over goblins—it’s just the role he’s always had. Still striking in appearance and demeanor, lately Jareth has been keeping to himself, and there are whispers of a strange ailment afflicting him.

Hana – A faerie who lost her wings. She’s feisty with a short fuse. In order to keep pace with her larger companions, she rides on top of a furry little creature named Stank.

Skub – A small, pudgy goblin with a squished, pig-like face, Skub was one of the Goblins sent to find Toby, and he’s latched onto him, serving him obsequiously.

Moppet – A human girl who has lived in the Labyrinth for as long as she can remember. Because she looks different from all of the goblins around her, she feels insecure and tries to hide her human features with a poorly made goblin mask on her nose and a wig.

Spittledrum – A pompous Goblin bureaucrat who for years has handled the day-to-day affairs of the Labyrinth while Jareth played his games. When Jareth announces his retirement, Spittledrum assumes that the crown would fall to him.

Candlewic – An elite goblin warrior. As far as goblins go, he’s quite handsome, but he’s allied with Spittledrum.

Mizumi, the Queen of Cups – Mizumi is the Queen of the Kingdom of Moraine, a neighboring kingdom to Jareth’s realm. However, while Moraine is vast, Mizumi has her sights on the Labyrinth.

Moulin – Mizumi’s beautiful daughter. Moulin wears a form fitting long dress and carries an umbrella. Rain follows her wherever she goes.

Drumlin – Mizumi’s not-so-beautiful daughter. Drumlin is an unsightly blob of a woman who always seems to be thirsty.

Esker – Mizumi’s most deadly assassin. Esker cannot speak and he shows no emotions.

Sarah Williams – Toby’s older sister. Twelve years ago, she had to rescue her baby brother from the Labyrinth. Now 26 years old, she’s written her adventures off as daydreams.

Hoggle – A dwarf who once helped Sarah work solve the Labyrinth and rescue baby Toby. Now, Hoggle is Prince of the Land of Stench, a title given to him (much to his dismay) by Jareth after Sarah kissed him.

Sir Didymous – A fox-like knight who is brave and whose sense of smell is keen. His mount is an Old English Sheepdog named Ambrosius.

Ludo – A shaggy beast with a heart of gold. His people are Stone Singers, able to communicate with and manipulate rocks.

Jake T. Forbes (writer) – Jake T. Forbes has served as editor and English-language localizer for an unhealthy amount of manga, including the bestselling series Chobits, Fruits Basket and Fullmetal Alchemist. In addition to manga, he has written for various and sundry periodicals and is presently a Quest Writer for massively-multiplayer online games. He dreams of a day when Pikmin and Fraggles can coexist, but until that time, he lets the Fraggles live under his bed.

Chris Lie (artist) – Chris Lie was an award-winning comic artist in Asia for years before coming to the United States and obtaining a Masters degree in Sequential Art from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2005. Since then, he has achieved notoriety as an artist on such books as G.I. Joe Sigma 6, Arashikage Showdown and Josie and the Pussycats, and continues to achieve success in this new chapter of his career.

The Jim Henson Company - The Jim Henson Company, an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years, is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and computer graphics. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets (the rights to which are now owned by The Walt Disney Company), Henson is the recipient of nearly 50 Emmy Awards, nine Grammy Awards and two Oscar Awards. Credits include the Saturn Award-winning "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars" and the features "Five Children and It," "Good Boy" and "MirrorMask". The company also produced the television feature "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz" for Buena Vista Television. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices and production facilities in New York and London, the company has most recently completed post-production on its first fully-animated project, "Frances." The Jim Henson Company's website is located at: www.henson.com

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Jim Henson fan. Some of my earliest memories were of watching The Muppet Show on TV with my father. I remember going to see The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper in the local movie theater with my parents, and of course, there’s always been Sesame Street, which my own son now watches and laughs at, in much the same way that I did as a tyke.

I’m a fan of all Jim Henson’s work, but my personal favorites were his dips in the fantasy genre. I absolutely love The Dark Crystal. Even now, it still remains one of my favorite movies of all time. However, it was his follow-up film, Labyrinth, that really sealed the deal for me. While The Dark Crystal took us on a journey to a fantasy world, Labyrinth brought the fantasy world to us by allowing it to spill over into our world. For the first time, we saw the Jim Henson Creature Shop’s elaborate fantasy creatures (inspired by the work of legendary fantasy artist Brian Froud) interacting with human actors. And for a boy of ten, it made it seem entirely plausible that one day a goblin could come running out of my closet and I could find be pulled into the world of Labyrinth myself.

And now, twenty years later, I have. Return to Labyrinth is the official continuation to Jim Henson’s visionary film. Our story has been written in collaboration with The Jim Henson Company, and our script is by the uber-talented Jake T. Forbes, who may just be a bigger Labyrinth geek than I am. The lively manga art is by the gifted Chris Lie, and our beautiful cover comes courtesy of Alichino manga-ka, Kouyu Shurei. This time, Toby (the baby in the movie) is our protagonist, and we learn that Jareth’s interest in Toby in the film may have been more than just his way of getting Sarah into the Labyrinth. (But never fear, Sarah/Jareth fans! We have some stuff that you’re going to LOVE coming up in later volumes.)

Working on this first volume has been a fun trip into a world that I loved so much as a child. It’s a journey I’ve waited a long time for, and at last we’re ready to depart. Care to join me?

~Tim Beedle