Written by Rachel Freeman
Jim Henson’s The Power of the Dark Crystal #5 is published by BOOM! Studios under their Archaia imprint. It is written by Simon Spurrier and Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Kelly and Nichole Matthews
At this point Kensho and Thurma have been separated. However, unbeknownst to Thurma, Kensho took the crystal shard in hopes of giving the Gelfling rulers another chance…which didn’t go so well for him seeing as the riders wouldn’t even give him the chance to speak and branded him a traitor. Meanwhile, Thurma is stuck trudging through a swamp, not exactly ideal for a fire being. Not only is she running from the Skeksis Chamberlain, but the swamp is full of creatures who were taken over by the blight. And during all of this, Kira is sitting with Aughra talking with the Mystics, whom Aughra is still quite upset with for refusing to help. Instead they sing. And with a ping of Aughra’s tuning fork Kira joins them. If you have seen The Dark Crystal you already know that Kira has the ability to speak with/summon other creatures on Thra (she was taught by the Podlings) – bringing something new to this world (new to us as the audience at least).
The best part of this issue was Kensho’s dialogue. His anger, his pent up rage. It all comes pouring out of him and though it may be harsh, nothing he says is wrong. “You are the mighty Jen, Jen the brave, Jen the wise. You were supposed to listen!” Such a good line. Before now, Kensho was so soft spoken, so gentle and kind, not that he isn’t those things now, it’s just that this is the first time we’ve seen him get upset about anything. And it’s good that we finally got to see that. Honestly, I don’t know how much more believable it’d be if he kept just allowing them to treat him horribly. This was a big developmental jump for for Kensho. Plus we got to see what the world is like outside of the Gelfling dystopia, in the places where the blight has destroyed everything.
However, we didn’t get much from Thurma in this issue. I mean, she has always had a lot of personality so I guess it was time she was put on the back burner (pun) so Kensho could have more focus. I also don’t understand why the Chamberlain could go in the like…river of weird squirming blight worm things without anything happening to him.
OVERALL SCORE: 9.5 / 10
I’m so happy we got more from Kensho, we got some sweet flame power action too. You should definitely pick up this issue and if you haven’t been reading, jump on to Jim Henson’s The Power of the Dark Crystal immediately.
Make sure you pick up a copy from your local comic store!
Happy reading!
