The Power of the Dark Crystal is published by BOOM! Studios under their Archaia imprint. It is written by Simon Spurrier and Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Kelly and Nicole Matthews.
At the end of Issue 9, with the Chamberlain hot on their tails, Kensho and Thurma thought they had finally escaped on a magnificent new beast…only to be dropped into some kind of body of water, reaching out and holding their hands tightly as they plunged into the unknown. As it turns out, this unknown was exactly what they were looking for.
The issue begins with a “dreamfast,” or at least that’s what Gelflings call it and it should only be something two Gelflings can do, but Thurma calls it a “firefast”, which should only be something two Firelings can do…The plot thickens!
Through their dream/firefast, Kensho and Thurma witness a past event of two Gelfling that went into exile in order to be together. It was those two Gelfling, and others who followed, who changed into Firelings as they adapted to the heat and environment. Tl;dr: Firelings are Gelfling. Upon waking from their dreamfast, they find themselves in the Pool of Tears, a place they both thought was a myth. Still, their happiness is quickly ruined by the Chamberlain and a maze floating, swirling rocks that they must navigate to reach Thurma’s home. Meanwhile, the Skeksis Emporer is regaining his youth and strength and without the crystal shard, Jen and Kira can only wait and pray that Kensho and Thurma will restore the world.
We only have two issues left of this gorgeous story. The development of the relationship between Kensho and Thurma has been one of the most beautiful aspects. The hug they share after discovering the truth about Fireling and Gelfling is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. And that flashback was really neat…and the Gelfling who were exiled looked really cool. Honestly, I want the creative team to write about their story. I bet it’d be awesome. The color shifts in this issue really add to the changes in the world and power dynamic. Jen and the rest on the surface are now cast in a pale light with little color, the Skesis are in that same light, but have a building glow to them. Meanwhile, the world only gets brighter the further down Kensho and Thurma travel. Oh, and the scene where the Emporer drains the priest Gelfling of his essence was intense. It really brought back that twinge of terror I felt the first time I watched The Dark Crystal and saw the Podlings in that same life-sucking machine.
OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 / 10
We are approaching the last two issues, and I don’t feel like I’m as excited as I should be. I’m not…not excited, I just feel like with only two issues left, things should feel a lot more critical. Plus, Jen and Kira seem way too calm about everything. I get that they’re old and wise and stuff, but they could be a little bit worried. That being said, Kensho and Thurma have finally reached Thurma’s home with the shard and now hopefully we’ll see what the shard of the Crystal can do to save the top and lower worlds. Which are both now crumbling. I bet it’s going to be awesome.
