Back in ToughPigs’ recap of New York Comic Con 2023, I made a promise. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of the Labyrinth book “Goodnight, Goblin King” and I said a review would be coming to the website in the near future. But sometimes life is a funny thing. Sometimes writers don’t get to reviews right away. Sometimes books sit on tables too long, so you move that book to a hardly-used table in a rarely-entered room in your house. And sometimes you finally enter that room a year later to clear some space to store kitchen stuff for an upcoming renovation and remember, “oh hey, I said I’d review that thing. And I don’t want to be a liar.” Luckily, the term “near future” isn’t terribly descriptive, so in terms of the history of the planet Earth, a year is still the near future! So let’s get into it!
The premise of the book, written by S.T. Bende with illustrations by Bill Robinson, is that Jareth has Toby in his clutches, but the little guy just doesn’t want to go to sleep because he’s too busy crying! If I was absconded from my crib by a man I didn’t know and taken to a strange city populated by goblins, I’d be crying too. After some advice from Beetleglum (in a nice nod to the comics series, “Labyrinth: Coronation,” where Beetleglum raised an infant Jareth in the labyrinth), he decides to summon an orb and tell a story all about how the creatures of the labyrinth get ready for bed.
From the first pages, I noticed two things: one, Robinson’s artwork is fantastic. He manages to strike the perfect balance between the character design and art direction of the movie and an aesthetic that will appeal to young kids. Labyrinth might frighten really young kids, so this is a great way to introduce them to the world of the movie. The second thing I noticed was Jareth. As you probably recall, Jareth is the villain of the film, but here, he takes on more of a caring guardian role. There’s no menace to him or the goblins in the castle. He even speaks warmly about Hoggle. Remember, the one he keeps bullying throughout the movie? Ludo gets the same treatment. When we meet him, he’s hogtied and being attacked by goblins. Generally, it feels like Jareth has disdain for most of the creatures, and that’s just not the case here.
And as the book drew on, one big question popped up: where’s Sarah? So as to tell a soothing story without a hint of conflict, our heroine is reduced to a couple of background cameos where she has a smile on her face. That led me to wonder where this takes place in Labyrinth continuity. Jareth, Toby, and Sarah are wearing the same outfits from the movie, so one would think this is a “deleted scene” where everyone in the castle, Jareth included, decides to get some shuteye within the 13 hours that Sarah has to find her baby brother. But without that conflict, it makes me wonder if it’s actually a sort of sequel. At the end of the film, Sarah celebrates with her friends as well as the goblins and Fierys, so perhaps that sets up a sort of friendship between her and Jareth. It feels like we’re missing a moment where Sarah cries “GOBLIN KING, GOBLIN KING, WHEREVER YOU MAY BE! I HAVE TICKETS TO A CONCERT FOR TONIGHT, BUT DAD BROKE HIS HIP, SO MY STEPMOM IS TAKING HIM TO THE HOSPITAL! SEE, THE THING IS THE TICKETS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE, AND I SPENT EIGHTY BUCKS ON THEM, SO IF YOU COULD WATCH TOBY FOR THE NIGHT, YOU’D BE DOING ME A BIG FAVOR. I’LL COME PICK HIM UP AT THE CASTLE IN THE MORNING. YOU’RE A REAL PAL!”
But in the end, this book isn’t really intended for people like me who will over-analyze every little thing because we write for ToughPigs so that’s kind of our whole deal. In truth, I don’t even think it’s meant for the really young kids its colorful art and Seuss-ian rhyme scheme seem intended for. This really feels like it’s meant for the adults reading it to the kids. Like I said before, Labyrinth isn’t exactly for the age group that would appreciate a bedtime story this simple, so this has got to be for the grown-ups to have something they want to read to kids, with the characters they like. It’s still a cute book with some great artwork, so if this is the way you can get your kids into Labyrinth, I’m all for it. Just maybe warn them that Jareth isn’t always this sweet.
Click here to slip the Goblin King a few bucks for pizza on the ToughPigs Discord!
by Matthew Soberman – Matthew@ToughPigs.com
