10 Comic Book Tie-Ins That Made Great Movies Better
1. The Power Of The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal was never anyone's favorite Jim Henson movie. It was not as child-friendly as Sesame Street, as broad audiences as The Muppets, or even as teen dream as The Labyrinth. Parents were concerned because of its dark nature and even to this day, many people will admit to being scared of the vulture-like Skeksis. That meant that it was met with mixed reviews on its 1982 release, but now, through rediscovery over the years of re-releases, it has become a beloved film, and expanded out to be a lucrative franchise - even if it does lack a sequel.
Marvel Comics did an alright adaptation of the film for the Marvel Super Special line of comics, but Archaia is when this becomes a tour de force. Using the script for the scrapped sequel of The Dark Crystal, The Power of the Dark Crystal was worked into a 12 issue limited series. It was glorious. It expands on the Mystics and the Skeksis, and the world of the Dark Crystal, though it is years in the future so the happy ending of the film has lost its polish.
Another brilliant little comic is The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths, where we are told the origins of the Gelflings, Mystics, Skeksis, and the Dark Crystal itself in such a grand style that it has to at least be mentioned. All of this, as well as books and even an English-language ongoing manga, have kept the franchise alive, so much that Netflix has a prequel series slated for a 2019 release.