Dark Crystal is a 37 year old dream from a master creator roaring back to life like it never saw before. While the original movie survives thanks to fans, viewers now enjoy a new Netflix series, books, and comics like never before. Re-released this week for the first time in 8 years, and also as one volume, comes Dark Crystal: Creation Myths – The Complete Collection.

Creation Myths Cover 2 Cover

Creation Myths; Dark Crystal

The cover of this compilation looks gorgeous and includes the key components of the stories within. A great drawing of Aughra dominates the upper cover behind one of her symbols. We also see a gelfling, the crystal, and a strange monkey lizard unique to this book. He looks like he comes from Jabba’s palace, but his identity will become clear soon enough.

The artwork within Creation Myths looks amazing. It boasts beautiful colors and detailed drawings through out, but it suffers from one thing. Some of the inspiration behind the creatures comes from concept drawings. When the Skeksis and Mystics finally appear in the story, their images are nothing like what we saw in the movie or the series. Both look rather pitiful. Even the ‘primitive Gelfling’ don’t come across quite right, but overall the art is solid.

The Story Behind Creation Myths

Creation Myths, as it suggests, backs up to a time when Thra began. In fact in volume one our narrator does exactly that. He tells the story from the very creation of Thra herself. Have you ever wondered about Aughra and why she has the power and connections she has to Thra? Did you ever wish to know what happened that made the Skeksis crack the crystal? Or why the Gelfling in Age of Resistance seem so beholden to the all powerful guardians of the crystal – the Skeksis?

Over three parts, assembled into a single collection for the very first time, Creation Myths answers all of those questions and more. It sets the stage for all that will follow in both the movie and the series. This compilation is a must read for anyone wanting to know the origins of Thra and its inhabitants.

If you are interested at all in the back story to Thra and its inhabitants, this trilogy is a must read. The only flaw with Creation Myths, if you can call it that, is there is a dark creature that surfaces near the end. I think that would be better served being retconned into the Arathim. But, then again, there remains plenty of time between this and the modern era for both entities to exist.